Gross doesn’t want excuses
Reb defense is struggling
Senior nose tackle Issac Gross knows about the stats.
The ones that say Ole Miss, which hosts No. 11 Georgia on Saturday (11 a.m., ESPN), is ranked 104th (of 128 FBS teams) in the nation in third-down defensive percentage. The 21st-ranked Rebels rank 126th in time of possession, and Gross has heard about the defense being out on the field too long, too.
But to Gross, those are just excuses for the defense, which through three games is allowing 35.3 points per game and has been on the field for an average of 37 minutes and 49 seconds.
“With people saying the defense is out there too long that can give certain people the right to be like, ‘We’re out there too long.’ It’s an excuse,” Gross said. “I’m not going to go out that way. I’m like, I don’t care how long we’re out there. (If) we have to fight, we have to fight.”
Ole Miss (1-2, 0-1 SEC) finds itself in a bind. The Rebels like to push the tempo offensively, which has meant short drives, both good and bad, and a quick turnaround for the defense, which has depth issues.
Ole Miss has a total of 38 possessions this season, not counting end-of-half and end-of-game kneeling situations, and 18 of those have ended with a touchdown or field goal. None of those drives lasted longer than 4:16.
And 12 of those possessions concluded with punts. Each time the Rebels have punted this season, it’s been after a threeand-out.
“That’s the thing about tempo offense. You can either go three-and-out really fast or you can score really fast. Sometimes we’ll have a long drive, but it’s been really rare this year,” tight end Evan Engram said. “It’s been really fast or not at all, but it’s more frustrating because the defense doesn’t get enough rest either way.
“That’s definitely one of the kind of negative things about going fast-tempo. The defense doesn’t really get that much rest. It’s kind of frustrating when we need a stop, and they’re still hurting from the previous drive.”
Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze wasn’t bothered by the time of possession differential against Alabama, which the Crimson Tide controlled 35:23 to 24:47.
Running the ball could slow things down a bit, but that has never been Ole Miss’ strong suit and depth is shrinking at the running back position.
Freeze said the offense just hasn’t operated as well when they aren’t speeding things up.
“We’re not near as effective offensively and defenses can call every single thing they want,” Freeze said. “When we go fast we’ve been pretty efficient, but we score pretty fast too. That’s part of the game today. We’ve still got to get off the field on third down defensively and can’t give up explosive plays. The problem has been when conventional wisdom says slow down, eat some clock, we have not been real good to this point and so our kids believe when we go fast, they just believe in it. We do too . ... So it’s a Catch-22. It’s a tough deal.”