Week zero gave us a few appetizers, but as Sunday rolled around, the Ole Miss Rebels focused on opening the 2024 season with Furman on Saturday afternoon and starting potentially one of the greatest seasons in the program’s history. There’s a buzz around for a team with the potential to win many games, reaching Atlanta for the SEC Championship, and playing spoiler for the College Football Playoff. On College GameDay Saturday morning, Coach Nick Saban talked about Ole Miss having a front line that can compete with anybody in the country; they already had the skill positions to compete but needed a line to add to the beef of the Ole Miss roster. As expected, with those comments, Ole Miss fans ran with that, and now the expectations are even higher for the upcoming fall.

As far as Furman goes, Ole Miss will face a dangerous FCS opponent that won ten games last season, scoring 21 points on South Carolina and reaching the second round of the FCS Playoffs. They went on the road to Montana and lost to the Grizzlies. Furman is looking to replace starters at both the quarterback position and running back, in addition to replacing four starters on the offensive line. According to the official Furman football website, Carson Jones, Trey Hedden, and Nehuel Garcia are the three guys who could see playing time on Saturday at Vaught Hemingway Stadium.

Photo Credits- Ole Miss Football on X

Regarding the running back situation, Furman had the unlucky injury bug last season, which forced the Paladins to move a wide receiver to the running back position to finish the season. According to the school’s preview of the position, the coaching staff is excited about having the return of four lettermen from last season combined with a highly talented newcomer to the roster for the fall of 2024. Names to watch out for on Saturday for Ole Miss include Grant Robinson, Myion Hicks, and Bailor Hughes, joined by the newcomer Gavin Hall.

According to the school’s website, Furman head coach Clay Hendrix will rely on Blake Hundley and EJ Wilson’s leadership on the offensive line to prepare the others for continuing the Furman legacy into the new season.

Photo credits: Furman Football on X

On the defensive side of the ball, starting up front of the defensive line. Furman will have Jeremiah Jackson, Xavier Stephens, Malachi Harrison, Caldwell Bussey, and Ty Kauserud as starters, while Malakai Dudek takes reps in the backup role at nose guard. According to the school’s official website, Furman will look to replace a large chunk of production in the secondary with the core guys of young players in Charles Ingram V, Hysan Dalton, Mo Perkins, and Jalen Gummer. At strong safety, Ole Miss fans will likely see and hear the name Caleb Williams while AK Burrell roams around at free safety against the Rebels on Saturday.

Overall, Ole Miss should have no issues with Furman. It might be close for a bit, but Ole Miss will pull away in the second half, setting the tone for a week two matchup against MTSU on the 7th of September. In all honesty, Ole Miss will get a few tune-ups before taking on Kentucky on the 28th of September at Vaught Hemingway.