Fresh off of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against Virginia, the Demon Deacons now get to host the high-flying Rebels of Ole Miss in an ACC vs SEC battle. The Rebels are untested against Power 4 competition, with blowout wins against FCS Furman and Middle Tennessee State, winning 76-0 and 52-3, respectively.

The Rebels are coached by the effervescent Lane Kiffin in his fifth year with the program. Kiffin is a successful offensive-minded coach who’s had stops as head coach of Tennessee and University of Southern California (before famously getting fired on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport), as well as a stint through Nick Saban’s coach-rehabbing program as the offensive coordinator of Alabama from 2014 through 2016.

Last year’s Ole Miss team went 11-2, beat Louisiana State University, Tulane and Penn State, finished ninth in the country, but looked flat and mundane in their two defeats against SEC powers Alabama and Georgia. After getting outclassed and outmuscled in the trenches against the aforementioned SEC championship finalists, Kiffin spent big in the transfer portal to beef up his team. Per 247sports, Ole Miss finished with the No. 1 transfer portal class in the country.

Ole Miss’s portal additions only add to a strong returning core of stars, led by signal-caller Jaxson Dart, who’s in his third year with the program after transferring from USC. The senior quarterback and projected first-rounder has already thrown for 795 yards on an incredibly high 87% completion rate, albeit against pedestrian competition.

While not as talented as a runner as Virginia’s Anthony Colandrea, Dart is a much better passer, which doesn’t spell well for a Wake Forest defense that gave up 357 yards in the air last week and blew coverages that led to easy touchdowns. In order to prevent the same result as last week, the Demon Deacons need to be better in zone coverage, and more importantly, put some pressure on Dart. Against Virginia, Wake Forest only tallied one sack, courtesy of emerging star defensive tackle Kevin Pointer Jr.

Speaking of sacks, another aspect of their game that Wake Forest needs to clean up is pass protection. Virginia racked up six sacks and pressured quarterback Hank Bachmeier too many times. In order to stand a chance at keeping up with the Rebel’s up-tempo offense, the Demon Deacons’ own offense needs to stay on schedule and avoid punts by keeping Bachmeier on his feet.

If Wake Forest plans on keeping the Rebels’ offense on the sideline, the Demon Deacons need to pound the rock consistently against a defense that’s given up 3 points and 54 rushing yards all year. Wake Forest found some success running the ball last week, with 141 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Wake Forest did find success in creating turnovers against Virginia, picking off Anthony Colandrea twice. Winning the turnover battle wasn’t enough to beat Virginia, but causing havoc and stealing and possessions from the Rebels will be paramount.

Ole Miss is an SEC juggernaut complete with a moxy-filled coach, five-star talent and playoff aspirations. Competing with the Rebels will be hard enough, but pulling off a shocker will be next to impossible. Everything will have to go right for Wake Forest Saturday night, and a lot has to go wrong for Ole Miss.

Wake Forest battles Ole Miss this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. The CW Network will broadcast the game.