“Once he’s comfortable, it’s a wrap”: Ole Miss QBs perspective and more from Michael Trigg and a few other Rebels
Ole Miss football is very much a blended family in 2022.
The Rebels lost a lot, including their starting quarterback and top-three wide receivers and running backs, but expectations remain high after now-third-year head coach Lane Kiffin and staff utilized the NCAA Transfer Portal to fill roster holes.
They signed one of the top classes in the country after finishing 10-3 last season.
Among the accomplished players added were running back Zach Evans and tight end Michael Trigg. Evans, who left TCU for Ole Miss, is widely expected to lead the running back room. Trigg, along with quarterback Jaxson Dart, transferred from USC.
Ole Miss has completed three full fall practices so far, and the Rebels are scrimmaging on Saturday, which will put a bow on the first week of fall camp.
“It’s good vibes,” said Evans, a former five-star prospect ranked as the No. 1 running back in the country in the 2020 recruiting class. “A lot of hard work going on. We’re just putting the pieces together to get ready for the season.
“Obviously, I wasn’t here last year, so I can’t compare it to last year, but the chemistry right now, we’re getting better.”
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Trigg was a one-time four-star.
He and Dart very publicly went through their second recruitments together in the winter, choosing the Rebels over Oklahoma and others.
“It’s been pretty good,” Trigg said of his Ole Miss time to this point. “It’s been new coming from the Pac 12. The elements are definitely different. The heat has been a big factor. But I think these past few days have been good.
“The team’s been moving good. The tight end group has been moving well. I feel like we have a lot of depth at a lot of positions. Anybody can play on our team. I feel like we have confidence in everybody on our roster.”
Ulysses Bentley, IV, previously of SMU, was brought in, too.
He’ll run alongside Evans, and the duo rushed for a combined 1,258 yards and nine touchdowns last season.
“I think it can be the best in the country,” Evans said, when asked of the potential of the Ole Miss offense.
“We’re rotating both quarterbacks, trying to see which one’s going to go. Same thing with the backs. We’ve got two quarterbacks competing, you’ve got four, six receivers competing. Everybody, across the board, they’re flat out are flying.”
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Ole Miss will practice all this month before opening its season against Troy September 3.
The Rebels don’t have all that many position battles, but one is quite significant.
Dart is competing with returning Ole Miss quarterback Luke Altmyer to replace Matt Corral, who, after an historic Ole Miss career, was drafted by the NFL’s Carolina Panthers in the spring.
Altmyer was Corral’s back-up last season, and he is also one of the many returning players trying to help the new guys along while also competing for playing time.
It’s a tricky balance. But bringing a blended family (a collection of people from all different backgrounds brought together in commonality) together takes time.
“Me and Zach, we’ve been playing each other since little league,” Bentley said. “It’s fun now. With (the running backs), I think it’s just going to be amazing. The vibe, when I got here in the spring, it was all still pretty new.
“The offense wasn’t established yet. Now, it’s established. We can go from there.”
And as for those quarterbacks?
“Honestly, once he’s fully comfortable, I know it’s a wrap,” Trigg said, referencing Dart. “I’m not really tripping on it, honesty.”
