Wofford vs. Ole Miss: Rebs win 38-13, which is fine

There was nothing particularly exciting about Ole Miss’ 38-13 win over Wofford on Saturday. Chad Kelly threw for 219 yards and three touchdowns (and no picks!) and the offense scored on six of their nine possessions, but we didn’t see anything like the 70-point explosions that marked the the early cupcake wins of 2015. The defense bent a decent bit against Wofford’s triple-option offense (allowing four drives of at least seven plays) but only allowed one touchdown.

As a whole, the opening game in the newly renovated Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was largely meh. But for a game sandwiched between top-five opponents, meh is to be expected. There’ll be plenty of excitement in Oxford when Bama rolls into town next week.

The offense wasn’t explosive, but it was efficient.

The story of the FSU game was Ole Miss’ first-half ability to pile up chunk yardage and a second-half inability to stay on pace. So while Saturday didn’t see many of those long, highlight-worthy plays we’re used to seeing Chad rack up against cupcakes, the offense was at least efficient. The Rebs scored on each of their first five drives and converted 10 of 13 third downs. For a team that just needed to get through Saturday without major injury (which it might not have done—see below), that’ll do.

It looks like Shea Patterson is redshirting.

Hugh Freeze said earlier this week that he and his five-star freshman quarterback were sitting down to discuss the possibility of playing against Wofford. Considering Patterson didn't see the field on Saturday, it’s probably safe to assume the coaches are going to try to stretch a redshirt season out of him. If he was going to play in 2016, why not against Wofford?

It makes sense that Freeze would want to preserve an extra year of eligibility for a guy who’s slated to be the quarterback of the future after Kelly’s graduation. The risk, of course, is that Chad goes down with an injury this season and the Rebs are stuck choosing between Patterson with zero experience and Jason Pellerin, who’d never thrown a pass in college before Saturday. Pellerin eventually took over for Kelly in the fourth quarter but only threw three times.

Of note: freshman running back D’Vaughn Pennamon, who was scheduled for a redshirt before Swinney’s redshirt, had six carries for 13 yards.

D.K. Metcalf made another incredible touchdown grab... then got injured.

A week after grabbing in a touchdown against FSU, the four-star freshman hauled in this score on Saturday:

Sometime before the end of the second quarter, though, Metcalf suffered a broken foot. He’s out for the year and will redshirt.

The Rebs, which lost starting corner Ken Webster and second-string running back Eric Swinney to season-ending knee injuries last week, just can’t catch a break. Losing a receiver isn’t nearly as significant as losing a DB or RB, but an injury to a promising young guy like Metcalf sure doesn’t help.