Ad Disclosure
Ole Miss football: How will the defense improve in season’s final stretch?
By Brian Rippee
Published:
The much-maligned Ole Miss defense has certainly had its share of struggles this season. From a lack of a consistent pass rush to blown assignments from a young secondary, this group has held the Rebels back and is allowing slightly more than 40 points per game.
Ole Miss has allowed the 2nd-most total passing yards in the SEC, the most rushing yards and the most passing and rushing yards per game. They rank 10th in sacks and 9th in interceptions. With all that being true, the defense is coming off a game at Vanderbilt in which it allowed fewer than 24 points and 125 yards rushing for the 1st time all season in a 54-21 rout on Oct. 31. Granted, the opponent was the weakest they will face all year, but the defense did show signs of improvement.
Another nugget of good news for this struggling group is that the schedule looks much more manageable. Ole Miss, coming off a bye week, hosts South Carolina on Saturday, a golden opportunity for the defense to post back-to-back serviceable performances for the 1st time. The Gamecocks have struggled to score this season and have been riddled with quarterback indecision and an inability to convert on 3rd down, which has led to red-zone dysfunction.
After South Carolina’s non-competitive 48-3 loss to Texas A&M at home last week, coach Will Muschamp reopened the quarterback competition in preparation for this week’s game. Collin Hill has been inconsistent, and 2019 starter Ryan Hilinski is beginning to get more of a look.
“They told me that today, that they’re opening the competition,” Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said. “D.J. (Durkin, defensive coordinator) was talking to me about that today, not knowing. We’ll just have to prepare, and who ever plays, plays.”
Whoever ends up starting for the Gamecocks, the bottom line is this: They have found the end zone twice in their past 6 quarters and lack explosiveness on offense. South Carolina ranks 12th in the conference in passing offense and 8th in rushing.
Will facing the Ole Miss defense be just what the doctor ordered for Mike Bobo’s offense? Or will the Rebels be able to build on their performance 2 weeks ago in Nashville? If it’s the latter, then Ole Miss has a chance to build some confidence on defense down the stretch. Three games remain after this against Texas A&M, LSU and Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have the worst offense in the conference, Texas A&M will be a tough test — though Kellen Mond will hardly be the most dynamic quarterback the defense will have faced this season — and who knows who will be playing quarterback for LSU by December.
The back end of this schedule is manageable for Ole Miss, who will go as far as their defense allows them to. The Rebels have improved in the secondary. A.J. Finley is coming off a career game in which he had 12 tackles and an interception. The pass rush has been marginally better, as Sam Williams has played more consistently, and Vanderbilt’s 102 yards rushing were the fewest against this defense all season. Opponent aside, this is the same defense that allowed 408 yards on the ground to Kentucky in a win. Can the Rebels become serviceable enough against the run to keep teams honest, and can they apply enough consistent pressure to the quarterback to not tax a young but improving secondary?
The bye week certainly helped, as it allowed Ole Miss to look inward as opposed to an opponent’s offense.
“We focused on stuff on having better eyes,” linebacker Jacquez Jones said. “We also practiced getting off blocks. That was a huge thing last week, was being able to get off blocks. At the end of the day, if we go out and play our game, we should have no problems.”
The offenses remaining on the schedule are more manageable than the 6 this struggling defense has faced to date. The Rebels have a chance to reel off a couple of wins and build momentum heading into the offseason. The defense, of course, will play a major factor in whether that happens. All this offense needs is for the defense to string together a handful of stops to give it a chance to build a lead rather than keep pace.
Overall, Ole Miss needs more talent on this side of the ball, and a lot of it. But if the current personnel is able to improve in the final stretch, that will go a long way toward expediting what looks like a lengthy rebuild.
