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1. A friend of mine in college athletics predicted recently that games like the one Ole Miss played Saturday night in Oxford -- a Power-5 program playing a buy game against an FCS opponent -- are already two feet into the proverbial grave.
Give it another two or three years, he said, and they'll be the full six feet in.
Ole Miss defeated Central Arkansas Saturday night, 59-3. The Rebels scored at will in the first quarter, leading 28-0 before even got settled into their seats. The rest of the game turned into an experiment of sorts, with Ole Miss working on things against a completely helpless team.
I'm sure coaches put things on film and reviewed said film and know where they stand in terms of correcting weaknesses and whatnot, but let's be honest here; no one really knows how good Ole Miss is two weeks into the season.
Nothing against Troy or Central Arkansas, but neither squad gives anything resembling the look the Rebels will get in October when Ole Miss faces Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Auburn, LSU and Texas A&M.
More importantly, I can't help but think when Disney/ESPN finalizes its deal with the Southeastern Conference, they're going to want to eliminate games like Mercer-Auburn, Elon-Vanderbilt and Central Arkansas-Ole Miss from their inventory.
School officials can't say it out loud, but the empty seats say it for them. Fans aren't interested in these games. The trip to Oxford -- gas prices, hotel prices, food, etc. -- is expensive enough. It's worth it to see an exciting game. More and more, especially with all of the games streaming and/or on television, fans are choosing to be more selective as to when they attend games in-person.
My educated guess is the SEC will soon announce a nine-game conference schedule when Oklahoma and Texas join the league. My slightly less educated guess is the league will keep its rule in place that requires teams to play another non-league Power-5 school at least once per season.
The pandemic changed the way people consume games. People who always attended games suddenly couldn't, and they found that watching from home, with all of the comforts provided in that environment, was sometimes more fun.
If schools want those fans to start making the trip to campus seven times a year, they're going to have to cut the fat and give those fans a better experience.
2. Michael Trigg Jr. had already caught two touchdown passes Saturday night when he was stopped inside the Central Arkansas 1-yard line on what could have been his third of the night.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin yelled at him from the sideline and then had words for him again when Trigg came off the field at the conclusion of the possession.
Trigg finished with three TD catches Saturday, but after the game, he was still lamenting the fourth that got away.
It's a sign that the Rebels believe the transfer tight end from USC can become a superstar.
"Every time I run a play, if I'm not going full-speed, I pay for it," Trigg said. "I hate being tackled at the 1.
"Lane is always on me. I should know better than to do that. Lane is telling us in the locker room to come out ready and I wasn't ready on that play. I feel like he was right to tell me that."
Kiffin said he expects bigger things from Trigg moving forward.
"He's played bigger than that in scrimmages," Kiffin said. "It's just some inconsistency there. He's a young player. You can see the big-play potential. I did like on his last touchdown, you could see he was playing harder and with more urgency."
3a. Kiffin doesn't like to single out individual players. It's just not his style.
Quinshon Judkins has sort of forced an exception.
The freshman running back from Pike Road, Ala., has simply been fantastic in his first two college games. He's rushed 24 times for 191 yards and a touchdown, and he's made quite an impression in the process.
"I knew he was special but his vision," Kiffin said, almost searching for the proper adjectives. "We knew he was physical but his vision is really unique. We've got three special guys (referring to Judkins, Zach Evans and Ulysses Bentley IV). ...It's a really special room."
3b. Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart addressed the media following Saturday's game. The video is linked below.
3c. Ole Miss defensive back Ladarius Tennison scored a special teams touchdown Saturday against Central Arkansas. He talked about that play and more following the game. The video is linked below.
4. Up next: Georgia Tech.
Ole Miss and the Yellow Jackets square off in Atlanta Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CDT.
Here's a look at Georgia Tech's win over Western Carolina via my colleague, Kelly Quinlan, of JacketsOnline.com:
Georgia Tech (1-1) trailed early 14-7 to Western Carolina (1-1), but the Jackets outscored the Catamounts 28-3 in the final 44 minutes of regulation to cruise to a 35-17 win snapping a 7-game skid for head coach Geoff Collins dating back to the comeback win over Duke last October.
With less than ideal weather including rain throughout parts of the first half, the Jackets opted to focus on the run game and Dontae Smith stepped up with three touchdown runs and his first-career 100-yard game. Smith ended the night with 102 yards on just 11 carries and he credited the offensive line for making that happen..
“It starts with the O-line and they came out and did their job and it makes my job easier,” Smith said. “I’m proud of those boys up front and they did what they needed to in order for us to win.”
The Jackets ran for 243 yards on 34 attempts for a 7.1-yard per run average.
“We wanted to establish the run and that was a big point of emphasis all week and then take some shots when we needed to,” Collins said. “I thought Jeff Sims did a great job getting us into the right looks all night to have success in the run game.”
Nate McCollum scored on a 40-yard run on a reverse and Dylan McDuffie also punched in a touchdown for the Jackets.
“I thought our offensive line got good push all night and I’m really proud of Dontae Smith and all three of our backs, Dylan (McDuffie) and Hassan (Hall) helped us out a bunch. I’m really proud of the blocking on Nate McCollum’s reverse for a touchdown, big blocks by Jeff Sims and by Pierce Quick and it was good to see those guys out there being unselfish and doing those things to help get a buddy a touchdown,” Collins said.
Quarterback Jeff Sims after a very physical game with Clemson had to throw the ball just 17 times for only 100 yards and an interception. He ran for 48 yards as well as the Jackets dialed up the run game.
Sims was not sacked in the game and the offensive line did not commit any penalties in game after a bad performance earlier in the week at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“We had to go back and look at ourselves in the mirror and know that was not us,” offensive tackle Jordan Williams said after the game. “We can be disciplined and all that and that was our main goal tonight and what we practiced all week getting mentally prepared and looking at the causes of our mistakes.”
Defensively the Jackets struggled with two major busts that led to Western Carolina scores all while star linebacker Charlie Thomas sat out the first half due to a targeting suspension in the second half of the loss to Clemson on Monday.
“The first two drives we let them go down the field and score 14 points to go up, but then we gave up just three points the rest of the game,” Collins said. “I haven’t slept since Sunday night and this was a short week and we have a big game coming up next Saturday on ABC with Ole Miss at 3:30, so we have a lot of work to do. We had those two busts early where we should’ve had the back and he got out of there and also on the jet-sweep wheel. Charlie is a heck of a player and the guys settled down and we were able to get out of the half without any more points.”
Thomas made his presence felt however in the second half with a sack, an interception and two tackles for a loss. He ended up the second leading tackler despite playing just one half of football with eight total tackles. His interception returned nearly ended up in the end zone before he was stopped at the 12-yard line following a 28-yard return. The Jackets forced three interceptions and Ayinde Eley picked up a fumble on a botched snap by the Catamounts for four turnovers while Tech had just one turnover in the game.
The fast start to the season for Thomas has been big for the Tech defense and the talented linebacker credits sticking to one position for the first time in his career as being one of the biggest factors in his success. He has played outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense, both linebackers in a 4-2-5 defense, he lined up as a defensive end in a game because of covid quarantine issues in 2020 and he played some nickel and safety as well during his time on the Flats.
“Just being able to play linebacker for real, I’ve played so many different positions, but this is my first real full year playing linebacker,” Thomas explained. “Also the cohesiveness of the unit, we just play for each other and I want to go hard for my brothers and honestly that motivates me as well.”
Keion White recorded his third sack of the season and the Jackets had four sacks overall on the day including one by walk-on defensive tackle Jason Moore. Tech has seven sacks in just two games this season after recording only 20 in 12 games last season.
Myles Sims' interception was the first by a Georgia Tech corner since October 17, 2020, when Zamari Walton picked off Trevor Lawrence.
“It is a blessing when those opportunities come to you and you have to make the most of those opportunities,” Sims said of his interception. “You have to get the ball.”
5. It's time for my weekly ranking of the SEC and after the wild weekend that was, it's not exactly an easy exercise.
1. Georgia -- This is easy. The Bulldogs look like the class of college football right now.
2. Alabama -- OK, this is benefit-of-the-doubt stuff. The Tide looked quite mortal in Austin.
3. Kentucky -- Oh, hell, this is impossible. The Wildcats went to Gainesville and exerted their will. It's an impressive resume line.
4. Arkansas -- The Razorbacks have looked impressive on offense so far, outscoring South Carolina and Cincinnati.
5. Tennessee -- The Vols look good and they survived on the road against a solid Pitt team.
6. Ole Miss -- Again, this is just benefit-of-the-doubt stuff. I think Ole Miss is good, but there's no way to know yet.
7. Florida -- The Gators do have the win over Utah. It's more than a lot of folks in the league can boast of so far.
8. Texas A&M -- It's an athletic team, sure, but that offense is going to lead to some losses this fall.
9. Mississippi State -- Say what you will, but the Bulldogs' offense looks really good early in the season.
10. LSU -- We'll know a lot more about the Tigers this weekend after they face Mississippi State.
11. South Carolina -- Credit to Shane Beamer and Co. They were getting rolled in Fayetteville and kept fighting. There's good culture there.
12. Auburn -- It's about to be a mess on the Plains.
13. Missouri -- The Tigers were unprepared for Kansas State. The heat is going to turn up soon.
14. Vanderbilt -- I still won't be shocked if the Commodores find an SEC win somewhere.
6. I could never have an Associated Press Top 25 vote, not with my Iowa fandom and love for the Sun Belt Conference, but if I had a ballot, mine would look like this today:
1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. Oklahoma
7. Oklahoma State
8. Kentucky
9. USC
10. Arkansas
11. BYU
12. Michigan State
13. Miami
14. Tennessee
15. North Carolina State
16. Wake Forest
17. Baylor
18. Ole Miss
19. Utah
20. Florida
21. Penn State
22. Appalachian State
23. Marshall
24. Kansas State
25. Air Force
7. The SEC released the men's basketball schedule during the week.
Look, there's no such thing as an easy SEC basketball schedule. The league is full of good programs, good coaches, great players, etc. Ole Miss, however, got about as fortunate as it could have hoped to get when the league office sent the Rebels their slate.
The start is tough. Ole Miss opens at home against Tennessee, travels to Alabama and then Mississippi State and then entertains Auburn in the first four games. The Volunteers, Crimson Tide and Tigers are top-25 teams, and the trip to Starkville is never easy.
The Rebels get Georgia at home after that and then travels to South Carolina and Arkansas before finishing the first half at home against Missouri and Kentucky.
The second half of the league slate has some opportunities. Ole Miss plays at Vanderbilt and at Georgia before entertaining South Carolina and traveling to Florida.
Three of Ole Miss' final five games are at home. The Rebels play host to Mississippi State, travel to Auburn, entertain LSU and Texas A&M and travel to Missouri before heading to Nashville for the SEC Tournament.
From a sheer scheduling standpoint, if Ole Miss can survive the first half, the second half has opportunities to get hot and go on a run. However, a 2-7 first half -- and that's far from outside the realm of possibilities -- would make the second half -- where a 6-3 run wouldn't be a ridiculous prediction -- irrelevant.
Ole Miss opens its season Nov. 7 against Alcorn State in Oxford.
8. Major League Baseball announced major rules changes on Friday, alterations that will go into effect next season.
From The Athletic:
As expected, Major League Baseball’s competition committee approved a slate of rule changes that will go into effect for the 2023 season. The changes include the implementation of a pitch clock, restrictions on defensive shifts and larger bases.
Not all of the changes, which were scheduled for a vote at noon ET on Friday, were approved unanimously. The Players Association, which has four of the competition committee’s 11 members, voted against the pitch clock and limiting shifts. The vote to increase the size of the bases, from 15 inches square to 18, was unanimous.
“Player leaders from across the league were engaged in on-field rules negotiations through the Competition Committee, and they provided specific and actionable feedback on the changes proposed by the Commissioner’s Office,” the MLBPA stated. “Major League Baseball was unwilling to meaningfully address the areas of concern that Players raised. And as a result, Players on the Competition Committee voted unanimously against the implementation of the rules covering defensive shifts and the use of a pitch timer.”
As a result of Friday’s vote, major leaguers will play with a similar pitch clock to the one that minor leaguers played with in 2022. MLB pitchers will have 20 seconds to begin their throwing motions with runners on base and will get 15 seconds to do so with the bases empty. The pitch timer in minor-league games allowed pitchers 14 seconds to start their motions with the bases empty and 18 seconds with at least one runner on base (19 seconds in Triple A).
That pitch clock rules, which will result in umpires assessing a ball to pitchers who don’t start their motions before the clock expires and a strike to batters who aren’t in the box and “alert to the pitcher” within eight seconds, are meant to increase the pace of play. According to MLB, the average time of minor-league games went from 3:04 in 2021 to 2:38 in 2022, when pitch timers were instituted.
The other rule changes are designed to increase activity on the basepaths and allow more balls in play to result in base hits. In response to a large increase in defensive shifts — particularly against left-handed hitters — teams must designate two infielders who will stay between second base and third base, and all infielders must be on the infield dirt when pitchers are on the rubber.
MLB also intends to boost stolen base attempts and player safety with this suite of rule changes. Pitchers will now be allowed to step off the mound twice per plate appearance, for a pickoff throw or any other reason, unless a baserunner advances during the plate appearance. A third time stepping off the rubber will result in a balk unless an out is recorded on a runner.
Increasing the size of the bases could decrease collisions at first base. According to MLB, the larger bases resulted in 13.5 percent fewer base-related injuries this season in the minors.
“Throughout the extensive testing of recent years, Minor League personnel and a wide range of fans – from the most loyal to casual observers – have recognized the collective impact of these changes in making the game even better and more enjoyable,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
My thoughts: I'm all for the pitch clock. The game simply must be sped up. I like forcing pitchers to work and to stop stalling. I like limiting pick-off throws and possibly adding more running to the game. I like the bigger bases for the same reasons.
It's funny. While part of me loves eliminating or at least limiting the shift, another part of me hates it. However, pitching is so good now that just hitting it where they ain't isn't a working strategy.
It will be fascinating to see just how much defenses work to "cheat" the new rules, but I do think the changes will lead to more offense and more excitement. Kudos to Major League Baseball for being willing to force change, even if the players were against it.
9. It’s time to eat. Here’s our resident Parisian chef, Burton Webb, with Taste o the Place, Lesson 151 — Eastern Egg Salad with Cured Salmon.
If you want to add a little change of plans to the normal schedule, try this version out of an egg salad. It has all that you would want with the potatoes, eggs, spices, mustard, and salmon. It hits hard.
Tidbit #1: I like to use fingerling potatoes for this recipe because they are very quick to cook. Use the microwave and it speeds up the process that much more. Place them in a bowl and cook until slightly tender. Let cool before slicing.
Tidbit #2: For your “sauce” it is yogurt and Dijon Mustard. The balance that both bring is better for the taste with more pungent mustard and an acid cream that pairs well with the salmon.
Tidbit #3. With the cured salmon, dice into cubes for 1/2 of the quantity. The other half should be reserved for the garnish by cutting into long strips and then rolling. It looks cool to me haha.
Things you will need:
6 people
Preparation time - 8 minutes
Cooking time - 15 minutes
Champagne
Utensils needed:
Work surface and chef’s knife
Microwave
Saucepot
2 Mixing bowls
Measuring cups
Rubber spatula
Ingredients needed:
6 Eggs
4 Pieces of cured salmon
2 “handfuls” fingerling potatoes
1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
2 Tbsp chopped fresh green onions
2 Heavy tsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 Cup greek yogurt
Salt and pepper
Dashes of Tabasco Sauce
Mise en Plac
Step 1: Begin by boiling your eggs on the stovetop. Once done, crack and remove the shells, and cut them into cubes. Set to the side. While this is happening, microwave your potatoes after washing them.
Step 2: Add the chopped herbs, mustard, yogurt, Tabasco Sauce, and 1/2 of the quantity of diced salmon to your mixing bowl. Mix.
Step 3: With the potatoes finished, cut in half longways and then season with salt and pepper. Place in the mixing bowl with the sauce followed by the eggs. Fold everything.
Final
Step 4: Place the salad into your serving dish and then use the “rolled salmon” to top for color. If you would like, a few more dill and green onions placed on top will make it pop. Enjoy tailgating season!
From the Mississippian in Paris, Bon Appétit!
10. We will have coverage of Ole Miss football, football recruiting and whatever else may come up this week at RebelGrove.com. Until then, here are some links of interest to me — and hopefully, to you — for your reading pleasure:
With Super Bowl contention in sight, what Mahomes and Herbert can take from Brady, Brees and more
Greenberg: If the Bears build 'dome sweet dome' in the suburbs, will the tax dollars come?
How ESPN landed Pat McAfee for 'College GameDay' — the best college football hire of 2022
App State Shocks #6 Texas A&M And The College Football World, Again
For the Texas Longhorns, an Agonizingly Familiar Feeling of "What If?"
C.J. Stroud: From overshadowed to Ohio State star, thanks to talent, chess and Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea sacking - told from both sides
Rosenthal: Blue Jays' Bo Bichette let go of being perfect — and it's working
A guide to MLB's stretch run: 8 things we'll learn in September
Joe Maddon sounds off on analytics in baseball: It's not the info, it's the imposition
After an impressive debut, what more can the Cubs expect from Hayden Wesneski?
Candid Coaches: Who will be the best player in men's college basketball in 2022-23?
BYU: No Evidence Of Racial Slurs Directed At Duke's Rachel Richardson - outkick.com
Las Vegas went from forbidden city to pro sports hotbed — and it's not done yet
Father's heartbreak after daughter is killed by Memphis shooter
The tribute to the Queen from ‘Paddington’ is giving people feelings
