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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Louisville
Game Primer: Ole Miss vs. Louisville
9/3/2021 | Football
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OLE MISS (0-0) vs. LOUISVILLE (0-0) Chick-fil-A Kickoff Weekend Monday, Sept. 6, 2021 • 7 p.m. CT • Atlanta, Ga. Mercedes-Benz Stadium  |
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Watch • Listen • Live Stats • Digital Program
Ole Miss Game Notes (PDF) • Louisville Game Notes (PDF) • SEC Notes (PDF) |
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WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• This game will kick off the 127th season of football at Ole Miss and the second under head coach Lane Kiffin.
• The Rebels are 92-29-5 (.750 winning percentage) in season openers and have taken 19 of the last 24 on the field.
• Ole Miss is making their second appearance in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff ... The Rebels defeated Boise State 35-21 to open the 2014 season.
• Lane Kiffin begins his second season at Ole Miss and 10th overall as a head coach ... Kiffin is 5-4 in season openers.
• This will mark the first all-time meeting between Ole Miss and Louisville.
• The Rebels have opened the season on the road in three of the last four years.
• Ole Miss is 154-92-7 (.623 winning pct.) all-time during the month of September after vacated wins.
• The Rebels ranked top-20 in the FBS in nine different offensive categories last season
• Ole Miss broke the SEC record for total offense in conference games (562.4 ypg), besting LSU's mark of 550.0.
• Fifteen Rebels have earned their degrees and are eligible for the 2021 season.
• Matt Corral, a preseason All-America selection, is the returning SEC leader in eight separate categories.
• Every running back letterwinner returns from last season's SEC-leading rushing attack, including Jerrion Ealy.
• Ealy rushed for 745 yards and tallied nine touchdowns on the ground last year ... He ranked No. 25 in the FBS in all-purpose yardage (132.1 ypg).
• LBs Lakia Henry and MoMo Sanogo headline a deep and talented linebackers group ... The duo have combined for 37 career starts over the last several seasons.
OLE MISS HEAD COACH LANE KIFFIN
Lane Kiffin (Fresno State, 1998) is in his second season at Ole Miss and helped lead the Rebels to four win in their final five games in 2020, including a 26-20 victory over No. 7 Indiana in the Outback Bowl. Kiffin quickly turned the Rebels into an offensive machine last season. Ole Miss ranked top-20 in the FBS in nine different offensive categories, including having the No. 3 team in the country in total offense, shattering the school record with 555.5 yards per game. Kiffin is in his 10th year at the NCAA level and has posted an all-time record of 66-39. In December 2016, Kiffin took over an FAU program that had won a total of nine combined games over the previous three seasons. Kiffin proceeded to take the Owls to new heights over the last three years, including two conference titles and two 10-win seasons. In his head coaching stops at USC, Tennessee and FAU, Kiffin has shown a propensity in helping turn programs around. Kiffin graduated from Fresno State in 1998 after playing quarterback for three seasons (1994-96) for the Bulldogs. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at Fresno State under Pat Hill in 1997 and 1998. He moved on to Colorado State in 1999 as a graduate assistant.
LOUISVILLE HEAD COACH SCOTT SATTERFIELD
Scott Satterfield is in his third season as Louisville's head coach and has posted a 12-12 record with the Cardinals. Known as an innovative offensive mind, Satterfield has put the Cardinals back on the offensive map over his first two seasons. He took over the program in 2019 and immediately guided Louisville to an eight-win season and a victory over Mississippi State in the Music City Bowl. Last season, Louisville ended the season with a 4-7 record. Despite finishing under .500, the Cardinals were one of the most explosive teams in the country, averaging 444.2 yards per game of total offense and 200.0 yards on the ground in 2020. Prior to Louisville, Satterfield built Appalachian State into a powerhouse, leading the Mountaineers to three consecutive Sun Belt Conference championships (2016, 2017, 2018) and a 51-24 overall record during his tenure. With Appalachian State, Satterfield became the first coach to lead a school from the FCS level to FBS and immediately earn three consecutive bowl wins. As a head coach, Satterfield's teams have posted a combined record of 63-36 (.571).
CARDINAL SCOUTING REPORT
After going 4-7 in their 2020 campaign, the Cardinals welcome back 31 players who started at least one game last season, including three who started all 11 games; all coming on offense. Of those returners is quarterback Malik Cunningham, who reached career highs last season in both passing and rushing yards. Entering his third season as the starter, Cunningham threw for 2,617 yards and 20 touchdowns, while rushing for a personal-best 609 yards and seven scores in 2020. The redshirt-junior averaged 293.3 yards of total offense per game, ranking 20th in the country. He and the Cardinals will have to replace a pair of wideouts, Tutu Atwell and Dez Fitzpatrick, who accounted for over 1,400 receiving yards. Cunningham will look out wide to Braden Smith and tight end Marshon Ford as the top returning receivers to fuel the air attack. On the ground, Cunningham is the leading returning rusher after Javian Hawkins left for the NFL. Jalen Mitchell and Hassan Hall will split time in the backfield and carry a heavy workload. On defense, linebacker C.J. Avery has led the Cardinals in tackles the last two seasons after posting 78 in 2020. The native of Grenada, Mississippi, recorded four double-digit tackle games in 2020. He is a part of the Louisville defense that held opponents to 26.64 points per game and recorded 12 takeaways.
OPENERS
• The Rebels are 92-29-5 (.750 winning percentage) in season openers and have taken 19 of the last 24 on the field. • Counting this year's game in Atlanta, Ole Miss has opened the season on the road in three of the last four years.
• The Rebels have never faced a current member of the ACC in a season opener.
OKAY, CORRAL
Junior Matt Corral returns as the Rebels' primary signal caller and is one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country. Corral became just the fourth SEC player ever to finish as the NCAA leader in total offense per game (384.9) last season, joining Pat Sullivan (1970), Rex Grossman (2001) and Johnny Manziel (2012). The signal-caller also finished No. 5 in passing yards per game (333.7), No. 7 in passing TDs (29), No. 9 in passing efficiency (177.6) and No. 11 in passing yards per completion (14.5). A preseason All-America selection, Corral is the returning SEC leader in eight separate categories. He led the SEC last season with eight completions of 40 yards or more.
A DANGEROUS WEAPON
Ole Miss returns 100 percent of the rushing production from the running back position, including junior Jerrion Ealy. Ealy finished last season with 745 rushing yards on 147 carries and nine TDs on the ground. He ranked No. 25 in the FBS in all-purpose yardage (132.1 ypg). Ealy also serves as a dangerous return threat, with one kickoff return TD in each of the last two seasons. Ealy is a first-team preseason All-American as an all-purpose player and third team as a running back.
MAKING THE SWITCH
After primarily playing quarterback for his first two years on campus, junior John Rhys Plumlee officially made the switch to wide receiver at the start of fall camp. Plumlee earned freshman All-America honors in 2019 after starting eight games at QB and setting the Ole Miss freshman rushing record with 1,023 yards, as well as total touchdowns (16 TDs). The Hattiesburg, Mississippi, native did see playing time at wide receiver in Ole Miss' 26-20 win over No. 7 Indiana in the Outback Bowl. Plumlee hauled in five catches for 73 yards, including a key catch late in the game that helped set up the game-winning TD.
NEW MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Even when Lane Kiffin isn't fishing, he's still landing big fish. One of Kiffin's biggest catches came when the Rebels snagged Utah transfer Orlando Umana. Umana, joined the Rebels after spending four years at Utah where he appeared in 40 career games, including 26 starts. Twenty-two of those starts came at center for the Utes. Battling injury, Umana appeared in just one game for Utah during a shortened 2020 season. As a junior, he earned Pac-12 All-Conference honorable mention honors in 2019 after starting 12 games at center. Umana played in all 14 games on the offensive line as a sophomore in 2018, starting four at left guard and the last nine at center for Utah. The Sacramento, California, native allowed just one sack in 472 pass blocks in 2018.
DEPTH A KEY STRENGTH IN DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD
The Rebels also return numerous key starters and loads of additional depth in the secondary. Starters Keidron Smith, AJ Finley, Jakorey Hawkins and Jalen Jordan are back after all starting a majority of games last season. Smith led all returning DBs in 2020 with 64 tackles, while Finley led the Rebels with three interceptions and seven pass breakups. Otis Reese, a transfer from Georgia, became eligible for the final three games of the 2020 season and averaged eight tackles per game.
MAC BROWN RAISES OVER 125K FOR ALS RESEARCH
When he was in seventh grade, Ole Miss punter Mac Brown had a modest goal of raising $500 for a childhood friend's dad who had been diagnosed with ALS. Along with a group of neighborhood friends, Brown started a lemonade stand, Awesome Lemonade Stand, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, to help his friend's family. Eight years later, that $500 goal has ballooned to over $125,000 raised by Brown and his friends for ALS research. The Awesome Lemonade Stand is held on a late day in June, and this year's fundraiser raised nearly $25,000 alone.
BIG PLAY POTENTIAL
In 2020, Ole Miss thrived on the explosive play. The Rebels had 202 plays of 10 or more yards and were the only team in the FBS with 200-plus such plays in 10 or less games. Ole Miss also ranked No. 4 in the country with 11 plays greater than 50 yards.
O CANADA
Ole Miss has an SEC-most three Canadian players on its roster (Jaden Dicks, Deane Leonard, and Tavius Robinson ). Robinson appeared in all 10 games last season for the Rebels with five starts, while Leonard saw action in eight contests, including two starts at cornerback. Dicks, a redshirt freshman, transfered from the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, and arrived on campus right before the start of fall camp.
FAMILY TIES
Louisville assistant coach Gunter Brewer may be on the opposite sidelines when the Cardinals and Ole Miss face off, but Brewer is no stranger to Ole Miss football. Brewer's father, Billy Brewer, is the second winningest head football coach in Ole Miss history (67-56-3). In his 11 seasons at Ole Miss, Billy Brewer compiled a 67-56-3 record and was selected Southeastern Conference "Coach of the Year" three times. Gunter Brewer also spent time on the Ole Miss sidelines, serving as associate head coach/passing game coordinator for the Rebels in 2011. Gunter Brewer earned his master's in education with a specialization in exercise physiology from Ole Miss in 1989.
FOUR REBELS EARN PRESEASON ALL-SEC HONORS FROM COACHES
The Ole Miss football team landed four Rebels on the preseason All-Southeastern Conference team voted on by the 14 league head coaches. Matt Corral (QB) and Jerrion Ealy (RS, AP) both earned first-team accolades, while Mac Brown (P) earned second-team honors and Nick Broeker (OL) was named to the third team. Ealy also earned third-team recognition as a running back.
KIFFIN'S WEEKLY RADIO SHOW ON THURSDAYS
RebTalk, the official weekly radio show of Ole Miss Athletics, is moving to a new day and location for this season. Beginning Sept. 2, RebTalk will be broadcast each Thursday this fall at Bouré in downtown Oxford from 6-7 p.m. The show, which is hosted by the "Voice of the Rebels" David Kellum and includes special guests, will air live on the Ole Miss IMG Sports Network. Ole Miss Football head coach Lane Kiffin and select players will join the broadcast each Thursday throughout the season.
