The Ole Miss defense suffocated Vanderbilt, dominating the first half and making the evening a formality for the Rebels.

Vanderbilt led Ole Miss at halftime a season ago, and upsets aren’t uncommon in college football. That was Lane Kiffin’s message all week, as the Rebels tried to focus enough on the Commodores before a two-week stretch against Texas A&M and at Georgia that will define the season.

Said. Done. Moving on.

Ole Miss routed Vanderbilt, 33-7, to move to 7-1 on the season. The Rebels scored on their first five possessions and frankly should have been up more than 26-0 at halftime. The offense did plenty of work, but the defense kept Vandy from even entertaining an upset thought.

The Rebels, in the first half, allowed 82 total yards, 11 passing yards, only one third-down conversion, one play inside Ole Miss territory, only four first downs and fewer than four yards per rush.

Ole Miss also picked off a pass on Vanderbilt’s first drive and sacked the Commodores twice. Ken Seals had only been sacked five times all season. Vanderbilt turned to Walter Taylor to start the second half, and Trey Washington got his second interception of the night to thwart VU's best drive to that point.

The Rebels, fresh off the Hugh Freeze game, were 25-point favorites with more significant things immediately after this one. It was prime letdown territory, but what happened was a mature response from the Rebels.

Pete Golding's group has improved with the season and routinely plays assignment football. The Rebels lead the SEC in fewest rushing yards allowed before contact, signifying Ole Miss has the discipline and scheme. They need to continue to improve the roster.

What was on the field was plenty good enough against Vanderbilt, as long as Ole Miss didn't bust coverages or let the Commodores use some gifts. Instead, the Rebels played an excellent first half and took any upset designs away.

The competition will take a huge step up in class next week and another large leap the week after that in Athens. Saturday was about the mental challenge. The maturity challenge.

Ole Miss' defense, in the critical first half, dominated both those tests and the Commodores.