Tag: Tre Harris

Why the Ole Miss offense is best that Georgia has faced

Why Georgia football faces their biggest challenge defensively of the season against Ole Miss

The Ole Miss Rebels’ offense will be a significant challenge for the Georgia Bulldogs’ defense. This matchup for Georgia against Ole Miss has elements that the Bulldog defense have not seen this season. UGA has not seen an offense this explosive.

Here are three reasons why this offense can cause headaches for this Bulldog team.

Jaxson Dart

Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart poses a threat that the Bulldogs have not seen all season. Dart leads the nation with 3,210 passing yards. Dart still has the ability to leave the pocket and create a positive gain with his legs. Head coach Kirby Smart knows what is in front of his defense this Saturday.

“He’s playing at a really high level. He sees things well. I think he, Lane (Kiffin) and the offensive staff are further along. They know what they’re looking for. They know when you get in something, what beats that, and they know how to attack it. He’s just a proven winner, and he’s a fierce competitor. He’s hard to stop,” Smart said.

Dart’s elite play has propelled the Ole Miss passing offense to the top of the nation and Rebels have the second-best total offense at 555 yards per game. Much of that success is thanks to Dart, whose contributions have been crucial. If the Bulldogs hope to walk away with a win, then they’ll need to contain Dart and slow down the Rebels’ high-powered offense in Oxford this Saturday.

Receiver Core

Jordan Watkins #11 of the Ole Miss Rebels had a historic game against the Arkansas Razorbacks. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

Ole Miss receiver Tre Harris leads the charge for the Rebels with 987 yards, ranking third in the nation and first in the SEC. Harris is questionable to play with an injury.

Receiver Jordan Watkins stepped up in a big way last week against Arkansas, racking up 250 yards and scoring five touchdowns. Adding to the firepower, Antwane “Juice” Wells brings familiarity with Georgia from his time at South Carolina. This trio will challenge the UGA secondary all game long.

“They’ve got several draft pick receivers that are good players,” Smart said.

Having three options that can win in any situation is tough to cover especially with a home crowd that is waiting for a big play to happen.

Lane Kiffin 

 (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

Lane Kiffin as averaged the sixth best total offense for the Rebels since arriving in Oxford in 2020. Kirby Smart knows the challenge that Kiffin brings as a play caller.

“He knows scheme. Lane (Kiffin) has been around a lot of football. His dad is one of the greatest defensive minds there ever was. He knows how to attack defenses probably at a higher rate than most offensive coordinators. He’s been experienced with that. He knows the difficulties that come with it,” Smart said.

Kiffin stands out as one of the most creative play-callers in college football, always looking to exploit matchups and put his team in the best position to succeed. Facing a potential College Football Playoff elimination, expect for Kiffin and Ole Miss to unleash his full playbook, using every trick and scheme to secure a critical win. Kiffin and Smart were on Alabama staff from 2014-2015, so they have a lot of familiarity.

Oklahoma vs Ole Miss injury report: Latest updates, news for Week 9

All the latest updates and news on Oklahoma Football’s injury report ahead of a Week 9 game vs. Ole Miss.

The Oklahoma Sooners are preparing to take on the Ole Miss Rebels this Saturday, and they’ll once again be without plenty of key faces on offense.

OU will once again be without wide receivers [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag], [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag], [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag] and [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag] in this week’s game. They’ve already been ruled out along with defensive backs [autotag]Gentry Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Kendel Dolby[/autotag] and offensive lineman [autotag]Geirean Hatchett[/autotag].

While Gibson, Dolby and Hatchett are all out for the 2024 season, there is still hope that Farooq, Anderson, Anthony and Williams could return this year.

Oklahoma injury report

Player Position Status 10/23
Jayden Gibson WR OUT
Jalil Farooq WR OUT
Gentry Williams DB OUT
Geirean Hatchett OL OUT
Nic Anderson WR OUT
Kendel Dolby DB OUT
Tyler Keltner K OUT
Andrel Anthony WR OUT
Deion Burks WR Questionable
Gavin Sawchuk RB Doubtful

Deion Burks injury update

Deion Burks has been out of action since Oklahoma’s loss to Tennessee but Brent Venables indicated earlier this week that he was day-to-day and is questionable for this week against Ole Miss. The Sooners offense needs some experience in the passing game and Burks return would provide a boost.

Burks is still Oklahoma’s leading wide receiver in 2024 despite not playing since the Tennessee game back in September. His return would be huge for this Sooner offense as they look to rebound and find ways to put points on the board amidst the changes at offensive coordinator.

Gavin Sawchuk injury update

Gavin Sawchuk was projected to be the starter and take the leap at running back for OU in 2024, but he has struggled in a big way, losing his lead role and getting less and less carries as the season rolls along.

According to head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag], Sawchuk is dealing with a strained quad, which is why he didn’t play last week against the South Carolina Gamecocks. He could return this week, but it doesn’t look very likely.

 Ole Miss injury report

Player Position Status 10/23
Cedric Beavers CB OUT
Logan Diggs RB OUT
Matt Jones RB Doubtful
Tre Harris WR Questionable
Jayden Williams OL Questionable
Jeremy James OL Questionable
Princely Umanmielen DE Probable
T.J. Dottery LB Probable
Cayden Lee WR Probable

Ole Miss wide receiver Tre Harris is a player to watch this week. He’s the Rebels leading receiver and if he’s unable to go this week will create an interesting dilemma for the Ole Miss offense.

Princely Umanmielen and Cayden Lee are key players for the Rebels that look to be on track to play this week. Lee is second on the team in receiving and Umanmielen is Ole Miss’ highest-graded defensive lineman according to Pro Football Focus.

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Could Ole Miss be without star receiver Tre Harris vs. LSU?

Ole Miss receiver Tre Harris remains questionable entering Saturday’s contest vs LSU.

Ole Miss’ Tre Harris is one of the best receivers in the country. He leads the SEC with 885 yards and a whopping 5.67 yards per route run. He’s been a model of efficiency and explosiveness for the Rebel offense in 2024.

However, he remains questionable entering the top 25 contest vs. LSU on Saturday night.

Harris would be a significant loss for the Ole Miss offense. Harris has 52 catches on 64 targets this year. The Rebels’ next most targeted pass catcher is Antwane Wells with 30. Cayden Lee ranks second in catches, but his total of 18 is well below Harris’ 52.

Without Harris, the bulk of the offensive production would have to go somewhere else. That’s not something you want to be figuring out when facing a top 25 team on the road.

LSU didn’t have an answer for Harris last year as he caught eight passes for 153 yards and a score.

If Harris isn’t on the field, it allows the LSU defense to present a more balanced attack. The secondary doesn’t have to lock in on one guy.

Harris’ status will be unclear until later Saturday afternoon, but if he’s out there, he’s one of the best players on the field.

Ole Miss’ latest injury report featured 11 players, down from the previous total of 18 listed earlier in the week.

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5 things to know about Ole Miss prior to Week 7 meeting with LSU

LSU will square off with Ole Miss on Saturday night. Here are five things to know about the Rebels.

Things are changing throughout the sport of college football but the LSU vs. Ole Miss rivalry remains an annual staple. The programs have met 112 times in their storied histories. It’s a series with a tendency to produce SEC classics.

That’s what we saw last year when LSU dropped a 55-49 shootout in Oxford. [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] threw for 414 yards and ran for 99 more, but it wasn’t enough thanks to LSU allowing over 706 total yards on defense.

LSU fans who watched that game should be familiar with this Ole Miss offense. QB Jaxson Dart and WR Tre Harris are still here and Lane Kiffin’s offensive style is no secret.

Ole Miss hit the transfer portal hard and it’s a team with plenty of new pieces, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Today, we’ll take a look at five things LSU fans should know about Ole Miss prior to the top 25 showdown on Saturday night.

Ole Miss season to this point

Ole Miss began the year ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll with many calling this team a national title contender. The Rebels won their first four games by a combined score of 220-22. The competition wasn’t stiff, but the dominance was noteworthy nonetheless.

When conference play began, Ole Miss ran into a hiccup, dropping one at home to Kentucky. The Rebel defense held UK to 4.43 yards per play but surrendered a 63-yard pass to set up a touchdown when it mattered late.

On offense, Ole Miss turned the ball over and took four sacks. Tre Harris produced, but Dart didn’t play his best game.

Ole Miss bounced back with a win over South Carolina last week. The OM interior defensive line dominated and Ole Miss didn’t allow a touchdown.

Dart completed just 51.9% of his passes and his PFF passing grade ranked 11th among SEC QBs in Week 6, but it was enough to get the job done.

That brings Ole Miss to 5-1 entering the showdown with LSU.

Tre Harris is still doing damage

Tre Harris caught eight passes for 153 yards and a score against LSU last year. Most of that production came in key moments to keep Ole Miss on the field and in the game.

Harris did most of his work against [autotag]Laterrence Welch[/autotag] and [autotag]Denver Harris[/autotag] while [autotag]Zy Alexander[/autotag] and [autotag]Ashton Stamps[/autotag] held up fine. Welch and Harris aren’t with LSU anymore, but Alexander and Stamps are.

With 885 receiving yards after week six, Harris leads the SEC. He’s catching 81.3% of his targets and his 5.67 yards per route run are nearly a yard better than the SEC’s second-best. He’s putting together a Biletnikoff campaign.

The Ole Miss offense runs through Harris. If LSU allows him to get going, it will be a long night for the Tigers.

Ole Miss is good on the interior defensive line

Ole Miss’ group of interior defensive linemen is one of the best in the SEC. Walter Nolen and JJ Pegues lead all SEC defensive tackles with 17 and 14 pressures, respectively.

Nolen was disruptive last week, forcing seven pressures and coming up with two sacks against South Carolina.

According to PFF, four of the SEC’s best five run-defending defensive tackles play for Ole Miss. Pegues and Nolen rank first and second in the conference in run defense grade while William Echoles and Zxavian Harris aren’t that far behind.

With Nolen and Pegues forming one of the best duos in the SEC, this DT unit is dangerous.

Ole Miss leads the nation in explosive play rate

Counting explosive plays as 20+ yard passes or 10+ yard runs, Ole Miss leads the FBS with an explosive play rate of 19.2%. Nearly every fifth play is an explosive play at that clip.

That’s trouble for an LSU defense that struggles to limit big plays on the ground. The good news is that Ole Miss wasn’t quite as explosive vs Kentucky and South Carolina, the two real defenses it faced.

LSU will get aggressive on Saturday night, so some big plays are expected. LSU needs to generate enough big plays of its own to keep up.

Players to watch

You know Jaxson Dart is the QB and Tre Harris is the guy on offense. We mentioned the group at defensive tackle, too. Here are some other names to keep an eye on.

LB Chris Paul: The Arkansas transfer is playing like one of the best LBs in the country right now. He has 18 pressures and 26 stops to go along with a forced fumble. He’s impacting the game in every phase.

RB Henry Parrish Jr: He was questionable last week, but ended up playing and carried it 21 times for 81 yards and a score. Parrish leads the SEC in runs of 10 or more yards with 21 on the year.

RT Micah Pettus: Now in his third year with Ole Miss, Pettus ranks third among SEC tackles in PFF run blocking grade.

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5 takeaways from Penn State’s brutal loss to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl

5 takeaways from Penn State’s brutal loss to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl

It was a day to forget for the Nittany Lions, who came to Atlanta looking for a statement win, but it turned into a statement 38-25 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels. It was a struggle in all phases for Penn State, who couldn’t stop the run, the pass, and even had a fourth-quarter field goal attempt blocked.

Despite starting the game with a positive field goal drive and a few good runs, the offense never got into a rhythm. [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] and the passing game struggled mightily, only hitting on a big play on a fluke-tipped pass to Tyler Warren for 75 yards, which ironically ended up being Penn State’s longest play of the season.

The defense, missing its top two corners and best edge defender, was no match for the up-tempo explosive offensive that is the Rebels. Ole Miss had its way running and throwing the football, dicing up the Penn State secondary every which way.

It will be interesting to see how the Nittany Lions rebound from a now 3 loss season. All three losses will have happened against top-11 opponents where the Penn State offense looked absolutely anemic. No matter the fallout, Drew Allar and new offensive coordinator [autotag]Andy Kotelnicki[/autotag] will have an enormous amount of pressure on themselves to improve the offense going into next year.

After an all-around pathetic performance, here are five takeaways from Penn State’s Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss.

Who are the Rebels’ playmakers? A breakdown of the Ole Miss offensive skill players

Who are the Ole Miss playmakers? Breaking down the starters

We are now less than days out from the 2023 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl kicking off in Atlanta. Penn State is expected to have most of its roster intact and participating in the matchup against Ole Miss. The Rebels and Lane Kiffin are in a similar situation, with their roster paving the way for a competitive bowl game.

Ole Miss’s offense is one of the best in the country, ranking 15th in total offense with 455.4 yards per game. The Rebels are also the nation’s 4th most explosive passing offense amount teams with over 200 passing attempts, averaging 14.43 yards per completion.

It will be a tough test for the Penn State defense to limit Jaxson Dart and the Rebels downfield passing game.

Here are the Ole Miss skill positions and some of their stats through the regular season, including a key attribute of their game to watch for in the Peach Bowl.

Tale of the Tape: Auburn vs Ole Miss

Ole Miss is favored in week seven, but does the tale of the tape say this game will be closer?

The 5-1 Ole Miss Rebels travel to Jordan-Hare stadium to take on the 3-3 Auburn Tigers in a week 7 SEC matchup on Saturday.

Auburn comes into this one a loser of three straight games, while Ole Miss has only lost once all year. That loss came in Tuscaloosa to Alabama.

The high-octane offense of Ole Miss and their ability to win SEC games has the Rebels coming in as 6.5-point favorites on the road in this one, giving them an implied 71.43% chance to win outright.

ESPN’s Football Power Index doesn’t give the Tigers much of a chance either, as [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag]’s team has just a 22.8% chance to upset the Rebels according to FPI.

Most of the public would agree Ole Miss is likely to win this game, but will a look at the tale of the tape show us Auburn has a better chance at breaking their losing streak than the surface suggests?

As always, we’ll start by examining the quarterbacks.

[autotag]Lane Kiffin[/autotag]’s offenses are always high-powered, and this year is no outlier. The team averages 42 points per contest this season, led by the arm of quarterback [autotag]Jaxon Dart[/autotag].

Dart has been amazing this year, as the junior has thrown for 1,638 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has thrown only two interceptions.

On the Auburn side, [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] and [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag] have continuously struggled.

The tandem has thrown for just 935 yards in 6 games, accumulating 6 touchdowns through the air.

The clear edge in the quarterback battle goes to Ole Miss.

In terms of the skill players, Ole Miss once again has the edge,

Running backs [autotag]Quinshon Judkins[/autotag] and [autotag]Ulysees Bentley[/autotag] have combined to rush for 718 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns this year behind a very good Rebels offensive line.

The pass catchers have also been great, with the trio of [autotag]Jordan Watkins[/autotag], [autotag]Dayton Wade[/autotag], and [autotag]Tre Harris[/autotag] combining for over 1,000 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.

When compared with Auburn’s top skill position players like [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag], [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag], and [autotag]Brian Battie[/autotag], the comparison is not close.

Ole Miss as an offense is much better than what Auburn has to offer.

The defensive battle is much closer, however.

Despite Auburn getting torched by Jayden Daniels and LSU last week, the Tigers still rank in the top 60 in points per game allowed and the top 70 in yards per game allowed.

While those numbers are much worse than what they were earlier, they are great compared to an Ole Miss defense that ranks outside of the top 100 in both categories.

If Auburn is going to win this game, they need to take advantage of their better defensive unit. That is something they were not able to do a week ago, but the home game may change the tide.

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Oklahoma Sooners receive crystal ball for transfer wide receiver Tre Harris

The Oklahoma Sooners earned a crystal ball prediction for Louisiana Tech transfer WR Tre Harris from Brandon Drumm of OUInsider.

In the early stages of the 2022-2023 transfer portal, one thing became abundantly clear. The Oklahoma Sooners were looking to add a wide receiver with bona fide production at the collegiate level.

With several offers out there, it appears Oklahoma has zeroed in on Louisiana Tech transfer wide receiver Tre Harris. Brandon Drumm of OUInsider at 247Sports issued a crystal ball on Tuesday projecting Harris to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Harris, a former high school quarterback, is 6 feet, 2 inches and weighs just over 200 pounds. Over the last two seasons with the Bulldogs, Harris has averaged more than 14 yards per reception and scored 14 touchdowns, including 10 in 2022.

In 2022, the former three-star wide receiver caught 65 passes for 935 yards and those 10 touchdowns.

Harris was primarily an outside receiver for Lousiana Tech and did most of his damage within 20 yards of the line of scrimmage. According to Pro Football Focus, Harris caught 43 of 72 targets in the short to the intermediate passing game for 541 yards and seven touchdowns. He had some success down the field, catching 9 of 18 targets 20-plus yards down the field for 311 yards and two touchdowns.

He did get some action at or behind the line of scrimmage, catching all 12 of his targets for 73 yards and a touchdown. Harris led La. Tech in first-down receptions and was ninth in Conference USA with 37.

An All-Conference USA first-team selection, Harris was sixth in the conference in yards and tied for third in touchdowns.

Harris would be a strong addition to the Oklahoma Sooners’ wide receiver room whether Marvin Mims returns or not. His size and presence would give Dillon Gabriel and Jeff Lebby a guy that can help move the chains on offense, something they struggled to do with any consistency in 2022.

Tre Harris has two more years of eligibility but would be an immediate difference-maker for the Sooners in 2023.

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Sooners extend offer to Lousiana Tech transfer WR Tre Harris

With the departure of multiple receivers to the portal, Oklahoma sends out an offer to LA Tech receiver Tre Harris.

While the portal casualties for Oklahoma have risen into the double digits, it opens the door for Oklahoma to upgrade the talent that will don the Crimson and Cream.

After submitting offers to Ra Ra Thomas and Dante Cephas, the Sooners are targeting another wide receiver. This time, it’s Louisiana Tech’s Tre Harris.

At 6-foot-2, Harris had 65 receptions for 935 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2022. He was a first-team All-Conference USA selection in 2022 after earning honorable mention honors in 2021.

He ranks fourth nationally in scrimmage plays over 40 yards (6), and fifth in plays over 30 yards (9). Simply put, Harris is one of the best receivers in the portal, regardless of his former school. He’s a big play waiting to happen and would be a nice addition should the Sooners land him.

The Sooners have lost three wide receivers to the portal: Theo Wease, Brian Darby, and Trevon West. Wease is the only notable contributor from the bunch and based on Harris’ stats, he could very easily fill that void.

Harris has also received offers from Mississippi State and West Virginia.

Here are a few of his catches below.

There’s no timetable for a decision yet but expect things to move along fairly quickly as transfers typically would prefer to get to their newest destination as fast as possible in time for winter workouts and the new semester that starts in January.

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