SEC Preview: Will Nutt and Ole Miss ‘bounce back’ this season?

story by Chris Rushing, College Sports Matchups (CSM is a content partner with The City Wire)

Last year was supposed to be the year for the Ole Miss Rebels. Just two seasons removed from a dismal 0-8 performance in Southeastern Conference contests, Hotty Toddy was on the lips and keystrokes of many national media pundits.

After an early loss to South Carolina before the calendar turned to October, Houston Nutt and Co. fell completely out of the SEC West race by the time Alabama left Vaught-Hemingway Stadium as victors in week six and the dream was over for the team that had risen as high as No. 4 in the national polls.

Now, in year three of the Nutt Era, defense again looks to be the lead anchor for Ole Miss as the Rebel offense transitions to a new quarterback, lead receiver, top playmaker as well as coordinator and system.

Dave Rader has been brought out of an involuntary retirement to guide the UM offense as one-time hero Jevan Snead has given way to Nathan Stanley and Raymond Cotton at the quarterback position.

DEFENSE
But we’ll examine more on the offense later. The Rebels will house one of the league’s strongest defensive units, led by a ferocious defensive line. Terry Price has an embarrassment of riches as he shuffles players in and out along the trenches led by seniors Jerrell Powe and Kentrell Lockett. These two will be in Hoover, Ala., later this week representing Ole Miss at SEC Media Days and are the top two Land Sharks — which happens to be one of five finalists in a vote for the new Ole Miss mascot.

Both Powe and Lockett are All-American talents that should collect a nice paycheck come April and the National Football League Draft. Powe’s story is one of the most inspirational in the SEC this season, and he’ll have a chance to share it with the largest media contingent in the country at the Wynfrey.

Despite losing five starters total on defense from a year ago, coordinator Tyrone Nix may have his best overall squad since arriving in Oxford two years ago with Nutt. Wayne Dorsey brings one of the best junior college resumes with him at defensive end, while Lawon Scott enters his second season as a starter on the interior defensive line where he lines up next to Powe.

Two seniors will start at linebacker in Allen Walker and Jonathan Cornell. Cornell made 79 stops a year ago in his first season as a full-time starter in the middle of the defense. Joel Kight has all the characteristics of a breakout player as a true sophomore, and D.T. Shackelford will be the first man off the bench in the 4-3 scheme employed by Nix. Shackelford was a late pickup in the 2009 signing class for Nutt and Nix, and he will be hard to keep off the field despite the experience and talent ahead of him.

The secondary took the biggest hit from graduation in 2009, and only one starter returns this fall in Johnny Brown. In an up-and-down year for the Rebels on that side of the ball last season, Brown collected 81 tackles and an interception a season ago. Another JUCO pickup, Damien Jackson, comes in with high expectations and will enter fall camp atop the depth chart at free safety.

The new starters at corner will be Jeremy McGee and Marcus Temple. Temple started twice in 2009, so he isn’t entirely green, but McGee will be taking over for the Rebels’ most consistent corner in the departed Cassius Vaughn.

For Ole Miss to realize its fullest potential this fall, Rebel supporters need to hope the top two leading tacklers are linebackers and not safeties.

OFFENSE
On offense, Stanley will receive the first snap of the season at quarterback, but Nutt and Rader need to get a lot of plays for Cotton – the future of the program at signal caller. The good news is that history has shown that a QB is better early on in his career with Nutt’s teams, as opposed to later. Just look at Snead last year and the time Nutt spent at Arkansas.

Brandon Bolden headlines a bevy of talented running backs, but most skeptics wonder on just how big of an impact losing Dexter McCluster will be to the Ole Miss running game and offense overall. Bolden’s best day as a collegiate tailback came in his last one, as he rolled up 101 yards in the Cotton Bowl victory over Oklahoma State. Behind Bolden are Enrique Davis, Rodney Scott, E.J. Epperson and R.J. Greer.

Make no mistake, though: Bolden is the star in this group until Davis lives up to his enormous potential and Scott roughs up opposing defenses like a fellow student that keys his car. (Too soon?)

Protecting the new quarterback and opening holes for the stable of running backs will rest on the shoulders of Bradley Sowell, Bobby Massie, Rishaw Johnson, Alex Washington and A.J. Hawkins. The Rebels have one of the country’s top offensive line coaches in Mike Markuson, so you know that they will be solid regardless of who is in there. Sowell has a year of starting experience under his belt and is no longer the “guy who replaced Michael Oher.” Massie has all the potential in the world to be one of the country’s best offensive tackles.

Snead may have been picked off 20 times last fall, but he did not have a hard time hitting leading target Shay Hodge. The leading receiver returning after Patrick Patterson was removed from the roster in June is Markeith Summers. Ole Miss has perhaps the best candidate to break out and make an All-SEC squad with Jesse Grandy. Grandy will move around in order for Stanley or Cotton to get him the ball in space, and that will include taking snaps in the Wild Rebel role.

Lionel Breaux is the old man in the wide receiver corps, and you have to think that the senior will get more than 13 receptions by the time we reach the second month of the season. Sophomore Ferbia Allen is the top target at tight end, but it’s a position that has mainly been used for blocking the past two years in Oxford.

Nutt has earned an impressive 18 victories since moving from Fayetteville prior to the 2008 campaign, but this year may be a bit more challenging in getting to the nine-10 win neighborhood for a third-straight season. There is plenty of talent assembled on his roster, but only Alabama has fewer returning starters from a year ago in the SEC. However, this is the type of season Nutt relished when he coached the Razorbacks, so there’s no reason to think that the Rebels won’t be bowling this winter.

QUICK LOOK: Ole Miss 2010
Starters Returning: Offense — 4, Defense — 6
Key to the Team: Brandon Bolden, TB
Most likely to breakout: Joel Kight, LB
Most important game: at Tennessee, Nov. 13