Red Flags: 5 college football teams on upset alert in Week 2
- Could the Portal King take a G5 loss?
- Will Colorado's magic run out quickly?
- Alabama will be truly tested, but is Texas back?
4. Ole Miss Rebels
Opponent: at 24 Tulane | Time: Saturday, Sept. 9, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2) | Spread: MISS -7.0
Last week, I had Tulane on upset alert against South Alabama. That worked out horrendously. The Green Wave went out and just worked the Jaguars for 60 minutes, proving that both Michael Pratt and Willie Fritz are the goods, even without Tyjae Spears.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss spent their first Saturday of the 2023 season letting all three of their transfer quarterbacks beat the hell out of Mercer. The end result was a 73-7 victory that, frankly, we can't take much of anything from comign into Week 2 other than that, as one would hope, Ole Miss is way, way better than Mercer.
One of the big concerns for Lane Kiffin's team a season ago -- one which largely contributed to their late-season demise -- was the defense. The Rebels were a saloon door far too often and ESPN's FPI projections on efficiency further that as they are ranked 109th in the country on defense. Tulane isn't a world-beater on that side of the ball (shootout, anyone?) but they are inside the Top 75.
With what we saw from both of these offenses, though, I expect both Ole Miss and Tulane to put up points. Having said that, I have more faith in Pratt to come up in the crucial moments to make plays than I do Jaxson Dart, Spencer Sanders or Walker Howard. The Green Wave are the more battle-tested team and, playing at home, they'll put the Rebels up against the ropes.