Opponent preview: Ole Miss

Billy Derrick contributed to this report.

In Week 11, Vanderbilt welcomes the Ole Miss Rebels to Nashville on November 17. Here's a closer look at the Rebels as of early August.

Below are closer looks at the lineups, with key stats from 2017 included. In the "honors" section, preseason all-conference honors are listed according to Athlon's ("ATH"), Lindy's ("LIN") and Phil Steele ("PS").

The Rebels lost starting quarterback Shea Patterson to Michigan, but don't feel sorry--at least in an offensive sense--for Ole Miss coach Matt Luke, who was given the job after doing a fine job as the interim last year in the aftermath of the Hugh Freeze mess. The Rebels have a more-than-adequate replacement in Jordan Ta'amu, a talented, big and experienced offensive line that ranks as one of the SEC's best, and, according to some, the best receiving corps in America.

Ta'amu didn't play until inserted in mop-up time during Ole Miss's 57-35 win over Vanderbilt in Week 6 last year. The next week, Patterson got hurt against LSU, and two weeks later, Ta'amu started against Arkansas. The Rebels lost that game, but, Ta'amu threw for 368 yards and ran for 76. The next two weeks, he led the Rebels to wins over Kentucky (382 passing yards, four TDs) and Louisiana (418 yards, three touchdowns), and ended the season by throwing for 247 yards in Ole Miss's upset of Mississippi State.

Junior A.J. Brown leads the receiving corps; he blistered the Commodores for eight catches, 174 yards and two touchdowns last year. ESPN's Mel Kiper projects the 6-1, 225-pounder as the fourth-overall pick in the 2019 draft, should he come out early. Van Jefferson, Ole Miss's No. 2 an in catches (42) is gone, but Jefferson was more of a possession guy, which could mean more targets for a gifted group of gazelles like DaMarkus Lodge (five catches, 74 yards, two TDs vs. VU) and D.K Metcalf, who topped 100 yards vs. Cal and Arkansas. Both are considered NFL prospects, though not at the level of Brown.

And then, there's tight end Dawson Knox, the Brentwood Academy quarterback who walked on at Ole Miss, earned a scholarship, and is now an All-SEC candidate.

It helps that Ta'amu has plenty of time to throw, thanks to an offensive line led by junior left tackle Greg Little, whom Kiper pegs as the No. 6 overall pick in 2019, should he come out. Every other projected starter has started for at least portions of two seasons. Center Sean Rawlings and left guard Javon Patterson are both considered draft-able prospects, though forecasts seem to be in the middle to late rounds.

Ole Miss has had issues in the running game for much of the last decade, and now Jordan Wilkins (1,011 yards, 6.5 per carry) is gone after Indianapolis took him No. 169 overall in the spring. Returnee Eric Swinney, a junior who's never carried more than seven times in a college game, is the presumed starter. But watch for three-star JUCO Scottie Phillips, a mid-level, three-star prospect, who's expected to challenge for the job.

Ole Miss lost its two top tacklers, and six of its top 11, from a team that gave up at least 22 points in every game, and 34 or more six times. That begs a question as to whether the losses help or hurt. The answer is perhaps some of both, but certainly, some talent is gone after the Rebels lost a pair of draft picks in defensive end Breeland Speaks (second round, Kansas City) and hybrid defensive end/linebacker Marquis Haynes (Carolina, fourth round).

Either way, defensive coordinator Wes McGriff, Vandy's defensive backs coach in 2011, has his hands full.

The positive is that the Rebels return their entire starting defensive backfield, including a pair of lower-level all-star candidates in Ken Webster, who's done an admirable job in recovering from a knee injury suffered on the first defensive series of 2016 (which cost him the rest of the season) and junior Jaylon Jones, who took the job of C.J. Moore (51 tackles, three interceptions, and also a returnee) beginning in Week 6 last year.

Up front, former high-four-star recruit Benito Jones, the Rebels' 13th-leading tackler, is a potential All-SEC candidate. He's flanked by Josiah Coatney, who started every game last season and had a quite a statistically-productive campaign for a defensive lineman.

No regular starters return at linebacker, where the Rebels may lean heavily on new faces. Vernon Dasher was a first-team JUCO All-American after an outstanding 2017 at Coffeyville Community College. Dasher plays the "star" spot, a hybrid linebacker-safety position in McGriff's 4-2-5 scheme.

The Rebels need to find a pass rusher somewhere; Coatney (3.5) is the leading returning sack-getter on a defense that registered 29 of them a year ago, and relied on Haynes (7.5) and Speaks (7.0) to get them.

Ole Miss also had fits against the run, yielding 5.4 yards per carry.

The Rebels torched Vanderbilt for 603 yards last year, averaging 6.1 yards per rush, and 10.0 per pass. Ole Miss had a 35-21 halftime lead, making it difficult for Vanderbilt to be anything but one-dimensional against a team it couldn't stop.

No doubt, the thought of those receivers running roughshod over a suspect VU secondary sends shivers up the spines of Commodore fans. That's a very real danger. But its also a new year, and in case you forgot, Vanderbilt dominated the Rebels just as thoroughly in a 38-17 spanking in Nashville the year before.

The key will be getting stops, perhaps through forcing turnovers. As good as the Rebels' offensive line is, Ole Miss yielded 32 sacks a season ago, and turned the ball over 19 times. Vanderbilt will likely need both sacks and turnovers if it's going to hang with the Rebels.

And if that happens, things could be interesting. The Commodores should run the ball much better in 2017, and if McGriff can't figure out a way to slow the run game--even Vanderbilt ran for 5.1 per carry last season against Ole Miss--VU may be able to control tempo with Ke'Shawn Vaughn and company, loosening up the Ole Miss defense for quarterback Kyle Shurmur.

But the passing game is where VU ran into trouble last year. The Commodores simply couldn't protect their quarterback against the Rebels, who racked up seven sacks.

The results of the last two games between the two are full of mixed signals. Ole Miss has the edge because neither defense figures to be among the league's best, and the Rebel offense has the talent to go to a level that the Commodores, while quite likely improved on that side of the ball, can't.

Ole Miss has the edge, but whoever can control tempo and win the turnover battle likely wins the game.

2017 record: 6-6 (3-5 SEC)

Coach: Matt Luke (6-6, 2nd year)

PPG, total offense in 2017: 32.8, 462.3

PPG, total defense in 2017: 34.6, 459.5

Turnover margin: minus-5

Athlon's preseason FBS power rank: 58

ESPN preseason FPI: 45

Lindy's preseason FBS power rank: 56

Phil Steele preseason FBS power rank: 60

S&P preseason rank: 25