2023 Ole Miss Rebels football team

The 2023 Ole Miss Rebels football team represented the University of Mississippi in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rebels were led by Lane Kiffin in his fourth season as their head coach. The Ole Miss Rebels football team drew an average home attendance of 63,721 in 2023.

The Ole Miss football team played their home games at Vaught–Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi. This was the final year for the SEC West and East divisions, as the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma joined the SEC from the Big 12 in 2024, and the SEC's divisional format was done away with, making the SEC Conference a 16-team battle in 2024.

The Rebels were predicted to finish 4th in the SEC West behind Alabama, LSU, and Texas A&M. They started out 3–0 with a win over #23 Tulane on the road, but suffered their first loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 24–10. They rebounded by defeating their arch-rival #13 LSU 55–49 in front of 66,703 (the then-largest crowd to ever watch a football game in the state of Mississippi).

The Rebels eventually won every subsequent game in the month of October and reached an 8–1 record and a #9 ranking in the first College Football Playoff rankings. This led to a Top 10 showdown with #2 Georgia, the two-time defending national champion, in Athens. ESPN's College GameDay broadcast their show on the University of Georgia's campus. The Rebels would lose 52–17; this would be the 2nd and final loss of the season for the team.

Wins over ULM and arch-rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl allowed the Rebels to claim another 10-win regular season, just the second in their history after the 2021 season. While it looked as though the Rebels would unfortunately get left out of a New Year's Six bowl and would be sent to the Citrus Bowl, they did receive a New Year's Six bowl berth after Alabama was selected to be in the College Football Playoff over Florida State (which sent the undefeated Seminoles to the Orange Bowl and thus opened up a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl for Ole Miss). The Rebels would be selected to play Penn State in the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl. Despite being 5.5 point underdogs, Ole Miss won 38–25 in front of 71,230 fans from both teams, which was the 2nd-largest attendance of any bowl in the 2023 season following the Rose Bowl (96,371).

Following their win in the Peach Bowl against Penn State, the Rebels achieved their first 11-win season in program history. It was also the first time in 52 years that the Rebels finished a season with two-or-fewer losses.

Offseason

NFL draft

Four Rebels were selected in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Jonathan MingoWRCarolina Panthers239Tavius RobinsonLBBaltimore Ravens4124Zach EvansRBLos Angeles Rams6215Nick BroekerOGBuffalo Bills7230

Transfers Outgoing Luke AltmyerQBIllinoisMiles BattleDBUtahDerek BermudezDBFullerton CollegeTobias BraunOTArkansas StateKyndrich BreedloveDBColoradoMarkevious BrownDBPurdueBrandon BuckhaulterWRUABKentrel BullockRBSouth AlabamaErick CadeOTMissouri StateFalentha CarswellOTMemphisDemon ClowneyDECharlotteJalen CunninghamDLArkansas StateMJ DanielsSSouthern MissKinkead DentQBUT MartinHamilton HallOTArkansas StateJJ HawkinsDLColoradoDavison IgbinosunDBOhio StateIsaiah ItonDLRutgersDannis JacksonWRMissouriDashaun JerkinsSUMassTysheem JohnsonSOregonCasey KellyTEOregonAustin KeysLBAuburnDanny LockhartLBTexas A&MBrandon MackDEHoustonTywone MaloneDLOhio StateBraxton MyersSPurdueRoman RashadaDBArizona StateJaylon RobinsonWRTCUElijah SabbatiniSSouthern MissLuke ShouseDLTennesseeJaron WillisDESouth CarolinaIsaiah WoullardRBLouisiana–Monroe

Incoming Daijahn AnthonySLibertyJadon CanadyDBTulaneVictor CurneOLWashingtonCaden DavisKTexas A&MTJ DudleyLBClemsonZakhari FranklinWRUTSADeShawn GaddieDBNorth TexasChris GravesDBMiami (FL)Jam GriffinRBOregon StateJoshua HarrisDLNC StateTre HarrisWRLouisiana TechWalker HowardQBLSUJeremiah Jean-BaptisteLBUCFMonty MontgomeryLBLouisvilleCaden PrieskornTEMemphisSpencer SandersQBOklahoma StateJohn SaundersDBMiami (OH)Akelo StoneDLGeorgia TechIsaac UkwuDEJames MadisonZamari WaltonDBGeorgia TechStephon WynnDLNebraskaTeja YoungSFlorida Atlantic

Preseason SEC Media Poll The 2023 SEC media poll was released on July 21, 2023. The Rebels were predicted to finish fourth in the Western Division.

Schedule Ole Miss and the SEC announced the 2023 football schedule on September 20, 2022. The 2023 Rebels' schedule consisted of 7 home games and 5 away games for the regular season. Ole Miss hosted four SEC conference opponents Arkansas (rivalry), LSU (Magnolia Bowl), Texas A&M and Vanderbilt (rivalry) at home and traveled to four SEC opponents, Alabama (rivalry), Auburn (rivalry), Georgia and Mississippi State (Egg Bowl) to close out the SEC regular season on the road. Ole Miss was not scheduled to play SEC East opponents Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee in the 2023 regular season. The Rebel's bye week came during week 7 (on October 14, 2023).

Ole Miss's out of conference opponents represented the American, ACC, SoCon and the Sun Belt conferences. The Rebels hosted three non–conference games which were against Georgia Tech from the ACC, Louisiana–Monroe from the Sun Belt and Mercer from the SoCon (FCS) and traveled to rival Tulane from the American.

Game summaries

No. 20 (FCS) Mercer