Georgia was the overwhelming preseason No. 1 team. Texas is the highest-ranked SEC team in the College Football Playoff at No. 3. Alabama has more Top 25 wins this season than the CFP’s top five teams combined.
But the SEC team that no one wants to play right now is one that isn’t even in the top 10.
“If you ask me right now which team I’d least want to face, it’s Ole Miss,” said an SEC defensive coordinator of a Top 25 team. “They’re now the most talented defensive team in the league. They have all these difference-maker pass rushers and a true lockdown corner in Trey Amos.
“They just got all these dudes up front. Three guys in the top five of sack leaders in the SEC (Suntarine Perkins, 10 sacks and No. 1; Princely Umanmielen, 9.5 sacks and tied for No. 2; and Jared Ivey, 7.5 sacks and tied for No. 5). That’s crazy! (J.J.) Pegues was a featured guy for them last year; he’s still really good (11.5 TFLs, two sacks) and he’s not even one of their top three! Walter Nolen is also really good. An inside guy with four sacks is pretty dang good. It’s really impressive.”
The other part of this that multiple SEC assistant coaches noted was that Ole Miss beat up Georgia even though the Rebels were without their best player, Tre Harris, a wide receiver who has been dealing with a lower-body injury. Harris’ 141 yards per game leads the country.
Last Saturday the Rebels held Georgia to its fewest points of the Kirby Smart era (10), its fewest total yards in seven seasons (245) and its fewest rushing yards since 2021 (59). Ole Miss leads the SEC in yards per play allowed in games against ranked opponents among the 14 teams who have faced at least two Top 25 opponents. Last year, the Rebels were dead last in the SEC at 7.81 YPP in those games.
To say Ole Miss has a ferocious defensive front is an understatement. It’s why defensive line coach Randall Joyner, a Larry Johnson protege, is making a good case to get Broyles Award consideration. That award is given to the nation’s top assistant, but, of course, Rebels defensive coordinator Pete Golding is also making a compelling case. Ole Miss has 23 more TFLs than anyone else in the SEC (103) and 18 more than anyone else in the country. It also has 13 more sacks than any other team in the SEC.
Four players already have double-digits in TFLs, and Ivey is close at 9.5. Last year, they only had one guy in double digits (Ivey with 11.5) Eight Rebels have at least four TFLs.
A big piece of that impact is due to the commitment Ole Miss made this offseason to upgrading its talent in the trenches through the portal.
Umanmielen, who transferred from Florida, and Nolan, who transferred from Texas A&M, were the big headliners. But other transfers are making a statement: top tackler Chris Paul Jr. (74 tackles, 10 TFLs) from Arkansas; second-leading tackler T.J. Dottery from Clemson; Amos from Alabama; and defensive back John Saunders from Miami (Ohio). Some current leaders transferred three years ago, like the 325-pound Pegues (Auburn), Ivey (Georgia Tech) and linebacker Khari Coleman (TCU).
The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Umanmielen has had 11.5 TFLs and 8.5 sacks in his last six games and has emerged as a dominant force for the Rebels.
“His quick get-off is phenomenal,” a Rebels coach told The Athletic this week. “He sets them up where he wants to counter them, sometimes with a spin move, or he will go speed-to-power rush at times. One of the (Georgia) tackles overset too quickly because he was so worried about Princely’s speed rush, so (Umanmielen) countered him with a spin move and was able to get a sack. He’s very smart and does a good job of studying the opposing tackles. He picks them apart.”
Umanmielen only played one snap in a 29-26 loss to LSU due to injury.
“If we had him, we win that game,” said that Rebels coach.
The 6-1, 210-pound Perkins, a former five-star recruit, has been another nightmare for offenses.
“He’s so freakin explosive. He’s one of the best QB spies in the country,” said the Rebels coach.
“He is stronger than you think at the point of attack for being a lighter guy,” said a rival SEC DC who has seen a lot of Ole Miss on crossover film. That coach has been very impressed with the job Golding has done this year. “They run more games than he used to at Alabama. He’s been really aggressive on first and second downs and he has really cut that D-line loose.”
Suntarine Perkins (4) has been a force of nature for the Rebels. (Petre Thomas / Imagn Images)
What else is on my radar
Trends in the coaching carousel
The coaching carousel often follows perceived trends. This winter is not expected to have a lot of changes, but one thing to watch is whether older, proven winners from lower-levels of football are in vogue. Why? Athletic directors and search company heads have taken note of what has happened at Indiana this year, I’m told.
Curt Cignetti has led the Hoosiers to a 10-0 start. The 63-year-old began his head coaching career in 2011 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the Division II PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference), where he spent six seasons before moving on to FCS Elon in the CAA (Coastal Athletic Association), where he went 14-9. Cignetti was then hired at James Madison, where that program elevated to FBS under him; JMU went 11-1 last year in the Sun Belt. Cignetti follows in the success of Lance Leipold, a former Division III coach who has won big everywhere he’s been while moving up.
Cignetti’s established ways in running a program have paid off in Bloomington. It’s why Skip Holtz, who has spent over two decades as a head coach outside the Power 4 and is now winning big in the UFL, could be in play for the Southern Miss and Rice openings. Same for Sam Houston’s K.C. Keeler, a 65-year-old who has won two FCS national titles. Keeler took a team that went 3-9 in its first season in the FBS in Conference USA to a 7-2 mark that began with a blowout win at Rice in August.
Keeler, I expect, will be in play for the Rice vacancy as well as USM.
SEC QB draft stock
Georgia QB Carson Beck’s draft stock isn’t the only one in an interesting spot. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier, a redshirt junior who spent much of the previous two seasons on the sidelines watching Jayden Daniels, had begun to emerge as the top quarterback prospect in the 2025 class, according to our NFL draft expert Dane Brugler. But that changed since halftime of the Tigers’ loss to Texas A&M last month.
Nussmeier, the son of Eagles QB coach Doug Nussmeier, ranks No. 30 on Brugler’s latest Top 50 Big Board. “With only 10 collegiate starts on his resume, Nussmeier would be wise to return to school,” Brugler wrote.
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In recent weeks, defenses have continued showing him different pictures and giving him different looks, whether that meant to show six up and bring pressure, or drop out people off the edge.
Nussmeier has thrown five INTs in the last two games — both double-digit losses. Still, his arm talent is tantalizing.
“I do think he’s the most talented,” a long-time NFL scout told me. “If I were a GM, I would pick him over all these guys. He just needs to play a lot more. I think he’s seeing things that he’s never seen before. He’s got 11 starts and it’s starting to show. (Texas A&M coach Mike) Elko did some stuff to him, and he looks confused.”
“I think he’s as good as any of them,” another SEC DC said. “He is way more aggressive than Carson Beck. He is a true gunslinger, where he’s like, if my guy is covered, I can throw him open — and 70 percent of the time he’s gonna be right. He’s also cost his team at times because they are so much more one-dimensional than Georgia is.
“This kid is probably taking a beating right now. This kid is like Brett Favre. He’s a freaking gunslinger. If he figures it out, in another year or whatever, he can have a really great career. I’m telling you: In big moments, in two-minute drives, you’re like, ‘Holy shit, this dude is good.’”
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A wild-card QB prospect
The biggest wild card in the 2025 NFL quarterback draft class is Louisville’s Tyler Shough. The 6-5, 230-pounder began his career at Oregon before transferring to Texas Tech before transferring again to Louisville. He’s thrown 20 touchdowns and five INTs this season and has thrown nine TDs and just two picks in four games against Top 25 opponents.
“The guy with the best tape in terms of the physical tools is Tyler Shough,” said an NFL scout. “When you watch him compared to the Riley Leonards, Will Howards and Kurtis Rourkes, throw Mark Gronowski in there, Shough’s arm talent looks head and shoulders better. I know there are some age and durability questions about him. He’s never finished a season, so knock on wood, I hope he makes it through this year. He can really chuck it. If you were to tell me four years from now that he’s been able to stay healthy and is a winning starter in the NFL, I wouldn’t be shocked by that.
“It’s a weird (quarterback) class.”
(Photo illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos: Wesley Hitt, John Bunch / Icon Sportswire via Getty)