I apologize for the tardiness of this end-of-the-season post regarding the Gator Bowl. A lot of life things have happened the last several days that have prevented me from sitting down and watching the tape to hopefully give some educated (somewhat) analysis. First, I made the decision not to go to Jacksonville. It was just too much juice for the squeeze for me. I was going to go with an army buddy who is an ND fan to the Sugar Bowl then meet some family members at Camp Shelby to go deer hunting on the 2nd through yesterday. They have asked me to go hunting at CS for several years now and, well, this is most likely my last hunting season before I am retired from the military, so this was the year. Then, all the horrific things happened in NOLA, and the game got bumped, so I could not go to the Sugar Bowl on the 2nd with my friend due to my family coming in. We didn't get back from Camp Shelby until last night and I was too tired to put any thoughts together then. Ok. Now that you have read about my calendar of events for the last few days, I will try to share what I gleaned from watching the tape one time through (I fast-forwarded through some of it, just to be completely transparent). Compared to my standard post-game takes, this will be short. Here are some takeaways from my seat at my home of record (HOR) outside Tupelo:
1. What a shame that we couldn't have won one of those 3 one-score games that we lost this year. An Ole Miss - Ohio State final would have been one for the ages, from an Ole Miss fan's perspective. The storylines... would have been many. We are one of the best 4 teams in the country, and only Ohio State has shown me that they could POSSIBLY beat a focused Ole Miss team on a neutral field. That said, it was refreshing to see the team show up and play hard, all of them, one last time together. I am sure Pooh Paul had his reasons for opting out, but it would have been good for him to have been out there too. Duke was overmatched from the start. I know their QB opted out, but he doesn't play defense. The game would have been somewhat closer for longer, but Ole Miss was way better than Duke, in all phases of the game.
2. What more can I say about Jaxson Dart? That guy is simply everything any coach in their right mind would want to lead their football team. He not only played every meaningful snap in his last game, he did not shy away (that I saw anyway) from any potential contact/running opportunities and played full throttle the entire time. I am not surprised, and I am sure no one else was either. Warrior. Legend. Winner. I will stop at three superlatives in this piece for JD. Thank you for all you did for Ole Miss. Ole Miss was good for JD, but we all are the benefactors of his decision to come to Oxford Mississippi.
3. Logan Diggs LOOKS like an SEC running back. I am glad that he was able to get out there and get some reps. I am sure it was as good for his heart and soul as anything else. Coming back from an injury that requires an entire year can be mentally taxing, even for the hardest of mentally tough people. Hopefully, he will use his positive experience in the Gator Bowl as a springboard to a productive 2025 as RB1.
4. Bentley had another good game. The situation that will always be the biggest what if in the 2024 version of the Ole Miss Rebels played one final chapter in the Gator Bowl. Bentley had 70 yards on 14 carries, scored a TD, had 4 receptions for 30 yards out of the backfield, and played (according to Chase's snap count analysis post) 2/3 of the offensive snaps. I just don't know. Insert shoulder shrug gif here.
5. The OL, the Achilles heel of this team this year, had a decent night, at least from my one drive-through viewing of the tape. Duke did get to JD on numerous occasions and did sack him 3 times, but Manny Diaz has always been known to bring the house and let the chips fall where they fall. He is not Joe Lee, but his approach to defense might be considered a modern-day evolvement of CJLD's defensive philosophy. Duke brought the house numerous times, resulting in JD finding attractive 1v1 matchups downfield. The OL held their water long enough for JD to hit several big plays. Additionally, we ran the ball 33 times for 151 yards, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Per our usual, the starters played all but the last 3 snaps in the last minute after Duke's KO return.
6. I was glad to see Jordan Watkins have one final shining moment in the Red and Blue. That guy has been Mr. Reliable for 3 seasons now. He always seemed to make the big catch in the big moment. He is a warrior, a stud, tough and dependable. Cayden Lee just doesn't drop the ball. He is a vacuum when the ball is thrown to him. I am fairly confident in saying he didn't drop a pass all year. Dae Qaun Wright is a star in the making. He will be a big part of the offense next season. Caden Prieskorn will be missed. He was solid in the run game and snatched anything close to him with those mammoth hands of his. Juice Wells had a nice grab for a TD. Maybe he will come back and revert to his 2023 self in 2025. Finally, cap tip to Tre Harris. It is a shame that he couldn't stay healthy. Just an absolute matchup nightmare when he was full go.
7. As I have said before, it is so great to have a good defense. Those guys got after it from the first snap and suffocated Duke. Duke only scored when we decided to let them score. You read that right. If the game were on the line, a playoff game, an SEC game, I seriously doubt Duke would have scored an offensive touchdown. Those guys on the DL, Nolen, JJ, Ivey, Princely all flew all over the place from the first snap. Every one of those guys could have opted out, but instead, they played...HARD! Khari Coleman had a solid game in place of Paul, recording 5 tackles. Trey Washington played his usual solid game, leading the team with 10 tackles. I found it interesting that Louis Moore played as many snaps as he did. I thought I read he entered the portal. Did I miss something? The pick 6 by Hamilton was a bright spot to be excited about heading into 2025.
8. I close this piece by taking a moment of personal privilege to express an opinion. I think the Bowl games, in their present state, are a waste of time, and unnecessary risk for the players. I consider myself a pretty invested college football fan, and I can honestly say that I watched ZERO minutes of bowl games this year that didn't involve Ole Miss. I did watch every second of every playoff game. I would have taken out a 2nd (or 3rd) mortgage on my home to follow Ole Miss in the playoffs. I had ZERO interest in going to the Gator Bowl. I viewed it as too much juice for the squeeze. If that makes me a bad alumnus/fan, then so be it. That is how I feel/felt.
There was a time when a Gator Bowl trip was something huge that was a celebration of a great season. I was a student at Ole Miss in 1990 when Ole Miss went to the Gator Bowl after a 9-2 regular season and got absolutely throttled by a Michigan team that was probably the best team in the country that year. Much like us this year, they had lost 3 games by a total of 6 points and they just dominated us. That said, while I am happy that our guys showed up and played hard, I am not sure how many would have chosen to do so if not for getting that last check. I have no "inside" knowledge, so my comments as to the motivation of our team is pure speculatory. We may have had a true band of brothers who wanted to go out there and lay it on the line one last time for each other and for the name on the front of that jersey. If so, then I am happy that that type of camaraderie still exists in today's college football. If I had to bet, that is not where I would put my money. What does that have to do with my statement about bowl games? Nothing. Everything.
I heard a podcast a while back that suggested that bowl games be moved to the front of the next season instead of the end of the present one. This would provide you with your nonconference power 5 opponent and serve as a reward that all but the previous year's seniors earned to start the season. That would be a much better start to the season than watching Ole Miss play Furman to start the season. I remember 2013 and 2016 when we started the season playing a bona fide opponent at a neutral site. It was something exciting to look forward to. Keep the Big bowls for the playoffs, move the rest to the start of the season. Anyway, I thought it was a good idea worth exploring and discussing.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my reviews this year. It is therapeutic for me to review tape, analyze and confirm what I saw, and make deductive observations based on that. I will be retired from the military sometime early this year, depending on the expeditious nature of the Veterans Affairs Administration. I am not sure what I am going to do next. I have never wanted to do anything but coach (well, play, but genetics and all...) football and serve our country in the military. I am about to be retired-retired. I am not ruling out a return to coaching. I will see what door(s) The Lord opens for me in the weeks and months to come. Hotty Toddy and God Bless.
1. What a shame that we couldn't have won one of those 3 one-score games that we lost this year. An Ole Miss - Ohio State final would have been one for the ages, from an Ole Miss fan's perspective. The storylines... would have been many. We are one of the best 4 teams in the country, and only Ohio State has shown me that they could POSSIBLY beat a focused Ole Miss team on a neutral field. That said, it was refreshing to see the team show up and play hard, all of them, one last time together. I am sure Pooh Paul had his reasons for opting out, but it would have been good for him to have been out there too. Duke was overmatched from the start. I know their QB opted out, but he doesn't play defense. The game would have been somewhat closer for longer, but Ole Miss was way better than Duke, in all phases of the game.
2. What more can I say about Jaxson Dart? That guy is simply everything any coach in their right mind would want to lead their football team. He not only played every meaningful snap in his last game, he did not shy away (that I saw anyway) from any potential contact/running opportunities and played full throttle the entire time. I am not surprised, and I am sure no one else was either. Warrior. Legend. Winner. I will stop at three superlatives in this piece for JD. Thank you for all you did for Ole Miss. Ole Miss was good for JD, but we all are the benefactors of his decision to come to Oxford Mississippi.
3. Logan Diggs LOOKS like an SEC running back. I am glad that he was able to get out there and get some reps. I am sure it was as good for his heart and soul as anything else. Coming back from an injury that requires an entire year can be mentally taxing, even for the hardest of mentally tough people. Hopefully, he will use his positive experience in the Gator Bowl as a springboard to a productive 2025 as RB1.
4. Bentley had another good game. The situation that will always be the biggest what if in the 2024 version of the Ole Miss Rebels played one final chapter in the Gator Bowl. Bentley had 70 yards on 14 carries, scored a TD, had 4 receptions for 30 yards out of the backfield, and played (according to Chase's snap count analysis post) 2/3 of the offensive snaps. I just don't know. Insert shoulder shrug gif here.
5. The OL, the Achilles heel of this team this year, had a decent night, at least from my one drive-through viewing of the tape. Duke did get to JD on numerous occasions and did sack him 3 times, but Manny Diaz has always been known to bring the house and let the chips fall where they fall. He is not Joe Lee, but his approach to defense might be considered a modern-day evolvement of CJLD's defensive philosophy. Duke brought the house numerous times, resulting in JD finding attractive 1v1 matchups downfield. The OL held their water long enough for JD to hit several big plays. Additionally, we ran the ball 33 times for 151 yards, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Per our usual, the starters played all but the last 3 snaps in the last minute after Duke's KO return.
6. I was glad to see Jordan Watkins have one final shining moment in the Red and Blue. That guy has been Mr. Reliable for 3 seasons now. He always seemed to make the big catch in the big moment. He is a warrior, a stud, tough and dependable. Cayden Lee just doesn't drop the ball. He is a vacuum when the ball is thrown to him. I am fairly confident in saying he didn't drop a pass all year. Dae Qaun Wright is a star in the making. He will be a big part of the offense next season. Caden Prieskorn will be missed. He was solid in the run game and snatched anything close to him with those mammoth hands of his. Juice Wells had a nice grab for a TD. Maybe he will come back and revert to his 2023 self in 2025. Finally, cap tip to Tre Harris. It is a shame that he couldn't stay healthy. Just an absolute matchup nightmare when he was full go.
7. As I have said before, it is so great to have a good defense. Those guys got after it from the first snap and suffocated Duke. Duke only scored when we decided to let them score. You read that right. If the game were on the line, a playoff game, an SEC game, I seriously doubt Duke would have scored an offensive touchdown. Those guys on the DL, Nolen, JJ, Ivey, Princely all flew all over the place from the first snap. Every one of those guys could have opted out, but instead, they played...HARD! Khari Coleman had a solid game in place of Paul, recording 5 tackles. Trey Washington played his usual solid game, leading the team with 10 tackles. I found it interesting that Louis Moore played as many snaps as he did. I thought I read he entered the portal. Did I miss something? The pick 6 by Hamilton was a bright spot to be excited about heading into 2025.
8. I close this piece by taking a moment of personal privilege to express an opinion. I think the Bowl games, in their present state, are a waste of time, and unnecessary risk for the players. I consider myself a pretty invested college football fan, and I can honestly say that I watched ZERO minutes of bowl games this year that didn't involve Ole Miss. I did watch every second of every playoff game. I would have taken out a 2nd (or 3rd) mortgage on my home to follow Ole Miss in the playoffs. I had ZERO interest in going to the Gator Bowl. I viewed it as too much juice for the squeeze. If that makes me a bad alumnus/fan, then so be it. That is how I feel/felt.
There was a time when a Gator Bowl trip was something huge that was a celebration of a great season. I was a student at Ole Miss in 1990 when Ole Miss went to the Gator Bowl after a 9-2 regular season and got absolutely throttled by a Michigan team that was probably the best team in the country that year. Much like us this year, they had lost 3 games by a total of 6 points and they just dominated us. That said, while I am happy that our guys showed up and played hard, I am not sure how many would have chosen to do so if not for getting that last check. I have no "inside" knowledge, so my comments as to the motivation of our team is pure speculatory. We may have had a true band of brothers who wanted to go out there and lay it on the line one last time for each other and for the name on the front of that jersey. If so, then I am happy that that type of camaraderie still exists in today's college football. If I had to bet, that is not where I would put my money. What does that have to do with my statement about bowl games? Nothing. Everything.
I heard a podcast a while back that suggested that bowl games be moved to the front of the next season instead of the end of the present one. This would provide you with your nonconference power 5 opponent and serve as a reward that all but the previous year's seniors earned to start the season. That would be a much better start to the season than watching Ole Miss play Furman to start the season. I remember 2013 and 2016 when we started the season playing a bona fide opponent at a neutral site. It was something exciting to look forward to. Keep the Big bowls for the playoffs, move the rest to the start of the season. Anyway, I thought it was a good idea worth exploring and discussing.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my reviews this year. It is therapeutic for me to review tape, analyze and confirm what I saw, and make deductive observations based on that. I will be retired from the military sometime early this year, depending on the expeditious nature of the Veterans Affairs Administration. I am not sure what I am going to do next. I have never wanted to do anything but coach (well, play, but genetics and all...) football and serve our country in the military. I am about to be retired-retired. I am not ruling out a return to coaching. I will see what door(s) The Lord opens for me in the weeks and months to come. Hotty Toddy and God Bless.
