By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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Expect Ole Miss to have one of the best offenses in college football once again.

After months of anticipation, week one of the college football season is finally here. Showcase games are scheduled all throughout the first weekend, with five contests between nationally-ranked teams set for Saturday alone. If you want to see the top offense in the country, however, you might have to wait a few more days. Ole Miss, led by Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Corral, won’t play until Monday night against Louisville in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It was the Rebels who led the Power Five with 556 yards per game a year ago.

Not only was the offensive production impressive for Ole Miss in Lane Kiffin’s debut season, so, too, was who it came against. The Rebels compiled 613 yards and 38 points against 10th-ranked Florida in game one, then went for 647 yards and 48 points against top-ranked Alabama two weeks later. Ole Miss scored 48 points at LSU and 54 more against Vanderbilt, though none of those performances were their yearly best. In mid-November versus South Carolina, the Rebels recorded 708 yards and 59 points in a win over the Gamecocks.

Ole Miss is ready for more.

Corral returns as the catalyst. He is fresh off a stunning sophomore season, ranking third in the SEC, behind only a pair of Heisman Trophy finalists, in both passing yards per game with 333.7 and touchdowns with 29, and second in the league with 10.2 yards per attempt and 70.9% passing, trailing only the player who just set the sport’s new single season passer rating record. In consecutive weeks mid-season, Corral completed 31-of-34 passes for 412 yards and six touchdowns in a win over Vanderbilt, then, for an encore performance, went 28-of-32 for 513 yards and five total scores in a victory over South Carolina in his very next game.

Of those with at least 20 pass attempts, there were ten total games last season where quarterbacks compiled a passer rating of 250 or higher; Corral had two of them. Furthermore, Corral is one of just three Power Five quarterbacks this millennium with at least 3,000 passing yards, 70% completions and 500 rushing yards in a single season, joining Robert Griffin III and Colt McCoy.

This is a star quarterback who has already often been at his best on the big stage. Corral played three top ten teams in 2020, Florida, Alabama and Indiana in the TaxSlayer Bowl; he, in those three games, completed over 70% of his passes for 1,102 yards, with seven touchdowns and just one interception. For good measure, Corral even threw for 385 yards and two scores in a win in his first Egg Bowl start.

In addition to Corral’s notable passing totals, it was Ole Miss which actually led the SEC in rushing in 2020 with 210.6 yards per game, quite the testament to the Rebels’ balance and production. Do-it-all Jerrion Ealy, Snoop Conner and Henry Parrish, Jr. all return after combining for 1,429 and 19 touchdowns on the ground this past year. Ealy could be All-SEC at multiple positions. Four starters are also back along the offensive line, including standout Nick Broeker.

Veteran Braylon Sanders, who has over 900 career receiving yards at Ole Miss, will lead an exciting collection of perimeter playmakers. Dontario Drummond and Jonathan Mingo combined for 52 catches for 796 yards last season, with Drummond catching seven touchdown passes, good for seventh in the SEC. Then there is converted quarterback John Rhys Plumlee, who had 910 yards passing, 1,023 yards rushing and 16 total touchdowns back in 2019 and caught five passes for 73 yards in the bowl game.

The schedule, including Louisville in week one, awaits as a challenging one. That said, opportunities to make plays under the brightest of lights will clearly be there. Beyond the opening game against the Cardinals on Labor Day night in Atlanta, Ole Miss, after a bye week to close out the month of September, will play at defending national champion Alabama, LSU, at Auburn, Liberty and Texas A&M, all of whom are in the AP top 30, not to mention the Egg Bowl, to finish the year.

Having won four of five games to close out last season, the Rebels enter this slate with confidence and momentum. And an offense, fresh off a record-setting season, that is as good as it gets.

Expect Ole Miss, with Kiffin and offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, to have one of the best groups in college football once again. Monday night will be a fitting national stage. This will be an offense worth waiting to see.