Ole Miss football is 'meeting the price of admission'

Ole Miss had one of their best seasons in school history last fall after finishing at 11-2. However, after their offseason, On3’s J.D. PicKell sees the Rebels as being better equipped to compete both in the Southeastern Conference and for the College Football Playoff.

PicKell assessed the Rebels in an appearance on ‘The Paul Finebaum Show’ on Monday. To him, Ole Miss has always had the offense to compete. It’s just, with what they added in the transfer portal, they now have some defensive pieces that can help them reach that next level of contention.

“What stands out to me is I think they’re now meeting the price of admission to play big boy football in the SEC,” PicKell said. “They’ve always been potent offensively. With Jaxson Dart coming back? That’s exciting. You get even richer with Juice Wells adding in with Tre Harris on that side of the ball.”

“The fact that they went out and got not just big defensive linemen but proven commodities with Princely Umanmielen from Florida, Walter Nolen from Texas A&M. Both having played meaningful snaps in the SEC,” said PicKell. “Ole Miss gave up four yards a carry last year. If they can cut that down to three yards per carry or less, they’re going to be in the College Football Playoff and they’ll probably have a really good chance at making that trip to Atlanta as well.”

Again, Ole Miss’ record of 11-2 was a historic year for their program. They earned Top-10 rankings in the AP Poll and CFP Rankings with wins over everyone besides Alabama and Georgia.

Still, for all that success, their offense was what carried most of that. The Rebels put up 35.1 ppg, good for 16th in the nation, while accumulating over 460 yards of offense. As for the defense, they only allowed 22.5 points, which was still Top-50 nationally. They just gave up points in their closer calls this year, including 52 in their loss to the Bulldogs.

That’s where the transfer portal came in handy in Oxford. Several big-time transfers came to the ‘sip by way of the portal. They altogether made up the No. 3 class per On3’s 2024 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings. That group includes Nolen and Umanmielen along with other pieces in the secondary.

Nolen (No. 1 DL) and Umanmielen (No. 2 EDGE), two of On3’s Top-12 transfers, combined for 76 tackles and 11 sacks for the Aggies and Gators respectively last season.

You need lots of things to win in the SEC and make the CFP, including top-notch play on the lines. That’s why, with those two now going wreak havoc for Ole Miss’ defense next year, PicKell is high on what the Rebels can accomplish in 2024.

“I think what they have in terms of the USDA sirloin on the defensive line? I think that’s a big difference,” said PicKell.