Alabama football vs. Ole Miss: Our score prediction, scouting report

Lane Kiffin's squad looks quite different from the Ole Miss team that traveled to Tuscaloosa in 2021.

The Rebels will face No. 9 Alabama after adding 17 transfers in the portal, which led to Kiffin getting the "portal king" nickname this offseason. The group was ranked No. 2 by 247Sports.

The combination of the transfers, freshmen additions and the returning roster have yielded another talented Ole Miss team that expects to be a challenge for the Crimson Tide.

"I think Ole Miss, Lane’s done a great job of (adding in the portal)," Alabama coach Nick Saban said Wednesday. "He’s got a lot of significant players, and you couple that with some good recruiting and it helps your team be really good, and they got a really good team."

Alabama is looking to avoid a third loss in the regular season as it travels to Oxford to face the No. 11 Rebels on Saturday (2:30 p.m., CBS).

Here's our scouting report and score prediction for the game between Alabama (7-2, 4-2 SEC) and Ole Miss (8-1, 4-1).

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Ole Miss has one of nation's best rushing offenses

Alabama's run defense could have its hands full against the Rebels.

Ole Miss is averaging 267.4 yards per game on the ground, which ranks No. 3 in the country behind Air Force and Army West Point. The Rebels are averaging 5.60 yards per rush and have 27 rushing touchdowns.

Quinshon Judkins is at the front of those efforts. The freshman from Pike Road is second in the SEC in rushing yards with 1,036. He leads the conference with 13 rushing touchdowns. He's also averaging 5.76 yards per rush.

"He's had an outstanding year," Saban said. "He's had a lot of production. The guy's a really, really good competitor. Does a good job of executing the plays they ask him to run. He's relentless in the way he carries the ball. He's tough. He can run behind his pads. He can make you miss. He's got pretty good speed. We looked at him coming out last year. In hindsight, it would be great if he was on our team."

Zach Evans has also been productive for the Rebels. He's rushed for 680 yards and seven touchdowns.

Examining Ole Miss defense

The Rebels are averaging 21.56 points per game, which ranks No. 33 in the country.

The Rebels have the No. 63 pass defense (222.2 yards per game) and the No. 79 rush defense (155.8).

Defensive end Cedric Johnson, a Mobile native, is the top pass rusher with four sacks, tied for fifth-best in the SEC. Against Alabama a season ago, he had a sack, two tackles and one quarterback hurry. Ole Miss is averaging 2.78 sacks per game this season, ranked No. 26 in the country.

Linebacker Troy Brown is the leading tackler with 65. That ranks No. 7 in the SEC, one spot behind Alabama linebacker Henry To'oTo'o (66).

New face at QB in Jaxson Dart

No Matt Corral this season at quarterback. Instead, Alabama will face USC transfer Jaxson Dart.

Dart, a sophomore, has been fairly middle of the pack among SEC passers statistically this season. He has thrown for 1,911 passing yards (No. 7 among SEC passers), for 14 touchdowns (tied for No. 6) with a quarterback rating of 150.33 (No. 6).

Dart has also rushed for 473 yards on 80 carries.

"He can make plays with his feet," Saban said. "He’s athletic. He’s a big, strong guy. So he’s a good runner. A different kind than what we played a week ago. He’s a really good passer. And he does a good job of faking the ball, which is important in a lot of their shot plays in terms of what they like to do – because they run the ball so well, they’ve got really good play-action passes."

Alabama-Ole Miss score prediction

Alabama 34, Ole Miss: 23: Even in a down year, it's tough to beat the Crimson Tide after a loss. The Rebels could very well do it, especially considering Alabama's road struggles. Still, the Crimson Tide finds a way to win.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football vs. Ole Miss: Score prediction, scouting report