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

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1 - Dontario Drummond was sensational in the slot on Monday

Donatrio Drummond brutalized the Louisville defense on Monday, combining with Matt Corral to bring explosiveness to the Ole Miss offense in the 43-24 win over the Cardinals in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic.

Drummond, who we predicted in this content item a couple weeks ago to lead the team in catches, turned nine targets into nine receptions for 177 yards and a touchdown. PFF College graded Drummond at 92.5 out of 100 for the day, the No. 1 receiver grade in the country for week one and the best week-one receiver grade for any player since 2014.

Drummond played the role left by Elijah Moore for the majority of the game, lining up in the slot on 88 percent of his 33 passing-down snaps. He lined up out wide once on a passing play and inside at the line of scrimmage on three passing plays.

The third-year East Mississippi Community College transfer from Laurel, Mississippi, had 90 yards after the catch and converted eight of his nine receptions into first downs with five missed tackles forced.

Jerrion Ealy was the only other Rebel with more than two receptions, and with Louisville protecting against over-the-top routes outside, Drummond’s physicality and strong hands made for a matchup nightmare across the middle.

Corral averaged right at 10 yards of throw distance on Drummond’s catches and the two combined for a 155.8 rating — 158.3 is perfect.

2 - Ole Miss showed its new defensive look

Ole Miss flashed its new 3-2-6 base alignment in practices throughout fall camp, and it operated out of that formation for most of Monday, taking advantage of the increased athleticism and depth in the secondary.

The Rebels have multiple safeties who can defend the pass but also walk up toward the line of scrimmage when needed, utilizing some versatility with several players.

"Obviously we completely changed schemes from what we did a year ago, and I had not talked about it on purpose and waited for this game,” Lane Kiffin said. “You know, whatever you want to call it, this three-down and two linebackers and everybody else is DBs. It's similar to some stuff that we played last year. Arkansas and Iowa State play it.”

Here is how Ole Miss positioned several of the defensive backs throughout Monday night’s game.

3 - Deantre Prince was impactful in his return to the Rebels

Deantre Prince played in 12 games with three starts for the Rebels in 2019 but left the program following the season.

After a year at Northeast Mississippi Community College, Prince returned to the Rebels as a non-scholarship transfer, and his presence has been a positive for Ole Miss. It’s already been impactful.

Prince played 20 snaps against Louisville and had an interception of Cunnigham and a nifty return after the pick. He lined up at cornerback the majority of the time and finished the game with a 86.0 grade from PFF College — the best defensive grade for the Rebels on the night.

Prince had a tackle to go with the interception, and Louisville targeted him twice on 14 passing snaps. The other target went for a 15-yard gain.

He had two interceptions as a freshman two years ago.

There’s more competition and athleticism in the secondary compared to Prince’s first tenure with the Rebels, but he’s a nice addition and should continue to compete for playing time, as Ole Miss shuffles a lot of options all over the field.

There’s opportunity considering the alignment with six defensive backs, and Prince did nothing but state his case for more snaps on Monday.

1 - Is Ole Miss going to be good in the kicking game?

Things turned around quickly for the Ole Miss kicking game on Monday, following a missed extra point after the game’s first touchdown that sent the Ole Miss portion of the Internet into panic and dark comedy.

Cale Nation shanked an extra point attempt following an 11-play, 94-yard touchdown drive to open the game. Nation, a sophomore from Madison Central, had been accurate on short-to-medium field goals during fall camp, but following the miss, true freshman Caden Costa took over for the rest of the night.

Costa, who is on scholarship for the Rebels, went 3-for-3 including a 47-yarder on his first collegiate attempt and a tricky 22-yard field goal from the right hash that he just snuck in the left side from a weird angle.

The Mandeville, Louisiana, native was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week. He also added four extra points and a tackle on a kickoff.

The 47-yarder had distance to spare and was the longest field goal made for the Rebels since 2017.

Costa gives Ole Miss options on stalled drives and the ability to add points outside the 30-yard line. Monday was a good sign for the Rebels, in what could be a four-year hiatus from concern about placekicking.

2 - How good, or bad, is Louisville?

There are positives and optimism to take from Ole Miss’ performance in a vacuum.

The offense executed and showed scheme and athleticism dominance over the Cardinals, throwing all over Louisville early and then bashing them late with a dose of Snoop Conner and others.

The performance was aesthetically pleasing, and other than some penalties, it was quite the opener to build off of. However, when fully gauging the level of how impressive it was, there’s a question that we don’t know yet: How good is Louisville?

The Cardinals were 4-7 overall and 3-7 win the ACC a year ago, but there’s benefit of the doubt with that Frankenstein of a pandemic season.

Cunningham was impressive on Monday, fighting through his lack of help in the first half to try to scrape anything together. He found rhythm in the second half, and his feet are going to be a problem for a lot of ACC teams this season.

Chance Campbell’s ability to spy him and minimize the Cardinals following the opening series was a key in racing out to the big lead.

That one game-plan decision set the tone because Cunningham had some traction early, converting a third and 11 on a quarterback draw with his first run and putting Ole Miss on its heels for a few plays. But Campbell shored up that issue, and by the time Louisville countered, it was 26-0.

Ole Miss is going to do bad things to more defenses than just Louisville, as the Cardinals couldn’t match the Rebels’ athleticism at receiver, and Corral is Corral. But Louisville did a nice job against the set run plays until fatigue became a factor, and Bryan Brown calmed down his group against the tempo pretty quickly.

Louisville isn’t going to challenge for the ACC, but Cunningham is a true enough weapon, especially if he limits turnovers and forced throws, for the Cardinals to be a middle-of-the-pack ACC team and be bowl eligible.

We, the college football world, unfairly expect instant gratification when it comes to how quickly players transition to Power Five competition and meet expectations.

A player can become an afterthought he doesn’t pop off the page by year two, but that’s not reality and sometimes some of the best stories and most productive performers don’t surface until deep into their careers.

Quinten Bivens is in his third season of competition after redshirting in 2018, and while he’s played in 23 straight games for the Rebels, he’d been a solid role player and someone capable of occupying a position without harm.

Bivens, on Monday, as a difference-maker. He plugged the middle of the Ole Miss defensive line, taking up space and penetrating on occasion to help shut down Louisville’s interior run game. He helped free up linebackers and safeties and was clearly the Rebels’ most disruptive interior lineman.

That wasn't a fluke. Bivens has matured and bought into the offseason program, and while Ole Miss needs the two junior college transfers — Jamond Gordon and Isaiah Iton — and KD Hill to perform, as well, Bivens is the glue inside.

His disruption on Louisville’s first drive ended the series with a no-gain stop on the Ole Miss 39-yard line. He had three tackles, but the impact was beyond the stat line.

Bivens did his job, and there’s no reason to think he’s going to fall backwards. It’s a key for the Rebels to be able to run around behind him and take advantage of an increase in team speed.