Jaxson Dart could be pondering Mississippi's first big win, or his next touchdown pass. Instead, the Rebels quarterback can’t wait for that moment when his team has to prove its toughness and resilience.
It might not happen in Saturday night’s opener against six-touchdown underdog Furman, but it will happen sooner or later for the sixth-ranked Rebels.
“I’m really excited to face adversity,” Dart said. “I think that’s something I’m really looking forward to and seeing how our team handles it. I feel like last year that’s what made our team what it was.”
That team was the first to win 11 games in a season in program history. Coach Lane Kiffin fortified his roster with yet another huge transfer haul, especially on defense. It has all led to the Rebels' highest preseason ranking since 1970.
Kiffin has high hopes for this defense, fueled by returnees like linebacker Suntarine Perkins and lineman Jared Ivey and some of the top defenders from the transfer portal.
The transfers include former Texas A&M defensive tackle Walter Nolen, ex-Florida defensive end Princely Umanmielen, former Alabama cornerback Trey Amos and Arkansas transfer linebacker Chris Paul Jr.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a very highly ranked, top-10 type of defense anywhere I’ve been the head coach," Kiffin said. "This has the talent to be that type of defense.”
Quinshon Judkins, one of the most prolific running backs in Ole Miss history, left for Ohio State. That leaves Ulysses Bentley IV and Henry Parrish Jr. and Miami of Ohio transfer Rashad Amos to shoulder most of the load.
Bentley ran for 540 yards last season while Parrish returns for his second stint at Ole Miss after leading the Miami Hurricanes in rushing each of the past two seasons. Amos was a 1,000-yard rusher last season.
Kiffin is once again urging Ole Miss fans to show up and be vocal throughout the game. The Rebels have been hard to beat at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. They're 21-2 at home the past three seasons, with 7-0 records in both 2021 and 2023.
Ole Miss defensive tackle JJ Pegues won the Chucky Mullins Courage Award, named after the now-deceased former Rebels player who was paralyzed after making a tackle during the 1989 homecoming game against Vanderbilt.
It was an especially big deal for Pegues, a hometown product.
“It was everything,” Pegues said. “Me personally just growing up here and hearing about the award at so young an age, it just means the world to be able to honor him and his legacy and to be able to keep it going.”
He’ll wear Mullins’ No. 38 at home games and his father’s former number (89) on the road with a 38 patch.
Kiffin said early in the week he's hoping receivers Jordan Watkins and South Carolina transfer Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr. will be able to play against Furman after battling injuries.
When fully loaded, it's an impressive group led by Tre Harris, Watkins and Wells along with tight end Caden Prieskorn.
The Paladins return only seven starters and had to replace their starting quarterback, top runner and the four offensive linemen who played the most snaps. Luke Clark leads a defense that returns only four of its top 15 tacklers.
Furman has won 10 games each of the past two seasons. The only other FCS programs to post double-digit wins in both seasons were two-time reigning national champion South Dakota State and North Dakota State.
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