Ole Miss ‘D’ leans on its secondary
OXFORD – The prospect of Ole Miss’ defense leaning heavily on the success of its secondary put a smile on cornerback Jaylon Jones’ face.
“I like that,” he said of coach Matt Luke’s plan to load the box. “That means he has confidence in the DBs, because when you stack the box it’s one-onone matchups. So it shows that he’s got a lot of trust in us and he believes that we can win our one-onone matchups.”
Ole Miss is expected to have another explosive year on offense with its highly touted receiving corps still intact, so the progress of the defense all but determines the progress of the team.
The Rebels' defense is counting on individual growth, increased comfort in the second year under defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff and the execution of its plan to load the box and pull them out of last in the SEC in total defense, and 115th out of 129 FBS programs in the nation. But that approach will fall apart if the secondary can’t limit its opponents’ passing game.
“Coach McGriff and coach [Jason] Jones and coach [Charles] Clark have been getting us ready for this since day one,” cornerback Javien Hamilton said. “Last year we played a lot of man-on-man coverage on the back end, so it shouldn’t be a lot of pressure, even though he is going to load the box a little bit more to stop the run.”
Ole Miss’ defensive backs got a bit banged up over fall camp. Nickelback Vernon Dasher missed a few practices due to a groin injury. Cornerback Ken Webster remains out with a hamstring injury. A hamstring injury kept Hamilton sidelined for a week and a half. But Luke said he remains as confident in his secondary as ever.
“[Safeties] C.J. [Morre] and Zedrick [Woods] are back there doing a great job,” he said. “And then probably corner is our deepest position. … Even though we’ve got two guys out, you’re still feeling pretty good. That gives you a little idea of the depth. Maybe two years ago if that happens you’re worried and you struggle to practice. So I like the depth.”
Miles Hartsfield stepped in opposite Jones, and Jalen Julius provided another option behind them. Hamilton took some snaps with the first team Tuesday, after returning to practice the previous Thursday. He was, however, held out of Saturday’s scrimmage.
Montrell Custis and Cam Ordway filled in at the star position, but last week, when Dasher began easing back into practice, McGriff said his development was “coming along.” McGriff complemented Dasher for his size, speed, and lack of mental mistakes.
As for the guys charged with forcing the quarterback to test Ole Miss' secondary, they’ve received glowing reviews from offensive players on the work they’ve done in camp. Last week quarterback Jordan Ta’amu said he could see how badly they wanted to improve from last year, and offensive lineman Greg Little said they were playing harder and with more confidence.
In Saturday’s situation-based scrimmage, the defense bested the offense in the four-minute drill, Luke said, but the offense did better in the red zone. He acknowledged that it’s hard to prepare and evaluate the defense when the only opponent it has faced is its own offense.
“I think we’re deeper,” Luke said. “We have more guys that can contribute, that are pushing for playing time. I think we’re a little bit faster. And then obviously the knowledge is … one year better — they’re communicating a little bit better. But I want to see us go out there and do it in a game.”
Ole Miss’ scrimmages this fall have been closed to the media, and the defense continues to receive outside skepticism — at least in part due to the loss of Marquis Haynes and Breeland Speaks, the headliners of Ole Miss’ 2017 defense.
Last year’s defensive struggles are brought up in almost every interview with defensive players and coaches. The overarching theme in their response is that they hope to surprise some people.