Lane Kiffin has no delusions about Mississippi's nonconference schedule. Most of the Southeastern Conference-caliber competition Kiffin's sixth-ranked Rebels have faced entering Saturday's league opener against Kentucky has been teammates in practice. “I’m a realist.
I don’t think our opponents have really prepared us for the SEC,” he said. “My hope is that our practice and our fall camp prepared us, because we play against really good players on both sides of the ball.” The results so far have been impressive, if not entirely unexpected.
The Rebels (4-0) have outscored opponents by a combined 220-22, a 198-point margin that is the largest through four games by an SEC team. The Wildcats (2-2) have gotten off to a rocky start in league play, losing 31-6 to South Carolina before falling just short in a 13-12 loss to No. 2 Georgia .
This is the first road game for Mark Stoops' Wildcats. He'll pit the nation's No. 6 defense against a team that leads the nation in passing, scoring and total yards.
“Really amazing, eye-popping statistics,” was Stoops' summation. The Rebels are favored by 17 1/2 points, according to BetMGM . Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart has racked up 1,554 passing yards, the most through four games in the SEC since Kentucky's Tim Couch had 1,577 in 1998.
He's leading the nation in five categories: passing yards, passing yards per game, total offense, pass efficiency rating and yards per attempt. Dart will face a stout defense. The Wildcats are al.