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This season will mark the end of an era at Ole Miss. Although the Rebels finished short of the SEC Championship, Hugh Freeze’s first recruiting class and the top juniors went out with a bang.
A season after Ole Miss led the nation in scoring defense, it was the offense that dominated. The Rebels finished 10th in offense with 518 yards per game and eighth in scoring with 40.8 points per game.
The defense wasn’t as dominant as opponents threw a lot, trying to keep up with the high-powered Rebels offense.
Let’s go down the roster, position by position, and give out grades:
QUARTERBACKS
Junior-college transfer Chad Kelly had arguably the best season of any SEC quarterback in 2015. He finished with 4,402 passing yards and 31 TDs to lead the conference in both categories. Kelly also rushed for 500 yards and 10 TDs. In the final four games, he had 1,186 passing yards, 11 TDs and just one interception.
Grade: A
RUNNING BACKS
Jaylen Walton was a serviceable running back. Coach Hugh Freeze never made it a priority to get him many carries, but he had 730 rushing yards and averaged 5.1 yards per attempt. He also had 164 receiving yards. Akeem Judd and Jordan Wilkins also didn’t get much work but averaged more than 5 yards per carry.
Grade: B
RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
Junior Laquon Treadwell more than rebounded from the devastating injury he suffered against Auburn last season. Treadwell made 82 catches for 1,153 yards and 11 TDs — all career-highs.
No other Ole Miss receiver had more than 40 catches, but Cody Core, Quincy Adeboyejo and Damore’ea Stringfellow all averaged at least 14 yards per catch. Core averaged 17.4 yards per reception and finished with 644 receiving yards. Adeboyejo scored seven TDs while Stringfellow had five.
Tight end Evan Engram had 38 catches, 464 receiving yards and two TDs.
Grade: A
OFFENSIVE LINE
Due to Laremy Tunsil’s suspension, the Ole Miss offensive line struggled through the first half of the season. It greatly improved when Tunsil returned. In conference games without Tunsil, Ole Miss averaged 104 rushing yards. In SEC games with him, the Rebels averaged 201 yards.
The Ole Miss pass blocking also improved in the second half. The Rebels allowed just four sacks in the final four games.
Grade: B+
DEFENSIVE LINE
The line was solid. Robert Nkemdiche led the unit. Although he didn’t have sparkling statistics, Nkemdiche kept blockers busy, allowing teammates to make big plays. Nkemdiche had 26 total tackles, including seven for a loss and three sacks.
Several big plays came from DE Marquis Haynes, who led the team with 16.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks. Defensive tackle D.J. Jones was second with 4 sacks.
Grade: B+
LINEBACKERS
Senior middle linebacker C.J. Johnson was the leader of the entire defense. He did a little of everything with 43 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, one pass defense, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Johnson also posted those numbers in just nine games. Denzel Nkemdiche had 56 total tackles, including 6.5 for a loss.
Johnson’s absence for a few games allowed sophomore Demarquis Gates to shine. The outside linebacker led the team with 76 total tackles.
Behind the strong defensive line and linebacker corps, Ole Miss finished 26th in rushing defense.
Grade: B+
SECONDARY
This is where “The Landsharks” didn’t live up to expectations. Tony Conner missed most of the season and teams passed more often trying to keep up with Kelly and the Ole Miss offense.
Regardless, the Rebels allowed 255.1 passing yards per game, 101st in the FBS. Ole Miss had only 15 interceptions, down from 22 in 2014. The 15 picks, however, was still good enough to ran second in the SEC.
Grade: C
SPECIAL TEAMS
It was a mixed bag for Ole Miss on special teams. The Rebels had one of the worst return teams in the SEC, but covered punts and kickoffs well. Punter Will Gleeson averaged 40.7 yards per punt.
Ole Miss made 19-for-25 in field-goal attempts. The 76-percent conversion rate was sixth-best in the SEC.
Grade: B-
Dave covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
