Ole Miss football: Grading Rebels’ incredible comeback victory over Kentucky

Ole Miss won a 42-41 thriller over Kentucky on Saturday thanks to a lot of offense and a little help from a missed extra point in overtime, cementing the first win of the Lane Kiffin era in style.

Let’s take a look at what went right and what went wrong in the win.

Quarterback: A+

It is hard to overstate the impact Matt Corral has made on this football team through two games. His 24-of-29, 320-yard, 4-touchdown performance was ultimately the difference in this game for the Rebels. Corral was calm and decisive in the pocket and is quickly turning into one of the better passers in the SEC. He was also the team’s leading rusher, and his ability to extend plays with his feet bailed out the offensive line on multiple occasions.

Ole Miss did not play well in a lot of areas. It gave up 408 yards on the ground, was outgained in total and was worse on third down. But ultimately, the difference in this game was the fact that the Rebels had Matt Corral and Kentucky did not.

Running back: B

Ole Miss did not run with much consistency, but some of that was the fact that their best offense came pushing the ball down the field in the vertical passing game. Who would have thought that would be the case going into the season? As previously mentioned, Corral was the team’s leading rusher as Kentucky did a pretty good job containing Jerrion Ealy, who had just 10 carries for 44 yards and 11 total touches. This is a bit concerning, because if Ole Miss is going to be consistently successful, they’re going to need more here. But they got away with it in this game.

Wide receivers A-

Was this the Jonathan Mingo breakout game so many had been waiting to see? Only time will tell, but the sophomore played the best game of his young career and was invaluable down the stretch for the Rebels. Mingo had 8 grabs for 128 yards and 2 scores. He led the team in receiving yards and was the first player not named Elijah Moore to do so in quite some time. Moore had 10 catches for 92 yards, but Mingo was the most important player on the field for Ole Miss offensively. The offense held up under immense pressure applied by the Rebels’ struggling defense, and for the second week in a row it put up gaudy numbers against an SEC defense. Mingo was the story of this game, and the Rebels appear to have more than enough weapons to surround Corral with.

A foundation is being laid, and it is an exciting one on the offensive side.

Offensive line: B

The line was fine, aside from a few snapping woes down near the goal line early in the game. Corral masked some of its deficiencies with his ability to extend plays with his feet, and the Rebels were unable to move the ball consistently on the ground. But the line allowed only 2 sacks and played well enough to give Ole Miss a chance.

Defensive line: C-

Different week, similar story for what is clearly the weakest link on this team. The line did a better job of pressuring Terry Wilson than it did Florida’s Kyle Trask, and it helped string together some crucial stops down the stretch, but Kentucky ran the ball for more than 400 yards. The Rebels need to improve here quickly if they wish to consistently compete in the SEC.

Linebackers: C

MoMo Sanogo had one of the biggest plays of the game with his sack on fourth down in the fourth quarter, and Jacquez Jones had some moments. Both had 7 tackles, but Lakia Henry was not much of a factor, and this unit deserves its share of the blame for the team’s woes against the run. This is the strongest position group on this struggling unit, and Ole Miss needs more consistent play here to right the ship.

Secondary: B

This grade is mainly a product of Kentucky not having to test Ole Miss in the passing game because of their success with the run, but at the end of the day, Wilson had only 151 yards on 14 completions and was largely harmless pushing the ball down the field. The coming weeks will be a better litmus test for the secondary, but it was serviceable in this game, and Jaylon Jones led the team in tackles with 10.

Brian Rippee