Star Ole Miss defender's shocking quote following huge SEC victory proves true against Georgia
Sometimes players talk trash, but then fail to possess the requisite talent and drive to back it up. That was not the case with Princely Umanmielen, star edge defender for Ole Miss, as he dominated Georgia in their SEC rivalry game on Saturday. Ole Miss won 28-10, primarily because of Umanmielen and the Rebels pass […]
Sometimes players talk trash, but then fail to possess the requisite talent and drive to back it up. That was not the case with Princely Umanmielen, star edge defender for Ole Miss, as he dominated Georgia in their SEC rivalry game on Saturday. Ole Miss won 28-10, primarily because of Umanmielen and the Rebels pass rush.
Following the game where he tallied five tackles and two sacks, Princely Umanmielen revealed what he confidently and shockingly told his Ole Miss teammates when it was still early in the contest on Saturday:
"We knew were put in a bad position [after the opening drive interception]. And we really almost stopped them. They got lucky on the fourth down. Like I said before, we love those type of moments. After we stopped them the first time I told some of our guys, 'They're not going to score again. This game don't even need to be close. I don't think they're on our level.'"
"I don't think they're on our level." Yes, Umanmielen actually said that about the number three ranked Georgia Bulldogs while they the game was still tied in the first quarter. While that might sound crazy to the casual fan, Umanmielen clearly knew something most people did not.
The only reason Georgia was ever in position to score a touchdown early at all was due to the lucky interception and diving fourth down conversion made by Kirby Smart's Bulldogs to start the game. After that, Ole Miss completely shut down any offensive effort from Georgia, not allowing a single trip to the end zone throughout the final 50 minutes of the game for the Bulldogs. And it was largely due to Umanmielen's dominance.
Umanmielen brought pressure all night long on Georgia QB Carson Beck. He tallied six total pressures, two sacks, and had one sack taken away due to a silly face mask penalty a teammate committed. It was apparently clear to him early that the Georgia offensive line simply did not stand a chance, and was "not on the same level" as Ole Miss' FBS leading pass rush.
Several other key contributors stepped up for Ole Miss too, including Suntarine Perkins, who grabbed a sack and a fumble recovery of his own.
At the end of the game Ole Miss defensive front had racked up 15 pass rush pressures, five sacks, two forced fumbles, and a deflection at the line of scrimmage that set up the game-winning interception for the Rebels. When asked about Ole Miss' dominance up front in his post-game interview, Lane Kiffin had this to say:
"That's a credit to [defensive coordinator, Pete] Golding and the staff. That's why we brought him here, for games like this. He showed up, the [defense] showed up. I mean, to be at the end of the game and they're throwing screens to stay away from our [pass] rush, it was pretty cool. That's a lot of guys doing things right and showing up. It was great again for the last couple weeks to have Princely [Umanmielen] back. We didn't have him in that LSU game."
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Umanmielen's presence was sorely missed against LSU. That was the only game of the season that Ole Miss did not tally a sack. It's clear Umanmielen is the tone setter, leader, and confidence-builder for the Ole Miss defensive front. Following his strong message to his teammates early in the first quarter Georgia's offense logged 58 total yards on the next four drives combined.
He was asked about the defense's success, and how it looked like things got "easier" for them down the stretch. Umanmielen showed great leadership and perspective with his response:
"I think we just–I like how you put it, you know what I'm saying, it got easier–we knew that Georgia is a team that has been down more [points] than we were up on them today. And we knew that they were a team that has come back from great adversity…We just knew that as a defense and as a team that we had to keep our foot on their necks and not give them any room to breathe and we did that."
Georgia had come back to nearly win against Alabama earlier in the year after falling behind by 23 points, so Umanmielen understood that Ole Miss had to "keep their foot on the Bulldogs' necks" if they wanted to win. That's exactly what the Rebels did. And what Umanmielen said proved to be true. Georgia absolutely, 100%, all game long, was not even close to the same level as Ole Miss at virtually anything.
If Ole Miss plays the way they did today against Georgia every single week they're going to win the national championship. Lane Kiffin and his coaching staff had their team ready to play above and beyond what was remotely possible for any team in the nation to match on Saturday. Let's hope Umanmielen and the rest of the Ole Miss defense keeps this up. If they do, and quarterback Jaxson Dart's explosiveness continues on offense, the sky's the limit for the Rebels.
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