Ole Miss football 2018 season in review
OXFORD — The 2018 Ole Miss football season wasn't one to remember, but it can't be ignored.
The Rebels finished 5-7, losing their last five games on the way to a 1-7 mark in the SEC's Western Division, which thankfully wasn't last because Arkansas went 0-8 under first-year coach Chad Morris.
Coaching staff changes have already come down, with defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff losing his job on Friday after the Rebels got whacked 35-3 in Thursday night's Egg Bowl. More could be coming, with coaching evaluations ongoing and a potential exodus of talented juniors for the NFL Draft.
But before we get too wrapped up in what happens next, let's take a look back at some of the most notable moments from the 2018 season. Take the good with the bad and enjoy this trip back through the most important moments and figures of the year.
Best steadying presence
In a tumultuous season, it's good to have a couple of players or coaches who make everything seem easier. Think about guys like middle linebacker Mohamed Sanogo, who led the team with 112 tackles, or kicker Luke Logan, who made an SEC-best 22 field goals.
But there was no player more steadying for Ole Miss' efforts than running back Scottie Phillips. The ankle injury that limited him throughout the last three weeks of the season was unfortunate, but prior to that Phillips was one of the most productive running backs in the SEC. He finished the year with 928 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, 105 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. Entering Saturday, only Texas A&M's Trayveon Williams had as many touchdowns as Phillips among SEC players.
When Ole Miss was winning, Phillips was at his best. He ran for 7.29 yards per carry in the Rebels' five wins. But he also stayed productive in tougher games, averaging 4.73 yards per carry in losses and 4.74 yards per carry vs. SEC opponents.
Phillips is likely to return for his senior season in 2019. With all the new pieces the Rebels will be fielding on offense, his steadying presence will be more necessary than ever.
The backbreaker
Ole Miss had more than a few moments in 2018 that must've felt like punches straight to the fans' guts. With the exception of the Egg Bowl, all five of Ole Miss' late-season losses felt winnable at certain points late in the game.
But nowhere was this more evident than the Rebels' blown second half against South Carolina in a 48-44 loss Nov. 3. Ole Miss led by 10 points as late as the middle of the fourth quarter but quickly saw its lead slip away. The offense disappeared in the fourth quarter, gaining 18 yards in 19 plays. And the defense's knack for giving up long gainers at the worst times recurred when South Carolina running back Mon Denson rushed for 69 yards to set up the gamewinning touchdown.
Even the best teams have hard times recovering from quarters like that. Ole Miss never did.
Most hopeful moment
This one's easy. Remember the first 11 seconds of the Alabama game? Remember taking a 7-0 lead on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Ta'amu to DK Metcalf? Forget what happened the rest of the night.
That first play and that initial lead was a best-case scenario. A hot offense came out hot against the No. 1 team in America. That's hope right there. Was the hope squashed 70 seconds later? Of course.
But that can't take away the feelings of those 11 seconds.
The 'What Else Can We Do?' play of the year
Sometimes you do everything right and still come out as losers. Just ask A.J. Brown.
Brown's nullified overtime touchdown catch in a 33-28 loss at Vanderbilt on Nov. 17 is likely to be one of the plays pointed to this offseason when the NCAA officials try to fix issues with its rulebook. But it was also a pretty good distillation of Ole Miss' season. The offense was in the red zone. A touchdown was on the board. It didn't count. The Rebels lost.
Ole Miss ran the right play. It won the matchup. It almost had the score. It just didn't count. What else can you do?
Performance of the year
Let's end on a positive note. There were plenty of impressive offensive showings this season, from Brown's 212 receiving yards at Vanderbilt to Phillips' 204 rushing yards vs. Texas Tech in a 47-27 season-opening win in Houston. But the game of the year debate shouldn't even be in question.
It belongs to Ta'amu's masterful showing in the Rebels' 37-33 comeback victory over Arkansas on Oct. 13 in Little Rock.
Ta'amu played one of the best games in Ole Miss history that evening, throwing for 387 yards and two touchdowns while completing 74.3 percent of his passes and running for 141 yards and a touchdown to boot. Not to mention the clutch factor of leading a two-minute drill to give the Rebels a lead and their final win of the season.
Ta’amu’s senior season and Ole Miss career didn't end the way he preferred. An injury in the Egg Bowl after his worst showing of his Rebels career isn't exactly a storybook ending. But for Ta'amu, the most efficient passer in Ole Miss history by completion percentage and yards per attempt, the Arkansas win was a pretty good synopsis of his skill and his calmness under pressure.