Pete Golding isn’t Lane Kiffin with his bold words and brashness, but he couldn’t help but be brutally honest heading to the locker room on Thursday night.
Golding’s Ole Miss team was hanging around against Miami as the teams battled for a spot in the national championship game. The Rebels trailed the Hurricanes, 17-13, with a whole 2nd half to go at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., so the score wasn’t the issue for Golding.
As the Rebels new head coach told ESPN on his way to that locker room, it was what his defense wasn’t doing quite so well that had Golding concerned. After Kewan Lacy gave Ole Miss a very brief lead with his 73-yard touchdown run, Miami tacked on 2 touchdowns in the 2nd quarter and finished the first half with 228 total yards.
The Canes were also 5 for 9 on 3rd downs, which was a concern for Golding.
“We’ve got to play more physical up front,” Pete Golding said. “Tackling’s been an issue. Obviously, third down (is an issue). But we’ve got to do a better job getting them on the ground.”
There was as whole half left to accomplish all of that for the Ole Miss defense, and Golding was likely on his way to that halftime locker room to make sure his players knew that.
Things were just getting started in Glendale, with everything on the line.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
