OXFORD — Perhaps a loss wasn’t the worst thing in the world for No. 12 Ole Miss. In fact, if you ask junior defensive tackle Walter Nolen, it might be exactly what the Rebels need.
After breezing through their first four games of the 2024 season by a margin of 220-22, the Rebels (4-1, 0-1 SEC) hit their first roadblock of the season last weekend at home against Kentucky. A late Wildcats touchdown combined with a missed game-tying field goal try from the Rebels resulted in a 20-17 Kentucky win, the program’s first in Oxford since 1978. It was Ole Miss’ first home loss since the 2022 Egg Bowl, breaking up a streak of 10-straight wins.
“Saturday was really a great wake-up call for us,” Nolen said. “I feel like we all needed that as a team. It’s just been get back to work, really just punish everybody in front of us for the rest of the season.”
Ole Miss plays its next two games on the road at South Carolina and LSU, respectively, before its first bye week of the season. Saturday’s game against the Gamecocks kicks off at 2:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN.
“I feel like it really just opened our eyes. We’re not the big dogs anymore,” sophomore wide receiver Cayden Lee said. “We have to get back to the ground, work, go 1-0 every day.”
The Rebels had a season-low 353 yards of offense in the Kentucky loss, including just 129 in the first half. Ole Miss’ penalty problems once again reared their head as well, as the Wildcats picked up three first downs via Rebels defensive flags. Ole Miss leads the SEC with 41 total penalties this season.
“It’s pretty frustrating. Penalties for anybody would be frustrating. You’re giving up free yards,” junior linebacker Chris “Pooh” Paul Jr. said. “ … I feel like we’ve been doing a great job of just dialing into our keys and things like that this week and just trying to minimize the penalties with better practice habits and things of that nature.”
Ole Miss senior quarterback Jaxson Dart took the loss as hard as anyone, Lee said. But the morning following the loss, Dart led an offensive meeting dissect what exactly went wrong and what the best course of action was going forward to get those problems fixed. That leadership is no small thing in moments such as the one the Rebels currently find themselves in.
“I feel like he’s one of the guys that definitely took it hardest. He’s the one that made sure we had that meeting,” Lee said. “ … This week, I feel like he’s got something in store. We’re going to do really (well), I feel like.”
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