Breaking down the Ole Miss offense

The Texas Tech football team will face off against the 8-4 Ole Miss Rebels in the 2022 Texas Bowl, on December 28th in Houston at NRG Stadium, a matchup that was a kick-off game in the same stadium some 4 years ago.

The Red Raiders will be looking for a different result in this matchup however, and today I am going to take a look into the Ole Miss offensive scheme and players.

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Quarterback: Jaxson Dart- Sophomore, 6’2” 220 lbs. Transfer from USC

Jaxson Dart is the leader of this Ole Miss offense. He has played in all 12 games for the Rebels, however he didn’t start the second game of the season against Central Arkansas. He has just over 2600 yards on the season, along with 18 TDs and 8 INTs. He has also rushed for 548 yards on 117 attempts this year. Keep in mind though that sacks count as rushing attempts. He ran for over 100 yards twice this season, and 95 yards in another contest against Texas A&M. Dart is a more than capable scrambler. He utilizes his legs a lot better than most QBs in the country. If I were to compare him to a Big 12 QB, it would be Max Duggan of TCU. I think Dart has a bit of a better arm, but still can use his legs to hurt you. The Red Raiders played really well against Max Duggan for three quarters. So I would assume a similar game plan to that TCU matchup in early November.

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Running Backs: Quinshon Judkins- Freshman, 5’11” 210 lbs. Zach Evans- Junior, 6’0” 215 lbs. Transfer from TCU

Ole Miss is definitely a run first football team. They average 47.5 rushing attempts per game. Quinshon Judkins and Zach Evans are the two workhorses in the backfield. Judkins- a true freshman-has 1,476 yards this season, good for an average of 123 yards per game. Evans, the primary back from TCU last season who transferred, has 900 yards in 11 games this season, good for 81 yards per game. The Rebels average 262 yards per game on the ground. If I had to compare this duo to a Big 12 tandem, it would be our own backs in SaRodorick Thompson and Tahj Brooks. Brooks is a little heavier than Judkins, but the talent is very similar.

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Receivers: Malik Heath- Senior, 6’3” 215 lbs. Transfer from Miss. St. Jonathan Mingo- Senior 6’2” 225 lbs.

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When Jaxson Dart throws the ball more times than not, he is looking for Heath or Mingo. Both are seniors and both are big bodies that are going to be outside threats. Heath averages 69.5 yards per game, while Mingo averages 67 yards per game. The duo have almost half of the teams’ receiving TDs (9 of 20) and 100 of the 214 team receptions. Malik Heath reminds me of TCU’s Quentin Johnston, maybe a touch shorter, but the explosiveness is there. Mingo reminds me more of Bryce Ford-Wheaton from West Virginia in terms of size.

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From looking at this Ole Miss offense, I see a lot of similarities to TCU. Dart reminds me a lot of Duggan, and Heath reminds me of Johnston. Evans is a former TCU back and so I think we can expect a similar style of game from the Rebels that we saw in Fort Worth earlier this season.

Texas Tech was in that game the whole time, but fell apart late on defense allowing 21 points in the fourth quarter in a game that some feel was poorly officiated.

Either way, the Red Raiders will face off against Lane Kiffin and his Ole Miss squad at the end of this month. We hope to see everyone at the game in Houston!