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Ole Miss now sits at No. 12 nationally with a pivotal five game stretch in October that will define the second season of head coach Lane Kiffin.
Yeah, yeah, take it one game at a time and all that coachspeak non-sense, but it’s hard not to look at No. 1 Alabama, No. 8 Arkansas, a trip to Knoxville, LSU, and No. 22 Auburn in October and not get dizzy with excitement and anxiety. The next month dealing Ole Miss a 2-3 record would likely dash the hopes of a New Year’s Six bowl while a 5-0 or 4-1 performance would propel the Rebels into a potential playoff conversation.
Coach Kiffin has regularly mentioned the rat poison of getting too confident or settling for the success this team has had already, and I think this mentality could be the difference maker for a huge season.
It’s not an exact science, things can change quickly, but right now, November looks a lot more manageable from a wins and losses standpoint. Vanderbilt is coming off a 62-0 loss to No. 2 Georgia; No. 13 Texas A&M hasn’t looked great all year; then there’s two games with a lot of history and pettiness bound to have the players attention and determination.
Don’t get me wrong here - there’s no way as an Ole Miss fan I can start counting W’s for the rest of the season. We’ve seen this exact drama play out against our team too many times to count.
But for right now, it’s good to be a Rebel and be back to talking about the postseason with giddiness rather than uncertainty.