SEC Power Rankings following Week 1 of 2018 season

Well after naming Matt Luke the head coach full-time, the Ole Miss Rebels did everything they possibly could do to make a strong statement. While the Vanderbilt Commodores dominated an FBS team with a winning record, this team dominated a Power Five team. And it’s enough for them to be in the top third of our SEC Power Rankings.

Jordan Ta’amu made the program look like it wouldn’t miss Shea Patterson at all, throwing for 336 yards and two touchdowns. But the balance of Luke’s offense showed in the running game as well, with Scottie Phillips rushing for 204 yards and two touchdowns.

The biggest story to prop this team up, however, is its defense. The Texas Tech Red Raiders are prone to give up lots of points in Kliff Kingsbury’s air raid offense. But that only comes if they score a lot of points.

Ole Miss, meanwhile, managed to hold this team to a reasonably low amount of points while scoring at a high level. Texas Tech scored fewer than 30 points and had fewer than 500 yards on offense, which is a huge deal for Luke’s team.

The win for the Rebels puts them in great position to be undefeated when conference play begins. That’s in just two weeks, when they face an Alabama Crimson Tide team that they have frustrated to no end in years past. Perhaps David Cutcliffe’s disciple is the perfect fit for Ole Miss. And that’s highly ironic since they fired Cutcliffe less than 14 years ago.