Ole Miss Football: Are the Rebels for real after win vs #22 Tulane?

This past Saturday Ole Miss football advanced to 2-0 after a 37-20 win over Tulane in New Orleans. It was the first real test of the year for Ole Miss and included many ups and downs before eventually pulling away to win by 17 points in the second half.

So far through two games the Ole Miss football team has won by a total margin of 83 points against their opponents, scoring a combined 110 points in the two contests. This past weekend Lane Kiffin’s offense was clicking again finishing with 37 against a tough Tulane team.

The Rebels entered Saturday’s contest with the 22nd-ranked Green Wave as a 7.5-point favorite. It was expected to be a game that was going to light up the scoreboard with two high-powered offenses and while it may not have been quite the barn burner many thought, it was still an entertaining game down to the fourth quarter.

Ole Miss struck first taking an early 7-0 lead just 48 seconds into the first quarter when Jaxson Dart tossed a 31-yard touchdown to wideout Tre Harris, his fifth touchdown of the year. Tulane would come roaring back, stymieing the Ole Miss offense and taking a 17-7 lead late in the first half. After a late first-half field goal, Tulane went into the locker room with a 17-10 lead on the Rebels.

That field goal would be the beginning of a 30-3 scoring run for Ole Miss which included two defensive touchdowns. Quarterback Jaxson Dart went 17-for-27 for 267 yards on the day including two touchdowns and one interception. He also added 61 yards on the ground.

Star running back Quinshon Judkins has had a quiet start to 2023, rushing for only 52 yards and one score in the contest.

Coming in ranked inside the top 25, Tulane was the first real test for the Ole Miss football squad after an easy dismantling of Mercer in week one. Overall I don’t think it’s controversial to say that Ole Miss didn’t look quite ready for the SEC big dogs just yet.

While they put up 37 points, seven of those came on the defensive side of the ball. Of the 30 other points scored, the Rebels scored 3 touchdowns including one that was delivered on a platter, set up in the red zone off of a defensive interception return, and then the Rebels had to settle for three field goals.

All in all Lane Kiffin’s offense struggled more than it should’ve against this defense, and if they can’t get the run game working behind one of the best running backs in all of college football then the Rebels could be in trouble heading into SEC play in a couple of weeks.