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1. Ole Miss is 20 days away from its season opener on Aug. 31 versus Furman.
The Rebels held a scrimmage on Saturday. It was closed to media, so I have no idea how it went. Lane Kiffin is scheduled to speak to media on Monday, so I’m sure he will be asked about it.
Anyway, while we wait for Monday’s media opportunity, it’s time for my annual best case/worst case prediction for the Ole Miss season.
Keep in mind best case is, in my opinion, how the season plays out if everything goes Oel Miss’ way. Worst case is what the season would look like if everything that could go wrong did indeed go wrong.
I don’t fool with injuries here, by the way, not to the Rebels or to their opponents. No offense, but if I had that information, you’d be reading today’s column written by someone else while I happily sipped a $30 margarita in Las Vegas.
So please don’t turn this into a prediction either way. It’s just a fun little thought exercise.
Best case: In any scenario, Ole Miss is going 4-0 in the non-Southeastern Conference portion of its schedule. Ole Miss isn’t losing to Furman, Middle Tennessee, at Wake Forest or versus Georgia Southern. It’s just not.
In a best-case scenario, Ole Miss opens SEC play with a home win over Kentucky and then heads to South Carolina and defeats the inferior Gamecocks at Williams-Brice to set up a showdown in Baton Rouge versus LSU.
In the best-case scenario, Ole Miss is simply too balanced on offense and talented enough up front on defense to negate LSU’s excellent offensive line. The Rebels win, improving to 7-0 heading into an open date.
Two weeks later, Vaught-Hemingway is rocking for Oklahoma’s SEC debut in Oxford. The Rebels, fresh and healthy, rock Jackson Arnold and Co. and find enough offense versus the Sooners’ stellar defense to get to 8-0.
A week later, Ole Miss wins in Fayetteville for the first time since 2008 — yes, Ole Miss won in Little Rock in 2012, but the Rebels haven’t won at Reynolds Razorback Stadium since Houston Nutt’s first year at Ole Miss — to improve to 9-0 and set up the biggest game at Vaught-Hemingway since, well, maybe ever.
Georgia hasn’t lost a regular season game in three years. The Bulldogs whipped Ole Miss by five touchdowns last November in Athens. Ole Miss didn’t touch Carson Beck. The Rebels literally didn’t touch the Bulldogs’ quarterback. So, even in this best-case scenario, I can’t go there. Ole Miss loses to Georgia to fall to 9-1.
In the best-case scenario, the Rebels realize it’s not a big deal, whip Florida in Gainesville and then cruise to an Egg Bowl victory over Mississippi State to finish 11-1, either earning a rematch with Georgia in Atlanta or easing into the No. 5 seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Worst case: OK, here’s worst-case. Try to relax. Take your blood pressure pills. This is a hypothetical, not a prediction. Deep breaths.
In the worst-case scenario, Ole Miss still starts out 5-0. But in this scenario, the Rebels get caught looking ahead to LSU and stumble in Columbia, S.C. I’ve covered this league since 1994; please don’t bother telling me upsets like that can’t happen. They can and they do.
A week later, Tiger Stadium is drunk, obnoxious and intimidating and LSU rallies in the fourth quarter to beat Ole Miss, sending the Rebels to their second loss and the brink of elimination in the CFP race.
Ole Miss bounces back after an open date to beat Oklahoma, but the pressure is starting to mount. They win in Arkansas, but it’s sloppy, and the date with Georgia looms. The Bulldogs prove to be too much and Ole Miss loses to fall to 6-3. Those championship dreams are dead.
A week later, the Rebels are flat, distracted and disinterested at Florida and the Gators play their game of the season, knocking off the Rebels in The Swamp. Ole Miss rallies to win a lackluster Egg Bowl and finish 8-4.
Editorial note: The more I think about it, best-case is 12-0. Worst-case is 7-5. In a world where the Rebels lose two early, both Oklahoma and Arkansas become really dangerous games just because of the mental fog that would envelop the program.
Most likely case: Damn, Vegas is good, huh? The over-under on wins for Ole Miss is 9.5, and that’s the sweet spot. I think this is a 10-2 team. I do. However, if you told me I was off a game, I’d pick 9-3 long before I’d go with 11-1. It’s a brutal league and the schedule, while favorable, isn’t a piece of cake. Those road trips to Columbia, Fayetteville and Gainesville look like land mines, and it will take a disciplined team to navigate that trek. Of course, this is an old, mature, veteran team, and I think it’s perfectly capable of doing just that.
2. The media talked to Southern Miss transfer portal center/guard Gerquan Scott on Friday. Here’s that interview:
3. The media talked to South Alabama transfer portal defensive back Yam Banks on Friday. Here’s that interview:
4. Missouri and Arkansas get rolling in 18 days, with the other 14 SEC teams starting some 48 hours later. So, in lieu of the weekly ranking the SEC that will come once games are played, here’s a look around the SEC, courtesy of my colleagues at Rivals.com.
— At Alabama, Starting quarterback Jalen Milroe put together an encouraging performance, tossing three touchdowns while running in another. The redshirt junior’s biggest throw of the afternoon came on a touchdown pass to freshman receiver Ryan Williams from 40 to 50 yards out. Milroe also found Jam Miller for a 30-yard touchdown, as Alabama failed to pick up the running back in the flats. The quarterback’s third touchdown was to tight end C.J. Dippre, who scored from about 17 yards out.
According to sources, Milroe showed nice command of the offense and looked to have improved from the spring. His lone interception came when he was picked off by safety Malachi Moore in the middle of the field. According to a source, Milroe tried to drop in a throw over the Mike linebacker but put too much air under it, allowing Moore to float over and pluck it from the air.
Milroe also ran in a touchdown from about 40 yards out. However, the play would likely not have gone for as much yardage in a full-contact setting. According to one source, cornerback Domani Jackson let up when Milroe was around 7 yards past the line of scrimmage, thinking the quarterback had already been touched down. The coaches didn’t see it and allowed Milroe to scoot untouched to the end zone. Either way, there’s no doubting the dual-threat quarterback’s ability to make plays with his legs.
— At Arkansas, UA wrapped up its 10th practice of fall camp Saturday, and the team continued to try different looks on the offensive line as the coaching staff searches for more depth up front.
Head coach Sam Pittman contributes his wealth of knowledge to the o-line group, which is led by first-year offensive line coach Eric Mateos. As Mateos is pushing the guys to strain in the trenches each day, Pittman is helping simplify the message.
"I maybe make things too complicated or too complex and Coach Pittman has always, his specialty is being able to take the complex and make it simple," Mateos told reporters Friday. "So I need that from him. He’s able to take something that’s really complex and he can cut down all the extra fat and make it simple, that way I can coach it better to our kids. I get that from him, I can relay that to our kids and man, it’s just a huge, huge value for him. If I didn’t have him, I’d probably be somewhere coaching inside zone not as good today as I did.”
— At Auburn, a similar notion arises when you ask Auburn coaches and players about Malcolm Simmons.
"Malcolm Simmons is super explosive, with all the track stuff that he did," wide receivers coach Marcus Davis said. "You can kind of see it on film, and you can kind of see it when he's out there playing as well."
Offensive coordinator Derrick Nix agrees.
Malcolm is fast, he's fearless and he doesn't have any worries out there," he said." He just plays the game. Very pleased with what I've seen from him so far."
Yes, Simmons has the ability to turn on the jets and leave any defender in his dust. That was on display on Saturday in Jordan-Hare Stadium during Auburn's first scrimmage of fall camp. On the Tigers' final drive of the day, Holden Geriner saw a streaking Simmons and hit him in stride for a 71-yard touchdown in which no one was catching the receiver.
That's nothing new to Sam Jackson, the transfer from California. He has witnessed Simmons' speed through camp.
"He's running past everybody," he said. "Anybody, he's going to run past. He's extremely fast, and he has a lot of passion for the game."
That catch was Simmons' second touchdown of the game. The first one, a 25-yard throw from Payton Thorne, was tipped by Caleb Wooden before the freshman clutched it for the score.
— At Florida, per Jason Higdon, UF believes they can get to eight wins this year “which in my opinion with that schedule would be fantastic, BUT the key is getting to five wins before November....That Miami game is SOOO big for SOOO many reasons.....just to get a win over the Canes to show the players the hard off-season work/changes is paying off they need to see results by getting some early wins.”
— At Kentucky, per Justin Rowland, he asked about Brock Vandagriff and folks seem pretty pleased with where he's at. I'm not expecting him to come in and pass for 3,500 yards necessarily but I haven't been hearing concerns. He's an unknown until he does it in live game action but I think there's a belief he can be what they hoped he would be.
Rowland said he is hearing that Gavin Wimsatt is doing some good things too, and the sense is they probably shouldn't have let him get away the first time coming out of HS. Brock is still the starter but here's the thing. Rutgers runs the ball all the time. It's kind of like Stoops when Gran was the OC. Not exactly a QB-friendly offense. Put him in a different system, like UK's now, and maybe the light turns on.
He is also hearing that Jamarion Wilcox is trending in the right direction. Last year I think he was just young, immature, and couldn't get it on track. But I'm now hearing that he's showing some Boom-like qualities with his acceleration and breakaway speed. These are the best Wilcox reviews I have heard since he signed with the program and that's very interesting.
At LSU, per Luke Hubbard, Zavion Thomas was back and looked like a full go. He was never really out, but they were playing it safe after he tweaked a hamstring, but he was fully practicing and looked good today.
Also, Zy Alexander is still working back from his ACL. Blake Baker said he had 20 reps, which was the most he's had since tearing his ACL last year. Not on first-team as of now, but he's slowly coming back.
Further, Bradyn Swinson and Jalen Lee were back at practice Saturday after missing the early portion of camp for a summer class.
— At Missouri, cornerback Nic DeLoach committed to Missouri in June 2022 he had played some defensive back at Cahokia High Schol (Ill.) but mainly played wide receiver.
Fast forward a year later and he would find himself at the bottom of the cornerback depth chart, trying to adjust from high school star to a freshman newcomer learning the nuances of the position.
Fortunately for him, he got to learn from the team’s two former star cornerbacks turned NFL draftees, Ennis Rakestraw and Kris Abrams-Draine.
"It's very humbling because you're the best player, you're just used to being that guy," DeLoach said. "But you get here and everybody is that guy. So, you've got to sit back and wait your turn.
"Since I redshirted last year, I was just focusing on learning from those guys. They're both NFL guys. It was exciting to watch their technique. Ennis' aggression always -- their effort at practice every day, I've never seen them slack. So, I just copied them and took notes.”
— At Oklahoma, there's a lot of reasons why Jake Roberts wanted to play at Oklahoma for his fifth collegiate season.
Near the top of that list was a chance to reunite with his former head coach.
Roberts spent his first three seasons at North Texas playing tight end under then-head coach Seth Littrell, who played a pivotal role in getting Roberts to Denton. But after Littrell took an analyst role with the Sooners last spring, Roberts transferred to Baylor last season.
But when Roberts again entered the portal last offseason, there was no bigger draw in Norman than a chance to play again with Littrell, who was elevated to the Sooners' offensive coordinator position in December. Since then, it's been exactly what Roberts expected.
"It's been awesome," Roberts said on Saturday. "He's the same ol' guy. We're running a lot of the same stuff and it's just good to be back with him and (we) kind of just picked up right where we left off."
The good news for Sooner fans is there's a proven track record for Roberts alongside Littrell. Roberts saw immediate playing time at North Texas, logging over 1,450 snaps over his three seasons there. His best season came in 2022, when he caught 28 passes for 394 yards and three touchdowns.
Roberts attributes that success to his familiarity with Littrell.
"(He's) real laid-back," Roberts said. "If you guys have been around him, you know. A man of few words. He's not going to say a ton but his words are meaningful and he's a real personable guy so our relationship was really strong at UNT and that's carried over to being back home."
For Roberts, being "back home" was another key reason why he wanted to finish his career at Oklahoma.
The Norman native attended Norman North High School, establishing himself as a Rivals three-star prospect in the 2020 class. Roberts had always dreamed of playing in Norman, but his career eventually led him to North Texas. But being in a Sooner uniform is full-circle moment for Roberts.
"It's a blessing," Roberts said. "I'm really happy to be back home and playing for my dream school. For every step of my career to lead me back to Norman, I'm super excited, super blessed and ready to get this thing rolling this year.”
— At South Carolina, Shane Beamer mentioned eight players who did not scrimmage on Saturday, and all of them except defensive tackle Elijah Davis were at least present at practice, dressed out and participating in the initial stretch period. Davis was not spotted during the open portion.
Elsewhere on the injury front offensive linemen Jakai Moore and Markee Anderson continued working off to the side with trainers during drills, along with linebacker Bam Martin-Scott, tight end Reid Mikeska and running back Bradley Dunn. All of those players with the exception of Dunn missed the scrimmage yesterday.
One new player was wearing a blue no-contact jersey, freshman cornerback Jalewis Solomon. He participated in the stretch period, but not in any drills.
On the positive front, Rocket Sanders, Juju McDowell and Vandrevius Jacobs all appeared to be full go after sitting out of yesterday’s action.
The highlight of the day belonged to true freshman tight end Michael Smith, who made an impressive snag on a fade route during a goal line period. He leapt up over safety Nick Emmanwori to make the play, high-pointing the ball in the corner of the end zone right in front of Beamer. Vicari Swain also had a strong defensive rep during the period, boxing out Ahmari Huggins-Bruce in the corner of the end zone and receiving plenty of praise from his surrounding teammates.
— At Tennessee, Jake Merklinger began to notice it three quarters of the way through spring practices last April.
A newly arrived freshman quarterback who had expedited his last year of high school to join Tennessee's football program in December, Merklinger realized he was starting to pick up the Vols' fast-paced offense.
It was evident in the spring game that marked the end of 15 practices that Merklinger had at least some grasp of the system. He was impressive in that outing, totaling more than 100 yards and a touchdown on 5-of-7 passing while rushing for another score on a 26-yard run.
"I think getting more developed in the offense helped slow the pace of the game down," Merklinger said on July 31. "Getting much more confident in what I'm doing, knowing my job."
A four-star prospect at Calvary Day School in Savannah, Georgia just nine months ago, Merklinger is two weeks into his first fall camp, competing for a potential second team spot behind highly touted starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
"Just growing in the pace of the game, knowing the playbook. Being defined with where I'm playing," Merklinger said. "Getting here in January was a big deal for me. Getting through spring ball, I learned a lot there and now that fall camp is here, I can kind of put a little bit of the young guy mistakes behind me."
Merklinger's handling of the offense wasn't the only area that has developed since he arrived on campus. He exited the spring with the goal of putting on more weight to prepare for the possibility of getting on the field and having to manage the wear and tear brought on by facing SEC defense.
He weighed 193 pounds when he started going through practices ahead of the Citrus Bowl in mid December but was up to 216 by the start of fall camp, a by product of a consistent diet aimed at bulking up.
— At Texas, running back CJ Baxter sustained a knee injury in practice, sidelining him for the upcoming season. In the past, an injury to the starting running back would have Texas fans lowering their expectations to an Alamo Bowl appearance, if not the Texas Bowl. However, Sarkisian has built depth in that position, allowing the Longhorns to adopt a “next man up” mentality. Additionally, Sarkisian has a quarterback capable of lifting the entire team.
As Anwar Richardson wrote, in Quinn Ewers, you trust.
“Knock on wood, I hate to say this, but that's not going to be our only injury this fall,” Sarkisian admitted. “It's football, and everybody goes through it. Unfortunately, we had to go through it early on in training camp with a good player. Other teams will face it at different times throughout the year. That’s why we continue to develop our players. They must understand that it might not be about what's happening right now in their development phase, but at some point, their number will be called. Will they be ready to seize that opportunity?
“But at the end of the day, our leadership is our leadership, and that can't waver. Whether it's Quinn, Kelvin [Banks], or Jake [Majors] on offense. Those guys, or Gunnar [Helm], Barryn Sorrell, Anthony Hill, Michael Taaffe, or Jahdae Barron on the defensive side. We've got great leadership on our team, and I'm not asking more of them from a leadership standpoint. I'm asking them to be who they are, and who they are is good enough.”
5. The college football season kicks off in just 13 days when Georgia Tech and Florida State square off in Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. With that in mind, we’ll start to close out my sure-to-go badly wrong predictions for the upcoming season. I started this in mid-July, and I can’t find where I have predicted Big 12. If I have, well, it’s the price I pay for not having an editor.
Here’s my prediction for the Big 12:
1. Utah
2. Oklahoma State
3. Kansas State
4. Kansas
5. West Virginia
6. Arizona
7. Iowa State
8. Texas Tech
9. TCU
10. UCF
11. Baylor
12. Colorado
13. BYU
14. Arizona State
15. Cincinnati
16. Houston
Big 12 Champion: Utah
6. As you all know by now, I could never be trusted with something as precious as an Associated Press Top 25 ballot, not since my departure from the mainstream media some 16 years ago. If we’ve learned anything in the past few weeks, it’s that the AP remains a stalwart for objective, agenda-less journalism. I mean, just look at its coverage of the vice-president’s presidential campaign. Hard-hitting, unwavering journalism, the kind of thing you’d never see at an overtly biased fan site like this.
However, if I had a ballot that factored into the prestigious rankings to be released this week by those pillars of journalism in New York City, mine would look like this:
1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Oregon
4. Texas
5. Ole Miss
6. Alabama
7. Florida State
8. Penn State
9. Missouri
10. Notre Dame
11. Michigan
12. LSU
13. Tennessee
14. Clemson
15. Utah
16. Miami
17. Texas A&M
18. Oklahoma
19. Oklahoma State
20. North Carolina State
21. Kansas State
22. Virginia Tech
23. Iowa
24. Washington
25. Iowa State
7. This week, I turn my attention to the NFC North.
1. Detroit Lions — I’m picking the Lions, likely to make it all the way to the Super Bowl. However, there are some concerns. The Lions play a first-place schedule this year, and last year, Detroit finished 2-1 in games decided by three or fewer points last season and 5-3 in games decided by seven or fewer points. Regression is on the table. Still, Detroit is easily the most complete team in the division.
2. Green Bay Packers — Jordan Love made huge strides a year ago and the Packers rewarded him by refurbishing their offense. Green Bay could easily be a playoff team once again.
3. Chicago Bears — The Bears were 4-8 in games decided by seven points or less last season, and they’re much improved at quarterback and on defense. Caleb Williams will be overwhelmed at times, sure, but he’s immensely talented.
4. Minnesota Vikings — The Vikings were 2-5 in games decided by a touchdown or less last season, so positive regression is on the table. However, I just don’t see how they get higher than third in the division.
8. We heard from Ole Miss basketball coach Chris Beard on Tuesday. I’ve been too busy with getting ready for football season to dive into that very much. But here are some highlights. Further, I’ve linked the video for your perusal should you want to take a deeper dive.
On Matthew Murrell’s return: “Just, first of all, just from a talent standpoint, I mean, that's what this deal is. You know, you gotta have talent to compete in the SEC. So you add another really good player and one of the best players in the SEC and in college basketball, in my opinion.
“So Matt's been really good. I mean, he went through the process this spring, and it was a real process. You know, I don't think people really understand what the narrative was. Matt had a real decision. It wasn't like Matt went through the NBA process and didn't do well. It was quite the opposite. The amount of phone calls we were getting, the opportunities he's being presented. I think ultimately, I don't want to speak for Matt, he said he had to make a decision. This is how his pro career can start, or this would be the value in coming back to college. So, you know, Matt made a basketball decision, and we supported it. And I said it before, would have supported whatever he chose.
“I just want him to go through the process and get the information and do it the right way. And he did, period. …But then for him to come back and just so quickly kind of flip the coin was impressive, you know, and I think it's one of the definitions of a pro is to be able to kind of live where your feet are.”
On adding Mark Adams to the coaching staff: “So we've known Coach for a long time, and I think above all, he impacts winning because of his teaching ability. And like all teachers will tell you, you know, to be the best teacher, you have to have a relationship with the people you're working with.
“So Coach has been doing this for a long time, whether it be in his junior college career, his first in as a division one coach at Pan American, and most recently with us at Little Rock and Texas Tech. Coach develops relationships with players, and then he helps them by teaching the game, having high expectations for them. So for us, the decision was really based on our players, everybody we hire an organization.
“I always try to keep the main thing, the main thing. I start the process with one thing in mind, and I ultimately make the decision with one thing in mind, what's best for our players. And Coach Adams, you know, will do a great job here, having relationships with our guys and impacting our guys on a daily basis.”
On what can be taken from last season: “You know, that question's all about consistency, and I agree. Last year's team had a lot of positives to it. I thought we got off to a great start in the SEC play, too. We were part of the fight first two or three weeks. If you're ever going to win the fight, you got to be in the fight.
“I think late in the season first you got to embrace and recognize the competition we're playing against. We're playing against some of the best teams in the country. So our plan here, and we talk about it almost on a daily basis, is consistency, being able to finish. Finish doesn't always necessarily mean the last minutes of the game. It might mean the first four minutes of the game or the end of the first half.
“Our ability to have some success and then maintain it, to finish it, to keep it going, which was an issue some last year, just like any team, you know, besides UConn that won the last game. I think everybody would share some of these thoughts that they got to get more consistent. So every season is different. You always know there's going to be questions about last year, but every season is different. You look back your past seasons on things, you can improve on things that you can continue to be good at. So again, I was very appreciative and thankful of last year's team. I'll never stop thanking those guys because they helped us lay a great foundation for what we'd like to build here at Ole Miss. But all eyes are ahead.”
On the Rebels’ transfer portal class: “I would say one thing we really did with this team as we put it together in the spring is we worked really hard on understanding guys expectations and making sure that guys understood the expectations here and the expectations here to be a team. Our plan is not just to roll the ball out there and beat somebody with six first round draft picks, but our plan is absolutely to be one of those teams that plays together. They can play with anybody in the country because of our chemistry, our toughness, our ability and desire to want to play together.
“So that started in recruiting, you know, recruits calling other recruits. It's been well documented how (Jaemyn) Brakefield helped us in this recruiting process, but I would say that we did a really good job making sure that everybody understood the plan. So the first team meeting here this summer wasn't, ‘Hey, guys, we want to have a great culture.’ We were talking about that way back in recruiting, so we seem to be in a pretty good spot here.”
On Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC: “Yeah, I think Texas and Oklahoma come in, you're bringing in two of the top teams in college basketball. Two teams that have great, you know, experience and past success. Two Final Four teams. Porter (Moser) and Rodney (Terry) are two great coaches. Both teams will have SEC talent, two really good fan bases. You know, it's never easy to go play in Austin or Norman. You know, I think from a basketball standpoint, you just had two of the top 25, 30 teams year in, year out in college basketball, so it only strengthens our league.”
9. It’s time to eat. Here’s our resident Parisian chef, Burton Webb, with Taste of the Place, Lesson 248 — Sweet Potato Poutine.
Sweet potato poutine is a delicious twist on the classic Canadian dish, combining crispy sweet potatoes with savory ground beef, tender chicken, and melted cheddar cheese. Perfect for a hearty meal!
Tidbit #1: To achieve perfectly crispy sweet potato fries, soak them in cold water for at least 30 minutes before baking. This helps to remove excess starch, resulting in crispier fries.
Tidbit #2: Use a combination of ground beef and chicken for a rich, savory flavor profile.
Tidbit #3: Grate your own cheddar cheese for the best melting consistency and flavor. A good question to ask yourself…how does already shredded cheese in bags not stick together? It is worth a google.
Things you will need:
4 people
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Resting time: 5 minutes
Utensils needed:
Work surface and chef’s knife
Large skillet
Baking sheet
Mixing bowls
Wooden spoon
Aluminum foil
Stovetop and oven
Ingredients needed:
4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into fries
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb chicken breast, diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup beef broth
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Mise en Place:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, toss the sweet potato fries with olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Spread them in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through, until crispy and golden brown.
Step 2: While the sweet potatoes are baking, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Remove the beef from the skillet and set aside.
Step 2.1: In the same skillet, add the diced chicken and cook until no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside with the ground beef.
Step 2.2: In the same skillet, add the chopped onion and minced garlic. Sauté until the onion is translucent and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Step 3: Sprinkle the flour over the onions and garlic, stirring to combine. Gradually add the beef broth, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until thickened about 5-7 minutes.
Step 4: Return the ground beef and chicken to the skillet, stirring to combine with the onion gravy. Cook for 5 minutes to heat through—season with salt and pepper to taste.
Final:
Step 5: Once the sweet potato fries are done, remove them from the oven and transfer to a large serving platter. Top with the ground beef and chicken mixture. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese over the top and place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley before serving.
From the Mississippian in Paris, Bon Appétit!
Note: I’ll be out of town next weekend and traveling back to Oxford on Sunday. I hope to get 10 Thoughts to you at a normal time, but it’s possible it will be Monday before next week’s installment is published.
10. We’ll have coverage of Ole Miss football and whatever else may pop up this week on RebelGrove.com. Until then, here are some links of interest to me — and hopefully, to you — for your reading pleasure:
Even for Stephen Curry, that Olympic gold-medal game performance was ridiculous
"It Scares Me to Death": Freeze Says What Pittman Has to Feel
From 'crappy hotel' to Cleveland return: Kicker Cade York back with Browns a changed man
How much does it cost to raise a blue-chip QB? The path to prominence is not cheap
Getting to the core of why NFL players love Pilates
Fantasy football: Sleepers, busts and breakouts for 2024
The eye-popping $77 billion haul that shook up the NBA landscape — and the future of media
Coach K says Dan Hurley has a ‘responsibility’ to lead college basketball
Upgrading the catching position will be Jed Hoyer's top priority this winter
Kamala’s Postmodern Liberalism
These Are the Best Kitchen Knife Brands, According to Our Tests
‘500 Days of Summer’ Is Still a Perfect Portrait of Male Delusion
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