Ole Miss has earned a spot in the College Football Playoff’s first rankings of the year.
The CFP committee announced the Rebels as the No. 10 team in the nation earlier this week. Lane Kiffin’s squad, currently on a four-game winning streak, will try to jump up a spot or two when they take on a talented Texas A&M team in Oxford this weekend.
“It’s good that it brings attention to the program,” Kiffin said when asked about Ole Miss cracking the CFP’s top 10 for the third season in a row. “To be able to do that, especially as you’re going against a program that normally you would think would be the tea in the top 10 three years in a row with their roster, it says a lot about our players, our coaches, and our fans. But what really matters is where you finish at the end of the year.”
While Ole Miss has been perfect against Jimbo Fisher and company since Kiffin joined the program four years ago, the Rebels’ head coach has been preaching to his team not to overlook Texas A&M — a team largely made up of four and five-stars.
“This is a huge challenge. They’ve done a phenomenal job of getting a collection of players that are extremely elite and talented,” Kiffin said, expounding on the Aggies’ defensive line. “They’re just dominant. They’re dominant players in the run and they can pass rush. They bring other ones in to rush too. I’m not excited for our (offensive) line coach.”
On the offensive side, Texas A&M has experienced a few bumps in the road, including the loss of starting quarterback Conner Weigman to a foot injury. The Aggies have since turned to Max Johnson and are 2-2 under the former LSU signal caller.
Ole Miss, on the other hand, has shown improvement throughout the season as the running game has culminated through the play of All-American Quinshon Judkins and Ulysses Bentley IV. Jaxson Dart has also been a threat with his legs as he works to prove himself as one of the SEC’s top quarterbacks.
The Rebels currently rank third in total offense and second in the conference in total sacks at 30. Their upcoming opponent is seventh offensively and has recorded the most sacks of any other SEC defense under former Ole Miss defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin.
The two teams will kick off on Saturday at 11 a.m. The game can be watched on ESPN or listened to on participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations. Last year, Ole Miss defeated Texas A&M 31-28 in a comeback victory in College Station.
