Ole Miss Football: Bold predictions vs Vanderbilt

Ole Miss are heavily favoured on Saturday against a struggling Vanderbilt side. Last season, the Rebels put up 52 points against the Commodores, 35 of them in the second half. Will the amount of points come up on this weeks bold predictions?

Quinshon Judkins 175 yards rushing in the first half

Judkins is starting to find his feet after a tough start to the season. The sophomore running back has rushed for 366 yards in his last 3 games, way past what he achieved in his first 5 games of the season.

Vanderbilt defense are giving up an average of 174.1 rushing yards a game, which is a lot after 8 games. The Commodores have had a few opposition running backs go for 100+ yards, with Demon Claiborne of Wake Forest having 165 yards from 26 carries.

It’s a tough ask for the above yardage in the first half. However, Judkins can break off big runs and a couple of them can get him to the total quickly. I expect Judkins to have a big game without the big bold first half prediction,

Defense holds Vanderbilt to under 200 offensive yards

Very bold, but the Ole Miss defense has been playing very well over the last two games. They have held both Arkansas and Auburn to under 300 offensive yards, Both dangerous teams on their day, with the Pete Golding defense holding strong.

Vanderbilt’s problems are not on offense, they have steadily put up decent numbers across the season so far. They are averaging 349 offensive yards per game. Not bad for a team sitting at 2-6 on the season.

Looking at the numbers, it will be hard to keep the Commodores offense as quiet as they need to for this bold prediction to come off. However, the defense has a chance the way they have been playing.

6 different passing TD scorers

If the Rebels don’t take the opposition likely, they will score plenty of points in this game. They put 52 past them in last season’s game, with Jaxson Dart throwing 3 TD passes. 

Dart has already thrown TDs to 4 different receivers in the crazy LSU game. They have 4 talented receivers, a reliable tight end and 2 Running backs who can catch the ball.

Not many opposing QBs have had multiple td passes against the Vanderbilt secondary. Although, Graham Mertz of Florida had 3 last time out. Yes, 6 different passing touchdowns is a super bold take. However, it wouldn’t be fun if it was an easy target.