The Mercer Bears and Ole Miss Rebels meet Saturday in week 1 college football action at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

Mercer Bears Betting Preview

The Mercer Bears look for a massive upset to get off to a quick 2-0 start. Mercer beat North Alabama in its season opener and has now won each of its last 3 season openers. Mercer has won 6 of its last 11 road games. Carter Peevy is completing 70.5 percent of his passes for 115 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions. Ty James and Devron Harper have combined for 80 receiving yards and 1 touchdown, while Sam Ablee has 1 reception. The Mercer Bears ground game is averaging 170 yards per contest, and Micah Bell leads the way with 73 yards and 1 touchdown. Defensively, Mercer is allowing 7 points and 248 yards per game. Isaac Dowling leads the Mercer Bears with 10 tackles, Christian Hanson has 1 sack and Myles Redding has 1 pass deflection.

Ole Miss Rebels Betting Preview

Ole Miss won 8 games last year and has improved its win total in each of the last 4 seasons. Lane Kiffin enters his fourth year as head coach, and he has a new defensive coordinator in Pete Golding. Jaxson Dart returns at quarterback after nearly 3,000 passing yards and 20 touchdowns on 62.4 percent completions. Quinshon Judkins is back at running back after 1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns, while Jordan Watkins and Dayton Wade are a returning receiving duo that combined for 700 yards and 5 touchdowns. Defensively, Ole Miss lost its top-4 tacklers, but Ashanti Cistrunk returns after 72 tackles, Khari Coleman had 4.5 sacks and Deantre Prince led the Rebels with 11 pass deflections. Ole Miss lost a lot of production on defense and has a new DC calling the shots, so there could be struggles on that side of the ball early. However, this Ole Miss offense is stacked, and we know what Kiffin can do when he has weapons. Ole Miss will be fun to watch and could put a scare in the upper teams in the SEC. Don’t sleep on the team from Oxford.

Randy’s Pick

The Mercer Bears could be dangerous here, given that they have a game under their belt already to knock the rust off. However, Ole Miss is stacked offensively, and we know Kiffin isn’t afraid to rub it into his opponent’s face. Kiffin is a fan of style points, and it often feels like he’s well aware of the spread. Mercer will have its hands full defensively. I’ll lay whatever number with the Ole Miss Rebels.