What It Means: Ole Miss Football Generates Significant Buzz During SEC Media Days

ATLANTA – Ole Miss football had four student-athletes selected to the Preseason All-SEC team on Friday in a vote by media members at the 2025 SEC Media Days this past week.

Representing Ole Miss on the media's All-SEC team are junior kicker Lucas Carneiro (second-team), junior linebacker Suntarine Perkins (second-team), senior defensive tackle Zxavian Harris (third-team) and junior linebacker Princewill Umanmielen (third-team).

Carneiro, a Lou Groza Award semifinalist and first-team All-American last season, brings multiple years of eligibility and experience to the Ole Miss squad.

Serving as Western Kentucky's primary placekicker for the last two years, Carneiro connected on field goals at an 87.1 percent clip for the Hilltoppers.

Carneiro had one of the best seasons for a kicker in WKU history in 2024, earning CUSA Special Teams Player of the Year, finishing the season 18-for-19 on field goal attempts and 41-for-41 on PATs. He was 6-for-6 from 50-plus yards, with two 54-yard makes.

Perkins, already a preseason All-American by both Walter Camp (second-team) and Phil Steele (fourth-team), lit up the stat sheet for the powerful Rebel defense as a sophomore in 2024.

Perkins helped contribute to team program records in sacks (52) and tackles for loss (120), which both led the nation, ranking fourth on the team with 60 tackles while tying for the team lead in both TFL (14.0) and sacks (10.5).

Those 10.5 sacks ranked tied for second in Ole Miss single-season history, and his 14.0 TFL ranked tied for 10th all-time.

His most notable game last fall came against Oklahoma, where he notched 4.0 sacks – the most by a Rebel defender in a single game since 1993.

In two years as a Rebel, Perkins owns 98 total tackles, 19.5 TFL and 14.0 sacks across 26 games played and 10 starts.

Harris enters his fourth year as a key member of the Ole Miss defensive line. Since 2022, Harris has played in 37 games and started 10.

All told, Harris owns 65 tackles, 8.5 TFL and 2.5 sacks as a Rebels, including career-highs in all three last fall.

Harris has also been crucial on special teams, blocking five kicks across his career – which puts him two shy of the SEC all-time record of seven.

Umanmielen, a 2023 second-team Freshman All-American, comes to Ole Miss with previous ties to the program.

The younger brother of former Ole Miss defensive end and NFL Draft selection Princely Umanimielen, Princewill played in 23 games for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, recording 35 tackles, seven for a loss, and 1.5 sacks.

The Austin, Texas, native is ranked as the ninth-best player in the transfer portal according to 247 Sports and is a top-25 overall transfer by On3 and Rivals.

A 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior, Umanmielen was a 2024 Academic All-Big Ten member.

Ole Miss enters year six under head coach Lane Kiffin, who has led the Rebels to five consecutive bowl berths and three 10-win seasons – including the first consecutive 10-win campaigns at Ole Miss since 1959-60 across both the 2023 (11-2) and 2024 (10-3) seasons.

Kiffin's 2024 Rebel squad proved to be one of the most statistically consequential in Ole Miss history, shattering program records in total yards (6,845), yards per play (7.3), passing yards (4,561), passing yards per game (350.8), sacks (52) and tackles for loss (120) en route to a 2025 Gator Bowl victory and a seven-round era record eight NFL Draft selections.

Ole Miss will have quite a different look for 2025, however.

The Rebels enter this fall a consensus top-25 team across several media projections, but will look to replace 63 lost lettermen and 20 starters from last year.

Kiffin and squad have quickly set about replacing that core, though, welcoming in the No. 2 rated transfer class and the No. 15 rated high school signing class to help surround returning key players such as sophomore quarterback Austin Simmons, junior wide receiver Cayden Lee, and junior linebackers TJ Dottery and Suntarine Perkins.

PRESEASON SEC FOOTBALL MEDIA POLL

Predicted Order of Finish
1. Texas – 3,060 points
2. Georgia – 2,957 points
3. Alabama – 2,783 points
4. LSU – 2,668 points
5. South Carolina – 2,109 points
6. Florida – 1,986 points
7. Ole Miss – 1,979 points
8. Texas A&M – 1,892 points
9. Tennessee – 1,700 points
10. Oklahoma – 1,613 points
11. Auburn – 1,272 points
12. Missouri – 1,170 points
13. Vanderbilt – 936 points
14. Arkansas – 764 points
15. Kentucky – 512 points
16. Mississippi State – 343 points

First-Team All-SEC
QB – LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
RB – Quintrevion Wisner, Texas
RB – Le'Veon Moss, Texas A&M
WR – Ryan Williams, Alabama
WR – Cam Coleman, Auburn
TE – Eli Stowers, Vanderbilt
OL – Kadyn Proctor, Alabama
OL – Cayden Green, Missouri
OL – DJ Campbell, Texas
OL – Austin Barber, Florida
C – Jake Slaughter, Florida
DL – Keldric Faulk, Auburn
DL – Dylan Stewart, South Carolina
DL – Colin Simmons, Texas
DL – Christian Miller, Georgia
LB – Anthony Hill Jr., Texas
LB – Whit Weeks, LSU
LB – CJ Allen, Georgia
DB – KJ Bolden, Georgia
DB – Michael Taaffe, Texas
DB – Daylen Everette, Georgia
DB – Jermod McCoy, Tennessee
P – Brett Thorson, Georgia
PK – Peyton Woodring, Georgia
LS – Beau Gardner, Georgia
KS – Peyton Woodring, Georgia
RS – Zachariah Branch, Georgia
AP – Zachariah Branch, Georgia

Second-Team All-SEC
QB – Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
RB – Jaydn Ott, Oklahoma
RB – Caden Durham, LSU
WR – Aaron Anderson, LSU
WR – Ryan Wingo, Texas
TE – Oscar Delp, Georgia
OL – Ar'maj Reed-Adams, Texas A&M
OL – Trey Zuhn III, Texas A&M
OL – Jaeden Roberts, Alabama
OL – Fernando Carmona Jr., Arkansas
C – Parker Brailsford, Alabama
DL – Caleb Banks, Florida
DL – Tim Keenan III, Alabama
DL – LT Overton, Alabama
DL – R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma
LB – Deontae Lawson, Alabama
LB – Harold Perkins, LSU
LB – Suntarine Perkins, Ole Miss
DB – Malik Muhammad, Texas
DB – Domani Jackson, Alabama
DB – Will Lee III, Texas A&M
DB – Jalon Kilgore, South Carolina
P – Jack Bouwmeester, Texas
*PK – Trey Smack, Florida
*PK – Lucas Carneiro, Ole Miss
LS – Rocco Underwood, Florida
KS – Trey Smack, Florida
RS – Barion Brown, LSU
AP – Zavion Thomas, LSU

Third-Team All-SEC
QB – Arch Manning, Texas
RB – Nate Frazier, Georgia
RB – Jam Miller, Alabama
WR – Eric Singleton, Auburn
WR – Kevin Coleman Jr., Missouri
TE – Jack Endries, Texas
OL – Earnest Greene III, Georgia
OL – Chase Bisontis, Texas A&M
OL – Xavier Chaplin, Auburn
OL – Trevor Goosby, Texas
C – Connor Lew, Auburn
DL – Tyreak Sapp, Florida
DL – Trey Moore, Texas
DL – Cam Ball, Arkansas
DL – Zxavian Harris, Ole Miss
LB – Taurean York, Texas A&M
LB – Arion Carter, Tennessee
LB – Princewill Umanmielen, Ole Miss
DB – Keon Sabb, Alabama
DB – Boo Carter, Tennessee
DB – Bray Hubbard, Alabama
DB – Isaac Smith, Mississippi State
*P – Devin Bale, Arkansas
*P – Aidan Laros, Kentucky
PK – Alex McPherson, Auburn
LS – Ben Anderson, Oklahoma
KS – Will Stone, Texas
RS – Zavion Thomas, LSU
*AP – Eugene Wilson III, Florida
*AP – Jadan Baugh, Florida

* - Indicates a tie