New faces in new places but the Ole Miss Rebels defense once again shines in road win versus Kentucky
Defensive coordinator Pete Golding had his work cut out for him this offseason. He lost damn near his entire defense to the NFL Draft and had to make some tough decisions at some key spots. But on Saturday, it was business as usual for the Rebels and it all started up front.Ole Miss held Kentucky […]
Defensive coordinator Pete Golding had his work cut out for him this offseason. He lost damn near his entire defense to the NFL Draft and had to make some tough decisions at some key spots. But on Saturday, it was business as usual for the Rebels and it all started up front.
Ole Miss held Kentucky to just 354 yards (54 on final drive when Ole Miss was in prevent) – including going just 5-for-16 on third down. Journeyman Zach Calzada was only 15-for-30 for 149 yards through the air. The defense did a nice job of keeping him in check and putting the Kentucky receivers in a bind.
The defensive line was paramount to the success Saturday and Lane Kiffin alluded to it.
“That’s what you said this morning, I told our GM, man, these road games, they feel a lot better when you have good D-linemen, and don’t have to out score people,” Kiffin said. “We had this great one last year and so to have a really good one again, that can end games and put pressure on a quarterback like that is awesome.”
The young Ole Miss defensive line stepped up in a major way.
Zxavian Harris is the known disruptor. But he had a ton of help Saturday. Youngsters like Kam Franklin, William Echoles, Princewill Umanmielen, and Jam Brown were electric up front. The Wildcats had no answer at times and the Rebels defense made plays late to seal it.
Seeing this one up close and personal, the lines of scrimmage shifted big-time once the Wildcats went up 10-0. The poise shown by Ole Miss on the road was impressive. With a young quarterback who had already turned it over twice, the Rebels were able to lean on the defense to get stops and to shift the momentum back its way.
Golding deserves a ton of credit for getting new guys in, teaching the defense, and immediately getting results. Washington State transfer Kapena Gushiken led the way with five tackles, Antonio Kite had three, and new linebacker duo Tahj Chambers and Jaden Yates combined for 10 tackles.
At the end of the day, Lane Kiffin was pleased with the defensive effort.
The old adage is defense travels. And it did for Ole Miss Saturday – putting an emphatic note on a 2-0 start for the Rebels.
“I think it says a lot. I think it says they got a chance to be really good because you can see in phases they’ll go right down the field and score with dynamic playmakers and they’ll stop people and shut them down 3 and out. I think they have a chance. Today was a good SEC start.”
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