How Matt Corral, Ole Miss defense graded
OXFORD — Spoiler alert: Ole Miss passed.
No. 20 Ole Miss (2-0) routed its overmatched FCS foe Austin Peay with a 5417 win Saturday night. The offense did what it was supposed to. The defense did what it was supposed to. The special teams did what they were supposed to. The best possible news an Ole Miss fan can hear right now is that Ole Miss is good enough that games against FCS competition don't have to be stressful.
Still, there were a few lessons to be learned. Let's look at some grades.
Offense: A
Start with the bad: The Rebels' firstteam offense only converted three of 10 third down tries. And without center Orlando Umana in the middle, the offensive line struggled in pass protection early, getting called for two holding penalties and knocking quarterback Matt Corral out of rhythm in a pair of firstquarter drives.
Now that that's out of the way. Yeah. Ole Miss' offense rolled the way it should. Corral threw for five touchdowns. Dontario Drummond went over 100 yards for the second-straight week and added two scores. Adjusting for sacks, the Rebels averaged 7.8 yards per carry.
There's no real reason to be concerned about the Rebels offense. It hasn't really been tested yet, but for now, enjoy the blowouts.
Defense: A
Again, start with the bad: Austin
Peay took some deep shots and Ole Miss' cornerbacks struggled, allowing two long plays to set up scores and getting called for three backbreaking pass interference penalties. And Austin Peay's short passing game forced a few missed tackles in the open field.
Just like the offense, though, there were a lot more positives. Edge rushers Sam Williams and Cedric Johnson had their way with overmatched Austin Peay tackles, notching two quarterback hurries, three sacks, two forced fumbles and a touchdown. Transfer linebacker Chance Campbell stuffed another runner on a fourth and short. The unit combined for five sacks, 11 tackles for loss and six pass breakups.
Austin Peay's tempo could've been a challenge for this defense, especially on a short week after playing a game five days prior. But it wasn't. After years of underwhelming defensive performances against the likes of Southern Illinois and Southeastern Louisiana, Ole Miss finally played a no-questions defensive game against an FCS tune-up. Call it a check mark.
Special teams: Unnecessary
There really isn't much to report on special teams. Austin Peay returned the opening kickoff to near midfield, but a penalty negated it. Both teams went for most of their fourth downs, so Ole Miss didn't try its first field goal until more than halfway through the fourth quarter and only had to punt twice.
Caden Costa's kickoffs looked nice. Other than that, this wasn't really a game where special teams made any difference.
Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.