The fate of the Rebels' rushing attack -- and therefore the entire season -- may very well rest on Patterson, who's been named the starter at left guard.
I'm not exactly breaking news when I tell you that Ole Miss' run blocking sucked in 2014. But let's use some advanced stats from Football Outsiders to illustrate just how awful it was:
- The Rebel O-line was credited with just 2.35 yards per carry on standard downs, ranking them 122nd out of 128 FBS teams.
- In power run situations (third or fourth down with two or fewer yards to go), Ole Miss ran for a first down on just 65 percent of its attempts.