Remember the time Ole Miss was ranked No. 4? Shay Hodge does

• Hodge believes the 2024 Rebels are better prepared to handle expectations.

A No. 6 preseason ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 is rare air for Ole Miss, but it’s not the most love shown to the Rebels by AP voters, even in the modern era.

Houston Nutt’s Rebels started the 2009 season at No. 8 and after wins against Southeastern Louisiana and Memphis they were No. 4 to start SEC play on a Thursday night at unranked South Carolina.

The Gamecocks, with a defense led by coordinator Ellis Johnson, who would later be the head coach at Southern Miss for a winless 2012 season, smothered the Rebels in a 16-10 Carolina victory.

“We started to struggle early, and their fans got into it. That changed the whole outcome of the game,” former Ole Miss wide receiver Shay Hodge told Magnolia Tribune.

Hodge is the wide receivers coach at Jackson Academy these days. He remains second in receiving yards and touchdowns for Ole Miss.

“We came in thinking we were going to whoop them pretty good, then found out about that stadium being that loud. We never expected that,” Hodge said.

Losing in Columbia was a huge letdown early in the season.

“We took it really, really hard. We had national championship aspirations,” Hodge said.

In a rushed interview session after a late game, offensive tackle Bradley Sowell took aim at the 2009 Rebels’ No. 4 ranking and lofty status.

“I’m glad (the ranking) is gone. Now we can get back to work and win some ballgames,” he said, drawing immediate criticism from some fans.

“I think it came from him saying he was kind of spooked a little bit. He was smart. He was mature enough at the time to understand we weren’t ready to be at that spot yet. We weren’t quite ready to be that number yet, that Top 10 team that knew how to take on adversity,” Hodge said.

Though Ole Miss won 45-14 at Memphis and 52-6 against Southeastern, chinks in the armor had appeared. The Rebels led Memphis just 17-7 after three quarters.

Weeks before the first real test

If the transfers pan out as many believe, this season’s Rebels won’t be tested until a September 28 home game against Kentucky. They open with a string of Furman, Middle Tennessee, Wake Forest and Georgia Southern.

Ole Miss teams have had high expectations before but not often at this level.

There’s so much to play out in the weeks before Kentucky. The Rebels won’t dominate on both sides for four quarters, nor should that be expected. Each of these first four games will have its own set of questions in the aftermath.

When Kentucky rolls around, the Rebels have the benefit of playing at home, unlike the 2009 team that opened in a prime-time night game before fans who are raucous in support of the Gamecocks in spite of their modest program history.

These Rebels play at South Carolina on October 5. On paper, it doesn’t look like their biggest game of the month. They’re at LSU a week later and close at home against Oklahoma after an open date.

SEC Media picked South Carolina to finish 13th in the conference.

In the days of closed or limited practicing viewing for media, the first games will give an after-the-fact glimpse of August camp and where a transfer-loaded team stands in terms of chemistry. The Transfer Portal heightens hopes for immediate impact from experienced players, but roster transition matters. It did in 2009.

The championship aspirations and high rankings were rooted in the Rebels’ finish to the 2008 season. In six-straight wins, Ole Miss played the best college football I’ve covered in Mississippi, culminating with a 47-34 win over Mike Leach and Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. It wasn’t that close.

That win streak started after a 24-20 loss at Alabama in which the Rebels had the ball last with a chance to win but failed.

When the next season rolled around the Rebels returned stars like quarterback Jevan Snead and Dexter McCluster but not left tackle Michael Oher and defensive tackle Peria Jerry, two first-round draft picks.

Hodge said the 2009 Rebels thought they were ready for high rankings and attention “because of what we did in 2008.”

Now, he says Ole Miss is better equipped to handle the expectations this time.

“The difference between them and us is right now it’s almost the exact same team that came back, I mean like almost every key piece,” he said.

Hodge: Dart is the key to special team

Among the wide receivers, the Rebels lost Dayton Wade, who averaged 15.1 yards on 55 catches and four touchdowns, but other playmakers return – and more were added.

“The guy they lost was good, but he wasn’t the focus of their team. It was more Tre and the other guys. We lost guys like Michael Oher and Peria Jerry,” Hodge said.

Returnees Tre Harris and tight end Caden Prieskorn have generated attention, and new additions Juice Wells and tight end Dae’Quan Wright have generated optimism.

Hodge says junior college transfer Deion Smith, if he’s freed by the NCAA, could outshine them all.

On the defensive line, Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen are the names to watch.

In a portal class that goes 25 deep there are many more who stoke the giddy factor.

The key to everything right now is returning a quarterback like Jaxson Dart, Hodge said.

“Dart’s going to take that extra step. I see a team with its quarterback back. I see a special team.”