Mississippi 2021 Football Preview

2020 Recap

Mississippi opened the season with Florida and showed they were going to score plenty of points in the Lane Kiffin era. Despite the loss they scored 35 points and set the tone for one of the best offenses in the country. They would get in the win column the next week by outscoring Kentucky 42 – 41.

The Rebels played Alabama tough the next week, but lost the shootout 63 – 48. The loss appeared to have a carryover effect the next couple of weeks and the team lost to Arkansas and Auburn. Fortunately the schedule eased up a bit after that.

The Rebels ran off three straight impressive wins over Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Mississippi State. Mississippi closed the SEC schedule with a 53 – 48 loss against LSU, but beat Indiana 26 – 20 in the Outback Bowl. The Rebels finished the season 5 – 5 with an explosive offense that made fans wonder, how good could this team be if they had a better defense?

2020 Leaders

Projected Starters

Reasons For Optimism

Matt Corral Leading the Offense

In Lane Kiffin’s first season, the Rebels found their quarterback. Matt Corral excelled in the offense and led an offense that averaged 39.2 points per game. There was so much to like about Corral’s performance in 2020, he completed over 70 percent of his passes, averaged over 10 yards per attempt, averaged over 330 passing yards per game and ran for over 50 yards per game on 4.5 yards per carry. Now entering his second season in the offense, Corral should be comfortable with the scheme and show improvement in the one area he struggled in 2020; interceptions. Corral threw 14 interceptions last year, though in fairness 11 of them came in two games. With a year under his belt and a full off-season to get comfortable with the nuances of the offense, Corral should eliminate those mistakes and reach new heights for the Rebels.

A Strong Running Game

Even though Corral played very well in 2020, Mississippi’s offense was balanced and featured a dominant running game as well. The Rebels used a variety of players to move the ball on the ground and had four players rush for over 250 yards last season. All four of those players return in 2021, led by Jerrion Ealy. Ealy is an explosive runner with excellent balance who ran for 745 yards on 5 yards per carry last year. In addition to Ealy, the Rebels got good contributions from Corral, Snoop Conner and Henry Parrish. Mississippi led the SEC with 210 rushing yards per game and did so with a balanced attack that kept defenses guessing. With that running game backing an experienced quarterback things look promising again for the Rebels in 2021.

Talent and Experience on the Offensive Line

Mississippi will return four starting offensive linemen from the 2020 team. Left tackle, Nick Broeker returns and will hold down the left side again in 2021. All three interior lineman are back and the expectation is that Caleb Warren, Ben Brown and Jeremy James will build on their play in 2020. The Rebels will need to find a new right tackle in 2021, the favorite to take the spot is Eli Acker. Acker was well thought of as a recruit and played in one game during his freshman season, so there is uncertainty there, but with 80 percent of the line returning and the addition of Utah transfer Orlando Umana as an interior linemen will make the unit a strength this season.

Causes For Concern

Defensive Line

Mississippi’s defensive woes started up front in 2020. The defensive line was not able generate a consistent pass rush, finishing 10th in the conference with 16 sacks last year and they were unable to make disruptive plays in the backfield, ranking 12th in the conference with 47 tackles for loss. The lack of disruptive plays up front made it tough for the defense to stop the run or to get pressure to impact the passing game. The result was a run defense that was last in the SEC and a passing defense that ranked 13th in the SEC. The entire defense needs work, but if the defensive line is not better in 2021, the defense will struggle again.

Is the Secondary Improved?

The secondary had plenty of missteps that led to big plays in 2020 as well and they will need to clean up their play. The lack of pressure up front contributed, but there were plenty of blown coverages that made it too easy for opposing offenses to hit big plays. The unit did play better toward the end of the season when Otis Reese was finally declared eligible, but there is more work to be done. AJ Finley made some big plays from his safety spot and should be better with experience in 2021. The cornerbacks will need to improve and that could involve a shake-up on the depth chart with the likes of Deantre Prince, Miles Battle and Deane Leonard pushing for time. There is potential for this unit to be significantly better and deeper in 2021, but it’s still a wait and see situation.

2021 Schedule

Top 25 Players

2021 Projection

Mississippi starts the season with a big game against Louisville that will be a good out of conference test to start the year. After two more out of conference games and a bye, the Rebels will get their biggest test of the season when they travel to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama. The SEC West is never easy to navigate, but at least both of the Rebels crossover games are favorable match-ups against Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Right between Auburn and Texas A&M is a tricky out of conference game against Hugh Freeze and Liberty. Mississippi has a good offense returning and with an improved defense they should be able to navigate the tough schedule and run up 9 wins this year. That would be a big step in the right direction for the program.