Made the long trip to Aggieland this past weekend, and not even an 8-10 point buck trying to take us out on the way could prevent a great weekend. Watched the tape last night after we got home, here are some things I would like to point out. Warning! This might be a little more than the 140-character crowd wants, just so you know that upfront.
Offense
1. 390 rushing yards against air is impressive. Against a defense that has as much talent as aTm's, what can you say except, WOW! The OL did a tremendous job opening up holes. Jayden Williams is a nasty run blocker, as is Nick Broeker. Broeker did a good job when he moved outside for Williams on a couple of series too. I am a little concerned about depth, but Chase's depth post a few days back demonstrates that we aren't alone in playing our 1st 5 OL 90% of the snaps. Eli Acker did well while in the game, but the coaches obviously believe he is the 6th man. Need a 7th man to come to the top, and there is no real backup at center. Overall, we imposed our will on their much-ballyhooed DL for the majority of the game. Mississippi native McKinnley Jackson did play pretty well for them, recording a team high 12 tackles, but Jeremy James won their matchup more often than not and some of those tackles were due to his pursuit down the field.
2. Judkins! Man, I hope he loves Ole Miss and doesn't get back-channeled. He is so fun to watch. He has such good vision, runs hard, and is so physical. Hard to believe he is only 19. Evans looked like he is coming back to form. He had a couple of nice runs as well. Dart's night was reminiscent of Corral last year against Tennessee. He kept finding the open area to scramble to on obvious passing downs. I believe he converted at least 4 3rd downs by scrambling for a 1st down. He didn't make the one awful throw for an int that he has made in every game up to this point, so that was good. JD has improved immensely since the season began, and he is still nowhere close to his potential.
3. Mingo had a great night, and not just catching the ball. He had 4 receptions for 89 yards and a TD, but he also moved inside and lined up at TE some, and did a pretty good job of blocking. He really isn't built for TE, but he did a good job doing what he was asked to do, which is all you can ask of a player. Dayton Wade has emerged as a steady player. Hopefully, his growth continues. Casey Kelly made the big grab for the TD. I was both amazed and happy at the same time. Amazed we called his number on 3rd and goal, happy he made the play, for him and us. Jordan Watkins did not have a catch, was only targeted once, and Malik Heath only had the one catch on the screen pass with the no-horse collar call. Other than the wheel route we ran 3 times successfully, our receivers had a hard time getting separation against aTm's DBs. We will have to have better production out of them moving forward.
Defense
1. We are just so much better on the DL when JJ Pegues is in the game. He commands a double team most of the time and was really active and disruptive Saturday night. He only recorded 2 tackles, but that stat does not accurately measure his impact on the game. Jamond Gordon played really well when he was in there. I had to look him up, as I did not recognize his number initially. I liked the run fits and the stunts we employed to get pressure on the QB. Many times we had 4 DL out there on obvious passing downs, using Cedric Johnson as a spy. I disagreed with the Roughing the Passer call on Robinson. It was definitely NOT targeting. I am not sure how you coach DL to rush the QB in today's game. I understand safety and all, but it is still a contact sport. (steps down off soapbox) Not sure what Robinson could have done that he didn't do. We have to get more people ready to be in the rotation next year. Several of our 2s only got a handful of snaps. You just can't have enough depth on the DL.
2. I was very surprised to see Troy Brown on the field Saturday night. I expected us to hold him out. He played about as well as he could, given the situation. Sistrunk played his best game as a Rebel. He seemed to be in his assigned gap, took on blocks pretty well, and led the team with 9 tackles in only 29 snaps. Keys did not make much of an impact in this game. Not sure about that. Khari Coleman plays so hard when he is in there. He would be All-SEC if he weighed 25 pounds more.
3. AJ Finley is a difference maker. Can't say I fully understood what he meant to our secondary until he wasn't in there last week. Just a steady player who does his job and doesn't beat you. I could say the same thing about Otis Reese with almost the same depth of conviction. He just shows up, plays hard, and doesn't get you beat. Miles Battle got significant reps Saturday night and made a couple of critical pass breakups. He needs to continue to "get back" to himself for these next 3 games, as we will see 3 pretty good QBs (One being the current Heisman winner) and WR corps. Ladarius Tennison was solid when he was in there too. Made 4 tackles, but made more plays than that stringing out plays, slowing runners progress, etc. Deantre Prince played every snap and did a steady job on whichever aTm receiver he was lined up against.
Overall, I was expecting Achane to break one Saturday night, and there were several close calls, but our defense managed to keep it from happening. That was a huge victory for the Rebels in the 2nd half, holding Achane to 24 yards after he had nearly 120 in the 1st half. aTm has some long, athletic receivers, and our guys managed to keep them from making the back-breaking play.
Special Teams
Cruz is one of the top 3 "gets" we had in the portal IMHO. He has been solid all year long. It is a good feeling to line up for a PAT or FG and fully expect to make it every time. I can't place a value on that, but I know it is a big part of the game and plays heavily into how both teams approach situations on both sides of the ball. The fake punt was great because it worked. It was a huge gamble. Had he not made it, the game might have turned on us right there. That is what CLK gets paid to do, make those decisions. Kudos to him for having the.... courage to make that call. Masin had a great night punting overall, but his 60-yard punt in the last minute left the Aggies starting at their 8-yard line with 54 seconds left and no timeouts. The value of that punt can't be overstated.
That is what I saw. Great team win by the Rebs! We are 8-1 for only the 2nd time in my life (1990, I was a junior at Ole Miss). We get Alabama at VHS in 2 weeks for a chance at the SECW. What more can we ask for than that. LFG! That is all.
Offense
1. 390 rushing yards against air is impressive. Against a defense that has as much talent as aTm's, what can you say except, WOW! The OL did a tremendous job opening up holes. Jayden Williams is a nasty run blocker, as is Nick Broeker. Broeker did a good job when he moved outside for Williams on a couple of series too. I am a little concerned about depth, but Chase's depth post a few days back demonstrates that we aren't alone in playing our 1st 5 OL 90% of the snaps. Eli Acker did well while in the game, but the coaches obviously believe he is the 6th man. Need a 7th man to come to the top, and there is no real backup at center. Overall, we imposed our will on their much-ballyhooed DL for the majority of the game. Mississippi native McKinnley Jackson did play pretty well for them, recording a team high 12 tackles, but Jeremy James won their matchup more often than not and some of those tackles were due to his pursuit down the field.
2. Judkins! Man, I hope he loves Ole Miss and doesn't get back-channeled. He is so fun to watch. He has such good vision, runs hard, and is so physical. Hard to believe he is only 19. Evans looked like he is coming back to form. He had a couple of nice runs as well. Dart's night was reminiscent of Corral last year against Tennessee. He kept finding the open area to scramble to on obvious passing downs. I believe he converted at least 4 3rd downs by scrambling for a 1st down. He didn't make the one awful throw for an int that he has made in every game up to this point, so that was good. JD has improved immensely since the season began, and he is still nowhere close to his potential.
3. Mingo had a great night, and not just catching the ball. He had 4 receptions for 89 yards and a TD, but he also moved inside and lined up at TE some, and did a pretty good job of blocking. He really isn't built for TE, but he did a good job doing what he was asked to do, which is all you can ask of a player. Dayton Wade has emerged as a steady player. Hopefully, his growth continues. Casey Kelly made the big grab for the TD. I was both amazed and happy at the same time. Amazed we called his number on 3rd and goal, happy he made the play, for him and us. Jordan Watkins did not have a catch, was only targeted once, and Malik Heath only had the one catch on the screen pass with the no-horse collar call. Other than the wheel route we ran 3 times successfully, our receivers had a hard time getting separation against aTm's DBs. We will have to have better production out of them moving forward.
Defense
1. We are just so much better on the DL when JJ Pegues is in the game. He commands a double team most of the time and was really active and disruptive Saturday night. He only recorded 2 tackles, but that stat does not accurately measure his impact on the game. Jamond Gordon played really well when he was in there. I had to look him up, as I did not recognize his number initially. I liked the run fits and the stunts we employed to get pressure on the QB. Many times we had 4 DL out there on obvious passing downs, using Cedric Johnson as a spy. I disagreed with the Roughing the Passer call on Robinson. It was definitely NOT targeting. I am not sure how you coach DL to rush the QB in today's game. I understand safety and all, but it is still a contact sport. (steps down off soapbox) Not sure what Robinson could have done that he didn't do. We have to get more people ready to be in the rotation next year. Several of our 2s only got a handful of snaps. You just can't have enough depth on the DL.
2. I was very surprised to see Troy Brown on the field Saturday night. I expected us to hold him out. He played about as well as he could, given the situation. Sistrunk played his best game as a Rebel. He seemed to be in his assigned gap, took on blocks pretty well, and led the team with 9 tackles in only 29 snaps. Keys did not make much of an impact in this game. Not sure about that. Khari Coleman plays so hard when he is in there. He would be All-SEC if he weighed 25 pounds more.
3. AJ Finley is a difference maker. Can't say I fully understood what he meant to our secondary until he wasn't in there last week. Just a steady player who does his job and doesn't beat you. I could say the same thing about Otis Reese with almost the same depth of conviction. He just shows up, plays hard, and doesn't get you beat. Miles Battle got significant reps Saturday night and made a couple of critical pass breakups. He needs to continue to "get back" to himself for these next 3 games, as we will see 3 pretty good QBs (One being the current Heisman winner) and WR corps. Ladarius Tennison was solid when he was in there too. Made 4 tackles, but made more plays than that stringing out plays, slowing runners progress, etc. Deantre Prince played every snap and did a steady job on whichever aTm receiver he was lined up against.
Overall, I was expecting Achane to break one Saturday night, and there were several close calls, but our defense managed to keep it from happening. That was a huge victory for the Rebels in the 2nd half, holding Achane to 24 yards after he had nearly 120 in the 1st half. aTm has some long, athletic receivers, and our guys managed to keep them from making the back-breaking play.
Special Teams
Cruz is one of the top 3 "gets" we had in the portal IMHO. He has been solid all year long. It is a good feeling to line up for a PAT or FG and fully expect to make it every time. I can't place a value on that, but I know it is a big part of the game and plays heavily into how both teams approach situations on both sides of the ball. The fake punt was great because it worked. It was a huge gamble. Had he not made it, the game might have turned on us right there. That is what CLK gets paid to do, make those decisions. Kudos to him for having the.... courage to make that call. Masin had a great night punting overall, but his 60-yard punt in the last minute left the Aggies starting at their 8-yard line with 54 seconds left and no timeouts. The value of that punt can't be overstated.
That is what I saw. Great team win by the Rebs! We are 8-1 for only the 2nd time in my life (1990, I was a junior at Ole Miss). We get Alabama at VHS in 2 weeks for a chance at the SECW. What more can we ask for than that. LFG! That is all.
