This is your 3-2-1, a content item that will appear each week during the football season. While it will almost always be football focused, other topics may be included as needed.

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1 - Michael Pratt really protects the football

Tulane’s Michael Pratt was one of the more underrated young quarterbacks in the country a year ago, and he turned heads in the Wave’s near-upset of Oklahoma the first week of the season.

While the Sooners had a more-than-three-touchdown lead at one point, Tulane closed the gap and eventually lost 40-35 after failing to convert a fourth down in Oklahoma territory by less than a yard.

Pratt shined in that one, throwing for 296 yards and three touchdowns. He played sparingly — throwing two more touchdowns to no interceptions — this past week, as the Wave whipped a hapless Morgan State team out of the FCS.

Ole Miss needs to end this trend of Pratt being mistake-free passing, generating more pass rush than he’s seen and using its athletic secondary and talent advantage. Pratt hasn’t turned the ball over on 66 drop backs and 57 passes in 2021.

He’s also only had one batted ball, and Pratt has a turnover-worthy percentage of 2.8, meaning that on only 2.8 percent of his plays this season a turnover did or should have occurred if the defense made the play.

Pratt’s 61 percent completion percentage is a tad misleading because of receiver issues. There were eight dropped passes against Oklahoma, and Tulane is dropping 20 percent of Pratt’s passes that are on target.

Against Oklahoma, Pratt averaged 2.49 seconds to get rid of the football per passing play.

On the flip side, PFF College credits Pratt with only one big-time throw this season, a stat measuring the number of times a quarterback throws a pass into a tight window and typically down the field. It’s a subjective stat, but it shows the Wave is willing to take what’s there and protect the football.

Pratt does have three fumbles running the ball, but his feet won’t be an advantage for the Wave

Tackling and ending Tulane’s lack-of-interceptions streak are obvious but needed keys to make Saturday less interesting than the Wave wants.

2 - Matt Corral eats up the middle of the field

Matt Corral is destroying the middle of the field so far this season.

It's an obvious stat because anyone with eyes can notice the Rebels’ ability to exploit matchups between the hashes, but when put into numbers, it’s that much more eye-popping.

Check out the chart below to see Corral’s numbers in each area of the field. That doesn’t account for drops, though there have only been three this season — one each short center, short left and one center behind the line of scrimmage.

Corral is also getting rid of the ball effectively, throwing it in 2.03 and 2.02 seconds, respectively on behind the line of scrimmage throws and throws within 10 yards, throwing it in 2.71 seconds on passes that travel between 10 and 19 yards and 2.94 seconds on passes beyond 20 yards.

3 - Sam Williams has been disruptive this season

Sam Williams has been disruptive through the first two games.

Ole Miss needs the senior edge rusher to be consistent and productive to the point of occasional dominance this season. The talent has always been evident, but inconsistency has plagued his career.

Williams played 60 snaps versus Louisville and 49 against Austin Peay, and he has three sacks, two quarterback hits, four more hurries and nine total quarterback pressures in the two games.

Six of Williams’ stops have either forced fourth down or put opponents significantly behind schedule. He also forced two fumbles against Austin Peay.

Williams had only three sacks all of last season, though he had seven in 2019.

The Rebels need Williams to be a pass rusher and a run-stopper, as they look for depth on the defensive line and at the rush positions in their three-down looks.

SEC play will dictate his season, but the early signs are positive for Williams.

1 - Is this when Jerrion Ealy is unleashed?

Jerrion Ealy has played 49 offensive snaps this season, including just 14 against Austin Peay on Saturday. He has 16 carries for 85 yards and a score on the ground and five catches for 77 yards receiving so far in 2021.

Fifty of the 85 yards on the ground have come after contact, and he’s performed well when given the football. It’s clearly a matter of time before Ole Miss does more with the junior, but is that this week versus Tulane or against Alabama after the bye week?

That’s an unknown, but it’s clear he’s been on a pitch count for protection and to potentially hide some of the ways Ole Miss wants to use him from opponents.

"I don't think that's on purpose,” Lane Kiffin’s said of Ealy’s limited touches. “He missed out on touches in the second half last week with pulling guys earlier. We were a little bit pass heavy last week early. Trying to work on some things. It's a long season. He's not the biggest back so he's not going to be Derrick Henry given the ball 90 times in a two-game span. But, he does a lot for us and continues to.”

While Dontario Drummond has taken control of the slot position with back-to-back 100-yard games, Ealy can be dangerous out in space away from the backfield, and that’s been a long suggested possibility — with Ealy and Henry Parrish both lining up in the slot and in different receiver positions during camp.

To this point, Ealy has only lined up in the slot on three snaps — two in the first game and one against Austin Peay. However, on the eight passing plays Ealy was in the game for on Saturday, he ran a route on all of them, catching two balls out of three targets for 26 yards. Out of 19 passing plays versus Louisville, Ealy was in a route 12 times.

2 - Is Tywone Malone close to ready for consistent snaps?

Let’s start by saying this probably isn’t fair.

Tywone Malone, who had ACL surgery at the end of last year, was in a limited-action jersey for most of camp, and he didn’t play in the season opener against Louisville.

He only played nine snaps against Austin Peay. But with Ole Miss trying to find depth along the defensive line and Malone’s status as a top-100 signee, it’s fair to wonder if he’s ready to contribute — not star but to contribute.

ACLs are finicky and they take a bit to be 100 percent like before even when a player is medically cleared. That’s the stage Malone is in currently, but he has raw talent and looks the part. It's whether the ACL allows him to be active in 2021.

Malone had two tackles and a sack out of his nine plays. He lined up at each defensive end position — at right end three times, outside of the offensive tackle on the right side three times, at left end once and outside of the left offensive tackle twice.

There’s little doubt Malone is going to be impactful in his career as a Rebel and getting a little game action was an important step to that.

How long it takes to progress from that to a consistent role in the rotation is the question and one Ole Miss hopes is expedited as Malone, when 100 percent, can pass rush and assist with the edge in run defense.

This is the week Braylon Sanders emerges in the Ole Miss offense.

Drummond has controlled the headlines with a touchdown in seven straight games dating back to last season and 284 yards and three touchdowns in the two games this year.

Jonathan Mingo also flashed against Austin Peay, catching seven passes for 99 yards and two scores.

Louisville dropped eight routinely and protected against over-the-top, leaving Drummond in plus matchups and choosing to make sure Sanders didn’t beat it from the outside.

But Corral has sliced that defense this season, and at some point, an adjustment is in the works. It seems like the week for that, and it should allow Sanders to get freed up in more advantageous matchups.

Corral and Sanders were out of sync in the opener, turning seven targets into just two receptions for 34 yards. He had one catch on three targets and 41 total pass plays against Austin Peay.

While the slot receiver gets a lot of attention in this offense, Corral and Sanders typically have excellent chemistry, and it seems like a matter of time before a bit of a course correction. This is an optimal time with SEC play on deck after the Green Wave.