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It was a statement win for Lane Kiffin and his Ole Miss Rebels football program, as they picked up a 22-19 home victory over the seventh-ranked Kentucky Wildcats. A (finally) packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium witnessed a 13th consecutive home win dating back to October 24, 2020, and a first home win against a top-10 opponent since defeating then-No. 1 Alabama in 2014.
Some people had a lot of question marks about this Ole Miss football team coming into their first big test of the 2022 season, and it seems at least some of them have been answered. Here are three things that we learned about the Ole Miss Rebels after their 22-19 win over Kentucky.
3. The Ole Miss defense is for real
Much was made in Ole Miss circles about the defense the first four weeks, which only allowed 10 points per game, though questions remained as to whether that pace would continue into SEC play. It has in a big way, even with the return of Kentucky star running back Chris Rodriguez.
The Rebels' defense held Kentucky's rushing attack to just 2.9 yards per carry. They also limited quarterback Will Levis to just 220 yards passing, most of which came on the final two drives, each of them ending in a forced fumble on Levis. Add to that a safety and three sacks, and you have the potential return of the Landsharks. It has been a long time since defense as good as this was played at Ole Miss, but it's definitely good to see the fins up and the Ole Miss defense winning games for this college football program again.
2. Quinshon Judkins is a special player
Zach Evans, the typical RB1, was still limited against Kentucky by a hip pointer he suffered in the 35-27 win over Tulsa a week prior, as was Ulysses Bentley IV, who sat out a second consecutive contest. The ground game thus fell on the shoulders of 17-year-old true freshman Quinshon Judkins, who, for the third time in four games, broke the 100-yard mark. Plus, for the fifth time in three games, he found the end zone on a 48-yard run.
For a player to possess Judkins' size, speed and vision at his age is truly remarkable, and it points to a future bright and filled with a whole lot of dollar signs. His 535 rushing yards and six touchdowns lead all true freshmen, and you have to think he's just going to continue to pile on a lot of both for Ole Miss football.
1. Jaxson Dart just continues to grow for Ole Miss football
For a player who self-admittedly had never in his life run an offense which contained RPOs, let alone the amount of them that are in this rendition of the Ole Miss offense, Jaxson Dart looked completely comfortable managing the game in his first SEC contest. You'd be hard pressed to believe this was a player playing in just his 11th college football game, and first against a ranked opponent.
Aside from his one interception, there aren't many moments you can point to where Dart made poor decisions, and he kept Ole Miss moving the football. He's just going to continue to get more and more comfortable in the offense, and with games at Vanderbilt and back home against Auburn looking extremely winnable to say the very least, you'd have to say by the time Ole Miss rolls into Death Valley in three weeks, Jaxson Dart will look a world different from the player who took the first snap against Troy in Week 1.
