2019 Ole Miss Rebels football team


The 2019 Ole Miss Rebels football team represented The University of Mississippi in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rebels played their home games at Vaught–Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Matt Luke.

Previous season

The Rebels finished the 2018 season 5–7, 1–7 in SEC play to finish in sixth place in the Western Division. The 2018 season was the last season in which the Rebels had to serve a postseason ban.

Preseason

Coaching changes

Head coach Matt Luke bolstered his coaching staff with the hiring of two former Power 5 head coaches to coordinator positions prior to the 2019 season. The school announced the hiring of Mike MacIntyre to be the new defensive coordinator on December 10, 2018, and announced the hiring of Rich Rodriguez as the new offensive coordinator on December 31. MacIntyre had spent the previous six seasons as the head coach at Colorado and replaced 2018 co-defensive coordinators Wesley McGriff and Jason Jones, who both parted ways with Ole Miss. Rodriguez was most recently the head coach of Arizona, leaving after the 2017 season, and has also coached at West Virginia and Michigan. He replaced former offensive coordinator Phil Longo, who left to assume the same role at North Carolina.

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
Maxwell AwardScottie PhillipsRBSR
Doak Walker AwardScottie PhillipsRBSR
John Mackey AwardOctavious CooleyTESR
Butkus AwardMohamed SanogoLBJR
Lou Groza AwardLuke LoganKJR
Wuerffel TrophyMac BrownPJR

SEC media poll

The SEC media poll was released on July 19, 2019 with the Rebels predicted to finish in sixth place in the West Division.
Media poll

Recruiting

The Rebels' 2019 recruiting class finished at 22nd in the nation and 9th in the SEC, according to 247Sports.com.

Schedule

Ole Miss announced its 2019 football schedule on September 18, 2018. The 2019 schedule consists of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Rebels will host SEC opponents Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and LSU, and will travel to Alabama, Missouri, Auburn, and Mississippi State.
The Rebels open the 2019 season on the road against rivals, Memphis from The American. The Rebels then host Southeastern Louisiana from the FCS on September 14. The first ever Pac-12 team visits Oxford on September 21 when California plays the Rebels. The Rebels will play their final non-conference game on November 9 against FBS Independent, New Mexico State.

Game summaries

at Memphis

StatisticsMISSMEM
First downs1322
Total yards173364
Rushes/yards33/8051/192
Passing yards93172
Passing: Comp–Att–Int9–19–123–31–1
Time of possession21:1938:41

Arkansas

Overall recordLast ten meetingsLast meetingResult
27–36–14–6Oct. 13, 2018W, 37–33

StatisticsARKMISS
First downs1823
Total yards361483
Rushes/yards26/6153/237
Passing yards300246
Passing: Comp–Att–Int25–41–016–24–0
Time of possession27:3232:28

No. 23 (FCS) Southeastern Louisiana

Overall recordLast meetingResult
1–0Sep. 19, 2009W, 52–6

StatisticsSELAMISS
First downs2024
Total yards375459
Rushes/yards24/6650/220
Passing yards309239
Passing: Comp–Att–Int29–45–321–30–0
Time of possession27:5632:04

No. 23 California

Overall recordLast meetingResult
0–1Sept. 16, 2017L, 16–27

StatisticsCALMISS
First downs2427
Total yards433525
Rushes/yards33/6038/177
Passing yards373348
Passing: Comp–Att–Int24–36–129–48–0
Time of possession31:0029:00

at No. 2 Alabama

StatisticsMISSALA
First downs2528
Total yards476573
Rushes/yards58/27930/155
Passing yards197418
Passing: Comp–Att–Int12–30–126–37–0
Time of possession30:2329:37

Vanderbilt

Overall recordLast ten meetingsLast meetingResult
49–40–25–5Nov. 17, 2018L, 29–36

StatisticsVANMISS
First downs1715
Total yards264512
Rushes/yards27/6244/413
Passing yards20299
Passing: Comp–Att–Int25–46–010–18–0
Time of possession33:0226:58

at Missouri

StatisticsMISSMIZ
First downs2530
Total yards440562
Rushes/yards45/20443/233
Passing yards236329
Passing: Comp–Att–Int18–33–023–35–1
Time of possession26:2933:31

Texas A&M

Overall recordLast meetingResult
1–8Nov. 10, 2018L, 24–38

StatisticsTA&MMISS
First downs2022
Total yards337405
Rushes/yards38/16544/250
Passing yards172155
Passing: Comp–Att–Int16–28–214–31–1
Time of possession34:0725:53

at Auburn

Overall recordLast ten meetingsLast meetingResult
10–322–8Oct. 20, 2018L, 16–31

StatisticsMISSAUB
First downs1626
Total yards266507
Rushes/yards42/16746/167
Passing yards99340
Passing: Comp–Att–Int14–27–130–44–0
Time of possession24:1235:48

New Mexico State

Overall recordLast meetingResult
1–0Oct. 10, 2015W, 52–3

StatisticsNMSUMISS
First downs1232
Total yards193606
Rushes/yards24/6661/447
Passing yards127159
Passing: Comp–Att–Int25–35–013–19–0
Time of possession25:2334:37

No. 1 LSU

Overall recordLast ten meetingsLast meetingResult
40–62–43–7Sept. 29, 2018L, 16–45

StatisticsLSUMISS
First downs3526
Total yards714614
Rushes/yards39/22544/402
Passing yards489212
Passing: Comp–Att–Int32–42–215–27–1
Time of possession32:5127:09

at Mississippi State

Overall recordLast ten meetingsLast meetingResult
62–45–64–6Nov. 22, 2018L, 3–35

StatisticsMISSMSST
First downs2315
Total yards381318
Rushes/yards47/13644/210
Passing yards245108
Passing: Comp–Att–Int15–26–110–14–0
Time of possession28:3131:29

Roster and coaching staff