How cool it would have been if college football coaches had a magic wand to make their favorite players the fittest? The man in most need of that superpower right now is Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin. The Rebels’ injury updates are here and it does not look good at all. Ole Miss will be facing off against the Kentucky Wildcats on September 27. While Mark Pope too lands in a soup after one of their biggest weapon gets out, they have to be mindful of five key factors that would help the Cats to pull off the shocking upset over the Rebels in Oxford.  

Not one, not two, but TWENTY PLAYERS have found themselves on the injury report list as Kiffin’s squad came forward with on September 27, Friday. That’s alarming indeed! Out of the twenty players, ten players have been confirmed to be out for Friday’s game. The notable names whose absence will be enough to land Kiffin in a pool of cold sweat are CB Cedrick Beavers, RB Logan Diggs, OL Cam East, and WR Joshua Pfeifer among others. 

Then comes the names who are on the “questionable” status. These included DE Jared Ivey who is recovering from an ankle injury, OL Gerquan Scoot, DT JJ Pegues along with a bunch of others. The list also contains names of five payers including CB Isaiah Hamilton, and DT Walter Nolen whose future hangs in dilemma and may or may not hit the gridiron and has slipped into the “probable” status. 

Even though things do not look that bad in Mark Pope’s squad like Kiffin’s with only eight Cats who will be out, they have lost their prime weapon. Well, that’s none other than their DB Maxwell Hairston. Sadly, the athlete who tied the Kansas record with the third interception return for a touchdown against Ohio would not be able to perform. While it’s not clear whether it’s his shoulder injury that’s keeping him away, it’s going to be costly for the Cats. After all, he was supposed to be assigned the task of guarding Kiffin’s receiver Tre Harris. But Kiffin is already bogged down with the burden of carrying so many injured players that it would take Kentucky to take care of five factors.    

Kentucky’s blueprint to win over Lane Kiffin’s Rebels

The first key to success for Kentucky would be to restrict the clock. By hook or crook, they will have to limit the Rebels’ managing the clock by running the ball. But it won’t be an easy task as Kiffin’s crew has the third-best offense in the country boasting an average of 42 points and 478 yards per game. The second big task would be to prevent any major explosive plays. This might be easy for them since the Cats were able to do it in a three-point loss at Ole Miss in 2022.

While Pope has pinned all his hopes on Wilson Berry as the starting punter, he has averaged only 41 yards per punt this season. In that case, they will have to be extra careful about allowing Kiffin’s program to earn a favorable field position. As this CFB season has been full of penalties, they must take their lessons. Plus, the Cats have repeatedly hurt themselves with penalties this season.

And the fifth point goes without saying, protect Brock Vandagriff their QB. When you are going to face Lane Kiffin’s and Rebels’ pride, Jaxson Dart, you better tread with caution. Besides, the Ole Miss defense comes off as No.1 allowing only 5.5 points per game, and are yet to allow a touchdown in this season. Sure, the Rebels’ roster is half-injured, but that just makes them even scrappier—watch your back, Wildcats.

Besides the pre-game scoops, if you are interested in knowing about NIL and the NFL, you can check the latest episode of the Think Tank podcast.