Three Overlooked Storylines in Ole Miss' 2024 Season

The rat poison is real, but what might the Ole Miss Rebels not expect going into the 2024 season?

Jul 15, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Ole Miss quarterback Jaxon Dart speaking at Omni Dallas Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports

With media days in the rearview mirror, the focus inside the Manning Center turns to fall camp and the start of the season. The Ole Miss Rebels have lots of talents and tons of confidence, as you can see with how Jared Ivey, Tre Harris, and Jaxson Dart handled media days in Dallas.

Most will point to LSU in October and Georgia at home in November as points in the season that will challenge this team and tell the story of Ole Miss football in 2024, but what other factors could change the course of the campaign?

Let's dive in below.

Intriguing Storyline

Ole Miss has handled the lower Group of Five teams in recent memory, but Memphis would sometimes sneak away with a win over the Rebels over the last couple of decades. Lane Kiffin hasn't lost games like that in his tenure in Oxford, but in 2022 Tulsa, came to town for an 11 a.m. kickoff and took Ole Miss to the wire.

This team is much more mature and talented, but the storyline in this one is juicy: Georgia Southern's Clay Helton vs. Lane Kiffin, the two ex-Southern Cal coaches battling it out in Oxford. Clay Helton was also named the interim coach after USC fired Kiffin.

Ole Miss should take care of business, and a 6:45 p.m. CT kickoff should also ensure a nice crowd for the first night game at home in 2024.

Logan Diggs' Return

Logan Diggs is currently rehabbing after a knee injury in LSU's bowl game last season. Diggs transferred to Ole Miss after the end of 2023 and is a key piece for 2024 and beyond.

If the Rebels are in position to make a deep run into the playoff and Diggs is 100 percent, having some fresh legs out of the backfield could give the Rebels another gear come the postseason.

TJ Dottery

TJ Dottery (formerly TJ Dudley) is truly a Swiss army knife on defense as he has the ability to play in multiple areas. He finally got an opportunity in the Peach Bowl and was a problem on the edge as his speed and physicality wrecked Penn State offensively.

Dottery could be the best player on this defense that nobody is talking about.