OXFORD – Ole Miss ultimately came up short of its College Football Playoff dreams in 2024, but the Rebels made history nonetheless. A 52-20 win over Duke in the Gator Bowl secured the program’s second straight 10-win season and third in four years, the first occurrence for both since the late 1950s/early 1960s. It’s just the 10th 10-win season in Ole Miss history.
Now that the dust has settled, it’s time to give out final grades for the season. A reminder that these grades are subjective.
Quarterback
Jaxson Dart became the first Ole Miss quarterback to be named first-team All-SEC by the league’s coaches since Eli Manning in 2003. He completed 69.3% of his passes for 4,279 yards, 29 touchdowns and six interceptions and added 495 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. He is the nation’s leader in passing efficiency and total offense and finished his Ole Miss career as the single-season and all-time leader in passing yards and total offense. Dart was uneven in the Rebels’ three losses – which came by a combined 13 points – but he overall was everything Ole Miss could have asked for in his final season.
Grade: A
Running back
This one is tough. Henry Parrish Jr. was having a solid season until he suffered an injury at Arkansas and was lost for the season. The mystery of Ulysses Bentley IV’s usage during the season is one that might not ever be fully answered, but he made things happen when given the opportunity: he ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns over the Rebels’ final two games of the season. The Rebels ranked 44th nationally in rushing yards per game, which is the lowest Ole Miss has ranked in the department under head coach Lane Kiffin. Ole Miss used wide receiver Micah Davis as a running back at times toward the end of the season; the ground game was not always pretty in 2024.
Grade: C
Wide receiver/tight end
Tre Harris was on track to potentially win the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver, but an injury suffered at LSU derailed his season. Still, Harris notched his first-career 1,000-yard campaign in the equivalent of half a season. The loss of Harris presented more opportunities for Jordan Watkins and Cayden Lee, who finished with 906 yards and 874 yards, respectively. Antwane “Juice” Wells had 553 yards, while tight ends Caden Prieskorn and Dae’Quan Wright had 401 yards and 394 yards, respectively. When Harris initially got hurt, the Rebels struggled to find consistency in the passing game. Dart and his receivers figured things out for the most part as the season progressed – though the Florida game had a few more drops than they would have preferred – and Ole Miss ended up with one of the best passing offenses in college football.
Grade: A-
Offensive line
The Rebels had a lot of moving parts on the offensive line throughout the season due to injuries. Ole Miss ended up tied for 81st nationally in sacks allowed at 2.23 per game, the worst average since the 2021-22 season. Per Pro Football Focus, Ole Miss had grades of 66 and 61.4 in pass blocking and run blocking, respectively. Dart was under pressure for much of the season; he was pressured a career-high 147 times and took a career-high 28 sacks.
Grade: C+
Defensive line
The additions of Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen worked out better than Ole Miss could have possibly hoped. Nolen was a unanimous All-American and Umanmielen was an All-SEC pick. Add in the strong play of Jared Ivey, J.J. Pegues and a breakout performance from Suntarine Perkins, and the Rebels had a solid claim to the best defensive line in college football. Though they didn’t notch a sack against Duke, the Rebels still lead the nation at four sacks per game.
Grade: A+
Linebacker
Chris “Pooh” Paul was a finalist for the Butkus Award and led the team with 88 total tackles. T.J. Dottery finished with 76 tackles. Ole Miss wasn’t particularly deep at linebacker this season – the next leading tackler as a full-time linebacker was Khari Coleman with 45 tackles – but the Rebels made things work nonetheless. Ole Miss had one of the best run defenses in college football, and that’s due in no small part to the linebackers and, of course, the stellar defensive front.
Grade: B+
Defensive back
Trey Amos was one of the most impactful additions the Rebels made in the offseason, as the former Alabama defender had 13 pass breakups, three interceptions and was an All-SEC pick. Safeties Trey Washington and John Saunders Jr. were solid as well in their final seasons. The second cornerback spot across from Amos was a bit inconsistent throughout the year, though Isaiah Hamilton had a solid showing in the Gator Bowl with his pick-six. The Rebels ended up surrendering 230.8 passing yards per game, which is fifth-worst in the SEC.
Grade: B
Special teams
The Rebels were fairly pedestrian in both kick and punt returns, were solid in punt return defense and towards the bottom of the pack nationally in kickoff return defense. Kicker Caden Davis broke the school record for points scored in a single season and was 24 of 29 on field goals, though one of those misses was a game-tying try as time expired in a loss to Kentucky. Punter Fraser Masin didn’t have enough punts to qualify for national leaderboards, but his 46.6-yard average would rank fourth nationally.
Grade: A-
