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2021 Ole Miss

10–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Lane Kiffin, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ole Miss in 2021, game by game: won vs. Louisville 43–24; won vs. Austin Peay 54–17; won vs. Tulane 61–21; lost at No. 1 Alabama 21–42; won vs. No. 13 Arkansas 52–51; won at Tennessee 31–26; won vs. LSU 31–17; lost at No. 18 Auburn 20–31; won vs. Liberty 27–14; won vs. No. 11 Texas A&M 29–19; won vs. Vanderbilt 31–17; won at Mississippi State 31–21; lost vs. No. 6 Baylor 7–21+40−21Won 43–24 vs. Louisville+19LouisvilleWon 54–17 vs. Austin Peay+37Austin PeayWon 61–21 vs. Tulane+40TulaneLost 21–42 at No. 1 Alabama-21No. 1 AlabamaWon 52–51 vs. No. 13 Arkansas+1No. 13 ArkansasWon 31–26 at Tennessee+5TennesseeWon 31–17 vs. LSU+14LSULost 20–31 at No. 18 Auburn-11No. 18 AuburnWon 27–14 vs. Liberty+13LibertyWon 29–19 vs. No. 11 Texas A&M+10No. 11 Texas A&MWon 31–17 vs. Vanderbilt+14VanderbiltWon 31–21 at Mississippi State+10Mississippi Sta…Lost 7–21 vs. No. 6 Baylor-14No. 6 Baylor
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsLouisvilleW 43–⁠2451%
Sep 11vsAustin PeayW 54–⁠1777%
Sep 18vsTulaneW 61–⁠2160%
Oct 2at1AlabamaL 21–⁠4217%
Oct 9vs13ArkansasW 52–⁠5160%
Oct 16atTennesseeW 31–⁠2648%
Oct 23vsLSUW 31–⁠1759%
Oct 30at18AuburnL 20–⁠3143%
Nov 6vsLibertyW 27–⁠1453%
Nov 13vs11Texas A&MW 29–⁠1947%
Nov 20vsVanderbiltW 31–⁠1793%
Nov 25atMississippi StateW 31–⁠2151%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs6BaylorSugar BowlL 7–⁠2149%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Baylor 21–⁠7 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 22nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 20
  2. Wk 3: 17
  3. Wk 4: 13
  4. Wk 5: 12
  5. Wk 6: 17
  6. Wk 7: 13
  7. Wk 8: 12
  8. Wk 9: 10
  9. Wk 10: 15
  10. Wk 11: 12
  11. Wk 12: 10
  12. Wk 13: 8
  13. Wk 14: 8
  14. Wk 15: 8
  15. Final: 11
Record
10–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 8
Points
438–⁠321
Coach
Lane Kiffin
Elo
1650 +139 this season
SP+ rating
14.8 No. 17 of 130; offense No. 17, defense No. 36
SRS
12.2 No. 16 of 130 in FBS
Returning
83% of last season’s EPA, No. 50 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 18 roster talent No. 27 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Jeff Lebby
Defensive coordinators
D.J. Durkin and Chris Partridge
Offense
Veer and shoot
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense34th of 130
  • Defense68th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted16th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted38th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2146%1.3434th of 130
Defense0.1447%1.1368th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.23 off
0.10 def		48% off
45% def		—16th off
38th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.8own 3015% allowed
Defense3.6own 2616% caused

CORE rating 10.9, 28th of 130 (offense 8.6, defense -2.4).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsMatt Corral QB3,349 yds
Passing touchdownsMatt Corral QB20 TD
Rushing yardsJerrion Ealy RB768 yds
Rushing touchdownsSnoop Conner RB13 TD
Receiving yardsDontario Drummond WR1,028 yds
Receiving touchdownsDontario Drummond WR8 TD
TacklesChance Campbell LB109 tkl
SacksSam Williams DL12.5 sacks
InterceptionsA.J. Finley S3 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Tywone Malone Jr. DL★★★★No. 63
Bralon Brown WR★★★★No. 179
Luke Altmyer QB★★★★No. 196
Hudson Wolfe TE★★★★No. 209
Tysheem Johnson S★★★★No. 270
Dink Jackson S★★★★No. 339
Markevious Brown CB★★★★No. 364
M.J. Daniels ATH★★★★No. 382

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.922
Running backs13.00.839
Receivers53.20.880
Offensive line43.00.863
Defensive line43.30.892
Defensive backs63.50.879
Athletes and specialists33.30.868
Whole class243.30.877

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2022

The 2022 draft
Rd 2Sam Williams OLBDallas Cowboys
Rd 3Matt Corral QBCarolina Panthers
Rd 5Snoop Conner RBJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 6Chance Campbell ILBTennessee Titans
Rd 7Mark Robinson OLBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Deane Leonard CBLos Angeles Chargers

Roster 135

The 2021 roster

135 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 65 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 3

The 2021 portal
Chance Campbell LB★★★from Maryland
Jahcour Pearson WR★★★from Western Kentucky
Nigel Knott CB★★★★from East Carolina

Transfers out 9

Jacquez Jones LB★★★to Kentucky
Ryder Anderson WDE★★★to Indiana
Eli Johnson OL★★★to New Mexico State
Grant Tisdale QB★★★★no new school on file
Demarcus Gregory WR★★★to South Florida
Jay Stanley S★★★to Southern Miss
Kade Renfro QB★★★to Arkansas
Lakevias Daniel CB★★★to Southern Miss
Jay LaRosa Kto Massachusetts

All-SEC

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2021 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2021 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia8–⁠014–⁠11
Alabama7–⁠113–⁠22
Ole Miss6–⁠210–⁠311
Kentucky5–⁠310–⁠318
Arkansas4–⁠49–⁠421
Texas A&M4–⁠48–⁠4
Tennessee4–⁠47–⁠6
Mississippi State4–⁠47–⁠6
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
LSU3–⁠56–⁠7
Auburn3–⁠56–⁠7
Missouri3–⁠56–⁠7
Florida2–⁠66–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.