Three things to look for in Saturday's Ole Miss scrimmage

Aug. 12—OXFORD — The Ole Miss football team's much-anticipated 2022 campaign begins in just three weeks with a home date against Troy on Sept. 3. There is a lot to be determined before then, however, and we might start to get some answers Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, where the Rebels will hold an open scrimmage starting at 11:30 a.m.

Here are three things I will be looking at with particular interest.

Does anyone have a leg up in the quarterback competition?

This is, of course, what most eyes will likely be on. The race to replace Matt Corral will come down to either sophomore Luke Altmyer or sophomore USC transfer Jaxson Dart. Both have had stellar moments in the early part of August practices, and both have looked their ages at times. Has either separated himself from the other? Head coach Lane Kiffin told reporters earlier in the week just how important scrimmages were going to be for this particular team.

"Yeah, I think you put more weight into the scrimmage than ever, because of the quarterbacks being young and because of all these portal guys everywhere, they haven't played together," Kiffin said. "And, as far as with us, we haven't seen the defensive guys tackle, and some are at different positions ... I don't recall scrimmages ever being more important than these coming up."

What is the running back pecking order?

There are always carries to be had in Kiffin's offenses — four Ole Miss players had at least 500 rushing yards last season, three being running backs. All of those backs (and Corral, who had more than 600 yards) are gone. Three new running backs have entered the fold — TCU transfer Zach Evans, SMU transfer Ulysses Bentley IV and freshman Quinshon Judkins — and join a pair of relatively experienced backs in junior Kentrel Bullock and senior Isaiah Woullard. Evans, Bentley, Judkins and Bullock have all seen first-team reps at various points in the first few weeks. Evans will likely see a ton of work this season, but how does the rest of the room sort out? And how many backs are going to be featured?

Who is this year's Chance Campbell?

The easy answer would be either senior Troy Brown or junior Khari Coleman, who transferred in from Central Michigan and TCU, respectively, and somewhat mirror Campbell's path. Campbell transferred in from Maryland last season and was the team's leading tackler and wound up being a sixth-round pick of the Tennessee Titans. Campbell was a steadying presence up the middle for Ole Miss in 2021, as was Mark Robinson as the year progressed and he found his stride.

Is Brown going to be that player? Or could it be senior Ashanti Cistrunk or sophomore Austin Keys, both of whom have received first-team repetitions as well and have experience at Ole Miss? The defense is deep and will rotate a ton this season, but Campbell's impact was profound, and it wouldn't hurt to have someone step up as an ace and leader at linebacker.

MICHAEL KATZ is the Ole Miss athletics reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at michael.katz@djournal.com.