Bye week could not have come at a better time for the Ole Miss Rebels. With the team nursing a slew of injuries and two tough matchups against Arkansas and Mississippi State coming up to finish the season, a break to get healthy and study up for next week was sorely needed.
Ole Miss senior middle linebacker Deterrian Shackleford spoke to the media about what effect the off week had on the team.
“It’s allowing us to get our legs back up under us,” Shackleford said. “There’s not any easy games (in the SEC), so any time you get a chance to rest some of your starters and get some guys healthy, that’s always good.”
Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack also talked about the bye week and what he wanted to focus on during it.
“Just to get the (players) back healthy, and we want to improve fundamentally, which the last couple of days we’ve done, and get ahead on the game plan versus Arkansas,” Wommack said.
The Arkansas Razorbacks currently have a 4-5 record, which belittles how good they actually are. While they have gone winless in SEC play this season, they also have yet to play a single SEC matchup in which the opposing team wasn’t ranked in the top ten at the time. Furthermore, the Razorbacks lost several of those games very narrowly, losing by one point against Alabama and only by seven to number one Mississippi State.
Wommack and Ole Miss co-offensive coordinator Dan Werner were impressed with their play this season.
“They play so hard. And I think the quarterback (junior Brandon Allen,) he’s improved. He’s much more experienced. I think they have really good depth at (running) back. I think the two tight ends, especially (senior AJ) Derby and (sophomore) Hunter Henry, those two guys are outstanding,” Wommack said. “I think they’re a much improved football team than they were last year.”
Wommack also spoke about how the bye week could help them when they face the Razorbacks.
“It should be a big benefit because they are different. They’re not like a LSU team that just pounded you, but they have the really good backs, and they have a good line,” Wommack said. “We get a great advantage with being able to see and do and work on all that stuff.”
Werner sees a physical group that plays sound defense.
“They’re really physical on the defensive line,” he said. “They don’t blitz as much as most teams, which is good because Presbyterian didn’t either, so our game plan can be fairly similar. So hopefully, that will carry over a little bit.”
