Ole Miss has reached the mid-way point of the 2023 season with one loss to Alabama and a lot of positive vibes heading into the home stretch of the 2023 season. As in years past, Ole Miss has looked like a powerful football team on the offensive side of the ball and less than appealing on defense. In terms of the mood around Oxford surrounding the 2023 Rebels? One can only describe it as joyous about what’s to come for the 2023 Ole Miss Rebels. For many, the realization that Ole Miss could very well play into a New Year Six Bowl game for the second time under Lane Kiffin.

However, despite the fast start for the Rebels, Ole Miss fans are hesitant to book any postseason trips, as Ole Miss has been in this position before, falling to a second-tier bowl game from the expected New Year Six. On the scheduling front, Ole Miss has road games at Auburn, Georgia, and Mississippi State on the docket. Home games remaining for the Rebels are Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and ULM. Ole Miss will likely be a favorite in four of the remaining six games, with Texas A&M and Georgia being the outliners. Reasonably, Ole Miss should win four out of the next six, with Georgia being the only guaranteed loss. Sure, weird things happen in the Egg Bowl game against Mississippi State; in reality, the Texas A&M game will likely be the deciding factor in Lane Kiffin taking the Rebels to another New Year Six Bowl.

On the field, Ole Miss has one of the best offensive units in the country. Led by playmakers Jaxson Dart at quarterback and Quinshon Judkins at running back, the 2023 Rebels are no stranger to finding the endzone. In the first six games of the 2023 season, Ole Miss has scored 250 points. Credits to the outstanding performances from Judkins and Dart, who create opportunities for the rest of the offensive unit to make Head Coach Lane Kiffin and his Rebels offense look like one of the best units in the Southeastern Conference. With little to no help from the defense, the Ole Miss offense has had to do what they do to carry the team past the finish line to victory.

Through six games, the Ole Miss defense has been less than ideal, pushing the Rebel’s offense to the absolute brink of destruction with the lack of ability to hold the opposing offenses to a manageable amount. Take the LSU game, for example; Ole Miss allowed LSU to score 49 points, forcing the Ole Miss offense to score over 50 for a chance at victory. Heading into the second half of the season, Defensive Coordinator Pete Golding has a tall mountain to overcome, or it will spell disaster for the hopes of a New Year Six Bowl Game for the Rebels.

Overall, until the wheels fall off the defense, the party in the Sip still rages on as Head Coach Lane Kiffin and his Ole Miss Rebels prepare to finish 2023 with a bang. Not many teams are in the position that the Rebels are in; they control their destiny with everything in front of them.

Ole Miss will return to action next Saturday night on the 21st, as they travel to the Plains to take on Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers.