Johnny Vaught would be proud.

Tune into an Ole Miss football game this season and you’ll see how defense is meant to be played.

Stuck in a spread-dominated era of bad tackling and broken coverages, it’s refreshing to watch a unit comprised of backyard players fly to the football and crush the opposition at the point of contact.

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Comprised of an ideal blend of speed, power and tenacity, the Rebels have the best defense in the country, exactly what Dave Wommack envisioned when Ole Miss welcomed the nation’s top signing class to Oxford in 2013 to complement blossoming current starters.

With several standout sophomores — along with seniors Serderius Bryant, Deterrian Shackelford and Cody Prewitt — anchoring the SEC’s best unit, Wommack’s group hasn’t given up a touchdown pass since the fourth quarter of the opener against Boise State and ranks fifth nationally in total defense (277.6 YPG) and second in points against (10.2).

Star defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, whose statistics don’t reflect his snap-to-snap dominance thus far, credits his coordinator as the orchestrator of the Rebels’ rhythmic success on his side of the ball.

Teams have reached the red zone 12 times this season and have managed a league-low three touchdowns.

“Coach Wommack is going to put up some kind of mastermind defensive game plan like he always does, and he’s going to tell us what to do and we’re going to do it,” Nkemdiche said before Saturday’s momentum-changing victory over Alabama.

The final nail in the Crimson Tide’s coffin — Senquez Golson’s steal of an O.J. Howard touchdown — was indicative of this unit’s ball-hawking nature. The secondary takes it personal when the opposition makes a play, a leading reason why the Rebels have given up a SEC-low two completions spanning 30 or more yards this season.

Blake Sims’ heave to the back of the end zone would’ve been a 32-yard hook up and win-clincher pending the PAT.

Not against this defense.

Ole Miss has given up three touchdowns through five games, 11 scores better than last year’s pace.

Alabama came into last weekend’s matchup with one of the nation’s most balanced offenses under Lane Kiffin with two weeks to prepare, but the Rebels countered with what we’ve come to respect defensively. Aided by a couple missed field goals, limiting Amari Cooper and the Crimson Tide attack to just 10 total points was a Wommack masterpiece sealed with a hard-hitting stamp.

T.J. Yeldon managed a business-like 123 yards on 20 carries, but never got loose for a game-changing play. Derrick Henry, college football’s mos talked about backup tailback, averaged 2.2 yards per carry on 17 attempts.

Ole Miss wasn’t too complex defensively and relied on its strength — tackling.

“There are some things that are ‘This is what we do as a defense,’ but we absolutely scheme everybody every week,” said Wommack, whose team primarily attacks out of its 4-2-5 base. “We have enough inventory that we practice during two-a-days in camp that we’re able to transition to who we are playing.”