Ole Miss Rebels’ predictable Achilles Heel cost them dearly in devastating College Football Playoff loss to Miami Hurricanes
Ole Miss’ terrible run defense led to disappointing loss to Miami despite incredible efforts from Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy
The Ole Miss Rebels’ season came to a devastating close on Thursday as they lost 31-27 in the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff to the Miami Hurricanes. While head coach Pete Golding, special quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, star running back Kewan Lacy, and the entire Rebels team should be proud of their 13-2 season, it’s unfortunate that it ended due to a quite predictable Achilles Heel. Ole Miss’ run defense and tackling had been problematic all season long, and it cost them dearly at the worst time again.
Ole Miss Rebels’ run defense cost them College Football Playoff game against Miami
The Ole Miss Rebels entered the Fiesta Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal ranked 130th in rush success rate allowed and 112th in yards per rush allowed on defense. Stopping the run had been an issue for Ole Miss against all their toughest opponents, so it’s not really a surprise that it was a problem again. It was still sad to see the Rebels completely incapable to doing anything to stop Miami’s running attack on Thursday in the most important game of the year.
Miami running back Mark Fletcher racked up 133 yards on the ground. The backup CharMar Brown added 54 more. Star wide receiver Malachi Tony even broke off a 12-yard “run” play in space too. It didn’t matter who had the ball, Ole Miss could not stop the run game, or get off the field in critical situations because they just could not tackle well or control the line of scrimmage consistently up front against the Hurricanes. Credit to Miami, because they simply opened up a ton of opportunities for their playmakers, but it was also just constant critical failures from Ole Miss’ defense.
Ole Miss allowed Miami to go 11 for 19 on third down and two for two on fourth down. They gave up nearly 200 rushing yards on the game and over 450 total yards of offense. Not only that, because they couldn’t get any stops on critical downs or against the run, Miami managed to hold on to the ball for over 41 of the 60 minutes in the game. Horrendous.
Ole Miss’ secondary allowed virtually zero vertical passing yards throughout the game, but it didn’t matter. Miami just used their screen game as an extension of their running attack, and that ultimately cost Ole Miss in huge moments. That especially showed up with Malachi Toney’s 36-yard score on what should have been an easily prevented play if the Rebels just tackled him in space, and didn’t get thrown out of their lanes.
Congratulations to Ole Miss on what is likely the best season in the history of their program. However, it’s clear that Pete Golding and the Rebels still have a lot of work to do this offseason when it comes to the defensive side of the ball. If their run defense got one, maybe two more stops throughout the entirety of the game, Ole Miss is heading to the national championship game.
The good news? Ole Miss is already attacking the transfer portal to help improve their defense. The bad news? They could have used that help in the playoff. Better luck next year, Rebels.
We’ll be back with more Ole Miss Rebels coverage here at A to Z Sports soon. Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news.
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