Expectations in the quaint town of Oxford, Miss., have soared to astronomical heights.
That’s because the town’s Southeastern Conference football team, headed by coach Lane Kiffin, is coming off a milestone season with the hopes of even more to come.
Kiffin’s fifth season with No. 6 Ole Miss will begin Saturday night when the Rebels host Furman.
With Ole Miss coming off its first-ever 11-win season, the opener likely will be about giving the home fans a big victory, especially considering that Kiffin’s bunch opened as a 42 1/2-point favorite over the FCS club.
Plenty of returning talent is at Ole Miss, including star quarterback Jaxson Dart, leading receiver Tre Harris and running back Ulysses Bentley IV.
Dart passed for 3,364 yards last season, with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions. The Kaysville, Utah, senior rushed for 375 yards and seven scores.
But the SEC team has some newness around it that could create some uncertainty.
Quinshon Judkins, Kiffin’s prized recruit from the 2021 recruiting class, transferred to Ohio State after producing 2,725 yards and 31 TDs in two outstanding first-team All-SEC seasons.
Bentley and senior Henry Parrish, who played two seasons at Miami to start his career before playing the past two at Ole Miss, will shoulder the backfield production in replacing Judkins after 2023’s 11-2 mark.
“I’m really excited to face adversity,” said Dart, who will start for the third straight season after transferring from USC. “I felt like last year what made our team what it was was being able to block out the noise and storms and weather it all.”
They braced the storm the best in the Peach Bowl against Penn State’s No. 1-rated defense.
The Dart-led attack shredded the Nittany Lions 38-25, with 540 yards of offense, its second consecutive bowl game eclipsing the 500-yard plateau.
In the offseason, the team struck oil in the portal with 25 talented acquisitions, many on the defensive side.
Kiffin added top skill such as five-star defensive tackle Walter Nolen from Texas A&M, defensive end Princely Umanmielen from Florida, linebacker Chris Paul Jr. from Arkansas, and wide receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr. from South Carolina.
The opposition, Furman, went 10-3 last season, losing 35-28 in overtime in the FCS quarterfinals at Montana.
The South Carolina school was ranked No. 9 in the FCS preseason Top 25 national poll by the American Football Coaches Association.
“I think they’re extremely well-coached,” Kiffin said. “They played really hard in a lot of games last year — they were 14-14 in the second (quarter) against South Carolina. They’re very physical and play with a lot of intensity. It’s going to be a really good challenge for us.”
The Paladins feature a pair of returning 2023 All-Conference players in defensive end Luke Clark and kicker Ian Williams.
One of three FCS teams to notch double-digit wins over the last two seasons — South Dakota State and North Dakota State did it, too — Furman earned its league-record 15th conference title last year.
“We’ve recruited well as a coaching staff, so I don’t like the term rebuild,” said coach Clay Hendrix, whose squad returns just six starters, three on each side. “The rebuild term is something you use when you’ve torn something down.
“We’ve done a good job of bringing in guys that we think can help us.”
–Field Level Media
