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1. Malik Heath insisted he never doubted.
Ole Miss’ wide receiver had played so well all day, recording nine catches for 100 yards, but there was Kentucky, at the Rebels’ 7-yard line, with less than a minute left, trailing by just three points.
Heath, the Mississippi State transfer, insisted he wasn’t concerned.
"We believed in our defense,” Heath said. “We believe that our defense is the best defense in the country, we got players out there playing like they're top players in the country. We weren't worried. They held them one time so we thought they would do it again.”
The defense had held Kentucky just minutes earlier. AJ Finley’s hit on Kentucky quarterback Will Levis on a fourth-and-2 run jarred the ball loose. Finley recovered it, giving Ole Miss the ball. However, the Wildcats had two timeouts remaining, and they used them and forced Ole Miss to punt.
Kentucky got a 51-yard pass from Levis to electric freshman wide receiver Barion Brown to move to the Ole Miss 7. A penalty pushed Kentucky back five yards, but unlike Heath, Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart was getting nervous.
“I was biting my nails,” Dart said.
He looked at his fingers for a second and then looked back up, smiling. “Yeah, I was going pretty hard on my nails.”
Dart’s cuticles may be worse for the wear after all of the drama, but the Rebels’ defense did indeed save the day. Jared Ivey, the Georgia Tech transfer, beat Kentucky’s backup right tackle and got to Levis, who was holding the ball for an extra beat, waiting on a receiver to make a double move. Ivey knocked it out just as Levis started his throwing motion. Tavius Robinson recovered, preserving Ole Miss' 22-19 win, and the party was on in Oxford.
"I'd say a huge thing — we were kinda talking about this in the locker room — is just how tight we are as a team,” Dart said. “Our chemistry is very good together on and off the field. You have so much time in the day when you're just focused on football and you're with your teammates and we love every minute of it. There’s nothing else that we'd rather be doing. When you have that friendship and that bond together that really shows in a game like this where you just gotta grit it out and find a way to win. If a team's not like that, they're not gonna win, so I think that says a lot about us.”
2. Saturday marked Dart’s first Southeastern Conference game. He was solid, completing 15 of 29 passes for 213 yards and an interception. He rushed eight times for 40 yards.
He’s just 19, so it stands to reason there will be some growing pains. However, he got strong marks from his coaches and teammates Saturday.
”He is young, but I think he's experienced,” Heath said. “He played a little ball up there at USC, so he is young but he is going into it the right way, being a leader on the field and being a leader off the field.”
“I thought Jaxson played well,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “I mean I'd be surprised I'd say that, you know, in a 22-19 game, but I thought he did really well. (He made) a poor decision when he threw the interception which we needed to get points there going into the half with some momentum and you know we had a power read where he pulled it that would have scored there.
“Other than that, I thought he played really well, really poised for a hard defense, big game and made a lot of plays. He was composed. It seemed like they didn't rattle him at all.”
Dart knows the offense must finish some drives better if Ole Miss is going to continue to catapult into the national conversation. He believes that process is further along than it appears.
"We just had some slip-ups, made some mistakes, but usually we're good down inside the red zone and finishing drives,” Dart said. “Like I said, It's a learning experience for us. That's a really good team we played against. Sometimes you face things that just don't really happen sometimes and it's a good learning experience for us because we're just gonna carry it moving forward.
“I think we've all known how good that this team can be. You see spurts of it every single game. There's times where we're more consistent throughout the game but you see spurts where we look like we're one of the best teams in the country. I know the levels that we can reach as a team. We just gotta find a way to keep moving forward and continue to drive consistency with one another."
3. How hot is Ole Miss? Well, last week, as we geared up for Kentucky-Ole Miss, I noted that both the Wildcats and Rebels were 15-3 in their last 18 games, which dated back to the 2020 bowl season.
Yes, it was arbitrary as hell. I get it. I just thought it was interesting Some people picked up on it and ran with it a bit, so that was cool.
As of today, the best I can tell, the following Power-5 teams are unbeaten:
Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Michigan, Clemson, USC, Tennessee, Ohio State, Penn State, Ole Miss, TCU, Kansas, UCLA and Syracuse.
So I wondered. What are those teams' records over their last 19 games? I looked it up. If there are other unbeaten teams I missed, I'm sorry. Send me an address for your refund.
Georgia: 18-1
Alabama: 17-2
Ohio State: 16-3
Michigan: 17-2
Clemson: 15-4
USC: 10-9
Tennessee: 12-7
Oklahoma State: 17-2
Penn State: 13-6
Ole Miss: 16-3
TCU: 12-7
Kansas: 7-12
UCLA: 13-6
Syracuse: 10-9
What about the rest of the SEC? Yeah, I looked it up.
Arkansas: 12-7
Auburn: 9-10
LSU: 11-8
Texas A&M: 13-6
Mississippi State: 12-7
Florida: 9-10
Kentucky: 15-4
Missouri: 8-11
South Carolina: 10-9
Vanderbilt: 5-14
4. Up next: Vanderbilt.
The Commodores were off this weekend, getting a little more time to recover from a 55-3 loss at Alabama on Sept. 24.
Vanderbilt is 3-2 so far this season, having defeated Hawaii, Elon and Northern Illinois and lost to Wake Forest and Alabama.
The setback in Tuscaloosa was humbling for Vanderbilt, in Year 2 under Clark Lea after Derek Mason's disastrous tenure. As my friend and colleague, Chris Lee, wrote, "If you’d like to sum the game up in one stat, it was Alabama’s 371-to-64-yard edge in total offense at half, with a 10-to-2.1-yard edge per play. If you want a second, it was that it felt like Vanderbilt played the run pretty well in the first half, except that was really a mirage of everything else being so bad (the ‘Tide ran for 6.9 per carry on eight tries before the half). If you’d like a third, the Crimson Tide went over 500 yards before Vandy eclipsed 100.
"So where should the finger point? First of all, it’s Alabama. But on the other side, it’s mostly at Derek Mason and previous staff, for all the failure to get SEC-level speed and physical guys at almost every position, and especially on defense.
"I had said it looked like the ‘Dores were getting a little faster in fall camp, but a) the bar was so low compared to the previous year, and; b) It’s Vandy-on-Vandy. When Elon started getting behind the Commodore secondary, that was the first big hint something was wrong. And unsurprisingly, the same defenders were chasing Alabama wideouts all night.
"The deficit was just as much (or maybe more) obvious in the trenches. The Commodore offensive line got no push in the run game, as every one-yard gain felt like five. The pass blocking—Vandy had allowed one sack in four previous games—fell apart in the first half, as Alabama had three before the break. At one point, Alabama rushed against six or seven blockers and got to Swann for a sack in no time anyway.
"Vanderbilt’s just not ready to compete against the elite teams and (last) Saturday night removed the mystery (if there’d been any) from that."
5. It's time for my weekly ranking of the SEC.
1. Georgia -- The Bulldogs keep winning, but that's two games in a row where they've looked very mortal.
2. Alabama -- Nick Saban didn't seem concerned, but if Bryce Young is out for any length of time, things change.
3. Ole Miss -- At some point, one must recognize the fact that the Rebels just keep winning.
4. Tennessee -- I am fascinated to see what the Volunteers do in Baton Rouge Saturday morning.
5. Kentucky -- The Wildcats could still win 10 games.
6. LSU -- See No. 4. Can't wait.
7. Mississippi State -- But for a weird second half versus LSU, the Bulldogs would be making some noise. Big moment for them this Saturday versus...
8. Arkansas -- I said it last week. I'll repeat it here. The loss in Arlington will haunt the Hogs. Their date in Starkville Saturday looms large.
9. Florida -- The Gators are fine. I mean, whatever.
10. Texas A&M -- It feels like we are a couple of Arkansas errors away from a glorious disaster in College Station. The Aggies aren't good.
11. South Carolina -- Of the lower-tier teams, this is the one with a chance of getting quasi-hot.
12. Auburn -- Up 14-0, I was wondering if maybe Bryan Harsin was going to salvage something. Then Auburn did that Auburn thing.
13. Missouri -- Credit where credit is due; the Tigers gave Georgia all it wanted.
14. Vanderbilt -- Clark Lea is a handsome man. Dammit, he is. It's not easy to be completely bald. It's the first thing women notice. There's no margin for error when one has no hair. My guy Clark pulls it off. He belongs on the cover of GQ.
6. I could never, ever, be an Associated Press Top 25 voter again, as witnessed by my unabashed fandom for my alma mater, ULM, and my unchecked passion for all things Iowa. However, if I had a ballot, mine would look like this today:
1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. USC
6. Oklahoma State
7. Ole Miss
8. Clemson
9. Tennessee
10. TCU
11. Penn State
12. Oregon
13. Kentucky
14. North Carolina State
15. Utah
16. Kansas
17. Kansas State
18. BYU
19. LSU
20. Mississippi State
21. Wake Forest
22. Syracuse
23. Maryland
24. Washington
25. South Alabama
7a. Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said Monday he feels “zero” pressure as his team begins formal preparations for his fourth season in Oxford.
The Rebels were 4-14 in the Southeastern Conference and lost to Missouri in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Tampa, Fla. Despite that, Davis spoke in very optimistic terms about his team and program when he met with the media Monday.
We are going day-to-day with our team,” Davis said. “It’s been such an unbelievable group to coach every day. I just think that in our league, it doesn’t matter what sport you coach, the competition is outstanding. Coaching, recruiting has been unbelievable in the league. So, we have got a lot of great opportunities. The term ‘Forward Rebels’ and ‘next play,’ that’s exactly what we are trying to do. I talked about it a bunch last year, I think our team could have been an NCAA Tournament healthy, you bet, but it is what it is. We’re looking forward to it, got a good group, and I can’t wait to get started officially.”
Davis said this year’s team must be defined by “effort, toughness, defending, shot blocking, protecting the rim, rebounding. Like I said, it will be the fastest-paced team that we’ve had. I thought our first team’s pace was good, with those three guards, as good as those guys were all together. But I do think you will see a team that’s gonna pitch it ahead, hopefully be athletic in transition, get easy baskets in transition, whether you’re on the road or at home.
“As you start playing against really good teams, the games get more and more half-court because teams do a better job taking care of the ball and getting their defense set. I think you will see the most athletic, the deepest team and hopefully a hard-playing group that will compete on a national level in our league every night.”
7b. Daeshun Ruffin hasn’t played since tearing his ACL on Jan. 31 in a win at LSU. That game, prior to Ruffin’s injury, was the apex of the Rebels’ season.
The Jackson native, who was having a strong freshman season, had surgery weeks later. Ruffin has been cleared for non-contact work, and both he and Davis said the plan is for him to be cleared for full-contact basketball on Oct. 11 or 12.
“I think the knee is doing great,” Davis said. “I think it’s the leg strength around the knee. He’s worked really hard, he’s getting real close.”
Ruffin said he is “feeling great for the most part. Just looking forward to getting back out there on the court. I’ve been going to rehab every day and just attacking it as hard as I can. But I feel good though for the most part.”
There had been rumblings this summer that Ruffin might not be ready when the season begins in November. However, he said Monday there is “no doubt.
“I will definitely feel like I will be ready for when the season starts,” Ruffin said. “Right now I’m just going through the last little bit of it. Kind of comes down to testing, just testing the strength of my leg and all of that. But overall, the whole process has been great though. I’m just attacking every day.”
Ruffin admitted the injury last season was disappointing but he said he never allowed it to change his positive nature.
“One thing about me is that I keep my head high,” Ruffin said. “I believe in God so much to the point where I feel like he has a bigger plan for me. So, you know I’m just ready to come back this season and hopefully just do better than we did last year.”
After Ruffin’s injury, the Rebels’ season, one that was beginning to make a bit of a push after a slow start, basically fell apart. The losses piled up, but the hope is that adversity made some young players tougher and that toughness leads to wins when Ruffin returns.
“It was hard on us,” forward Jaemyn Brakefield said. “Obviously y’all saw when he was playing he was coming with great energy, and he kind of lifted us up a lot. And we needed him at some times during the year, and not having him, it kind of hurt us because we were looking for that extra boost. I know that he has been working real hard in the offseason, and he’s definitely getting back healthy right now and I can’t wait to have him.
“It definitely helped us realize what we have in Daeshun, and allowed us and basically everybody on the team from last year, and guys like me and Matt (Murrell) who returned, to really realize what our roles are for this year and what we can eventually do with Daeshun back on the court.”
7c. A year ago, Matthew Murrell averaged 12.1 points per game, shooting 38.6 percent from the 3-point line and 42.7 percent from the floor, huge jumps from his freshman season.
The 6-foot-4 Memphis native is very much on the NBA radar entering this season, but his game must take another massive leap for that to gain any traction. That would work for everyone, of course, for Ole Miss’ postseason hopes likely hinge — at least in part — on Murrell’s production.
“I think he’s an elite shooter, we’ve seen it,” Davis said. “(He’s) as good of an athlete at his position as anybody in college basketball. I think rebounding is the next step. Can he go back and rebound? Can he be one of the elite defenders in our league? He started driving the ball and getting to the foul line better. So, I would say rebounding at a high level, being able to drive it.
“Without Daeshun, he’s played a ton of point for us, on the trip and even in September in our workouts. I think that’s really helped him. I think it's helped him a bunch from playmaking. I don’t see any reason why he can't be one of the very best guards in our league.”
Murrell said he spent the offseason focusing on improving in multiple ways.
“I always want to improve on shooting,” Murrell said. “I took a focus on ball handling, being a permanent ball handler in the pick-and-roll and making the correct reads, and coming out and playing with pace. Just different things that Coach Davis wanted me to work on.
“The goal each year is to get better and better. I feel like I gained a lot of confidence last year, and I hope to take that confidence and build on it this year.”
7d. Sophomore guard James White played big minutes for Ole Miss during the Rebels’ tour of The Bahamas in August. He also had some huge offensive games.
“I thought it was a big confidence builder for James,” Davis said. “I think that guys that have a little success like that, he’s got to understand he’s not going to average 24 a game in the SEC, and not 24 for us. Nobody in the league really does. You’ve got to channel it. We’ve talked about it with everyone about being a really good player without the ball.
“The old analogy of a guy can go 2-for-11 and play 35 minutes and he missed 9 shots and his world is crushed. You ask him how long it took him to take those 9 shots, he’d say about 18-20 seconds. So now you’ve had about 33-34 minutes without the ball in your hands, how do you affect the game when you’re not shooting it? I think that’s the biggest thing for all players. James can score, but he’s got to affect the game defensively and the basketball IQ part.”
7e. If you’re looking for a feel-good story involving the Rebels this season, a leading candidate is forward Robert Allen, who has returned from a devastating knee injury suffered early in the season to — hopefully, for Ole Miss’ sake — provide defense and leadership.
“He’s kinda defied all odds,” Davis said. “A guy with that kind of injury, sometimes it’s a year or over. The way his knee looked after two or three months, Robert and I had a ton of long and deep conversations about basketball, him, and his love for the game and all that. Gosh, it’s unbelievable what he’s done. …It really has been unbelievable, kinda what he has done from a rehab standpoint and energy level he’s already brought our team in the first week back.”
Davis said he and Allen had a lot of deep conversations in the months following the injury, when there were doubts about his ability to heal to a point where he could play a fifth college season.
“You work, work, work, and you get to that point,” Davis said. “He looks at his knee, and it doesn’t look great. We sat down and I said, ‘Robert, this is what we’re fixing to do. We’re fixing to put the ball in your hands for 30 minutes every day just to get a smile back on your face.’ Basketball will do that, and so he did. We just started standing dribbling, just really in a spot. Just talking and dribbling. Then he got to where he could do standing shooting. I think it did, it brought a kind of joy of basketball back.
“He’s such a big part of our team. It’s tough on all those guys that go through it. Especially, that was one of the most significant knee injuries that you could have. And to see what he’s doing right now, it really is neat. It’s phenomenal with his kind of work ethic and how he approached it.”
8. The Major League Baseball regular season ends on Wednesday.
For me, it means I'll make sure I'm listening at 3 p.m. when the Cubs play at Cincinnati. One final time this year, I'll hear Pat Hughes say, "It's time for Chicago Cubs baseball. With former Cub and former All-Star Ron Coomer, this is Pat Hughes reporting."
A few hours later, he'll sign off from Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati and if I'm being completely honest, I'll tear up a little (or a lot).
Even in the bad seasons, I mark time with the Cubs. I love listening to Hughes. His voice is like a familiar blanket. It starts in late March, listening on cool nights while I walk my dogs or drive Carson to soccer.
As the weather warms, it's his voice that carries me through an afternoon by the pool or on long walks in my neighborhood.
In August, when the focus turns to football and my life gets so busy, I often turn Cubs games on my phone just so that voice and those sounds can be a calming presence in the background.
Then it ends. My friends go away for a few months, and even though the fall and the winter are my favorite times of the year, I miss those voices. The Cubs should have an active offseason -- they damn well better -- and hope will spring eternal when pitchers and catchers report to Mesa, Ariz., in mid-February.
Until then, I'm left with the postseason, where once again, I'm forced to adopt favorite teams until the Cardinals are eliminated.
Here are my utterly meaningless MLB postseason awards:
AL Manager of the Year: Scott Servais, Seattle
NL Manager of the Year: Brian Snitker, Atlanta
AL Rookie of the Year: Julio Rodriguez, Seattle
NL Rookie of the Year: Michael Harris II, Atlanta
AL Cy Young Award: Justin Verlander, Houston
NL Cy Young Award: Sandy Alcantara, Miami
AL MVP: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
NL MVP: Nolan Arenado, St. Louis
9. It's time to eat. Here's our resident Parisian chef, Burton Webb, with Taste of the Place, Lesson 155 —Tartare with Salted Whipped Cream.
So, this dish will not only pack a slightly fancy name but also flavor as well. Tartare doesn’t have to be scary and it is quite good when you have a few simple ingredients. The last ride of summer.
Tidbit #1: With tartare, it is extremely important to properly clean the fish. After, I usually put them in the freezer so that any bacteria that could be there isn’t. Also, it gives you better cuts for your final presentation.
Tidbit #2: Salty whipped cream. This concept is a little out there in the best of ways. You can do a lot with whipped cream, especially adding salt to it at the end or even marscapone like in this recipe. I ate a tuna tart on vacation this year that had a tuna whipped cream…absolutely dynamite.
Tidbit #3: Lastly, don’t overcomplicate the flavors. You only need a few ingredients and let those ingredients shine. Just a little bit of acid, fat, salt, and pepper. Done.
Things you will need:
4 people
Preparation time - 10 minutes
A glass of dry white wine
Utensils needed:
Chef’s knife and work surface
Mixing bowls
Fridge
Mixing spoon
Whisk
Microplane or zester
Measuring cups
Ingredients needed:
2 Filets (snapper, flounder, or sea bass)
2 Limes, zest of 1
1/2 red onion small diced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh chopped sorrel
1 Tsp fresh chopped parsley
Splash white vinegar
1/2 Cup heavy cream
1/4 Cup marscapone cheese
Salt and pepper
Mise en Plac
Step 1: Begin by adding the onion, olive oil, lime juice and zest, parsley, and fish to the mixing bowl. Mix. Season with salt and pepper, and re-mix. Then place in the fridge to marinate for 20 minutes to 1 hour.
Step 2: In your other mixing bowl, add the heavy cream and marscapone cheese. Whip using the whisk until it resembles whipped cream. At this moment, add a few pinches of salt, vinegar, and the chopped sorrel. Fold gently.
Final
Step 3: For plating, add the whipped cream to the bottom of the serving dish followed by the tartare. Serve with a few sorrel leaves for decoration and you're good to go.
From the Mississippian in Paris, Bon Appétit!
10. We'll have coverage of Ole Miss football, football recruiting, basketball, soccer and whatever else may come up this week on RebelGrove.com. Until then, here are some links of interest to me -- and hopefully, to you -- for your reading pleasure:
Deion Sanders Reacts To Georgia Tech Coaching Speculation – OutKick
Carlos Correa sends ‘Dior’ warning to Twins with MLB free agency coming
Maris Jr. says MLB should reconsider single-season HR record
‘How do we handle failure?’: Jason Heyward addresses split with Cubs, possible reunion
Ruston holds on against tough Neville comeback
Pull-Apart Rosemary-Garlic Bread - Food & Wine
FBI misled judge on Beverly Hills seizure warrant - Los Angeles Times
