C.J. Johnson makes a tackle during the Grove Bowl in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, April 11, 2015. (DM Photo | Marlee Crawford)
Last year, the strength of the 9-4 Ole Miss football team was the defense, which led the nation in points allowed per game, with just 16. Plenty of new starters and younger players are preparing for bigger roles in the upcoming season. Fans got their first glimpse of what the new defense will look like from Saturday’s Grove Bowl.
“I thought that there was some solid play on defense,” head coach Hugh Freeze said.
Replacing long time middle linebacker D.T. Shackelford will be a big task for the defense and Hugh Freeze to handle, but senior C.J. Johnson is filling the shoes at the position. Freeze discussed the middle linebacker position, which is one of the more talked about positions for the 2015 campaign.
“We still have a ways to go,” Freeze said. “I look forward to Shawn Curtis getting here and adding some depth to that. There is no question that Temario Strong and Christian Russell made improvements, and we think that C.J. Johnson can do a lot of things for us. We just have to plan exactly what we are going to do with him come fall camp, and figure out what looks he is best at. That will be a rotation there.”
The cornerback position also needs to be revamped. Losing Senquez Golson hurts the group, and the Rebels will need to fill in new players at the position. Freeze also talked about how the team’s new starting corners fared in the game.
“Tee Shepard was solid all day at corner,” Freeze said. “Tony Bridges got beat on one deep ball. He is a little too aggressive. We need to slow him down just a bit. He had a few too many penalties.”
Sophomore safety C.J. Hampton filled in the hole at safety and totaled two tackles for the game. After the game, Hampton sounded pleased with his fellow defensive backs.
“Both of those guys are great,” Hampton said. “We had some great corners last year, but (Bridges and Shepard) are around six-feet, two-inches, so (opposing teams) will have to go over their heads.”
Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack listed Hampton among the most improved players on the defensive side of the ball along with redshirt freshman defensive lineman Breeland Speaks.
Wommack said Hampton was light-years away from where he was last year and now knows the secondary inside and out.
“I thought he got more confident, and that came with better tackling,” Wommack said.
Former safety Cody Prewitt will also be moving on to the NFL from the Ole Miss secondary. Hampton gave a lot of the credit for his improvements with the help from Prewitt.
“I made a big gain this spring,” Hampton said. “Cody (Prewitt) taught me a lot. Cody was on me hard last year and basically he just wanted me to learn. He always used to say ‘You’re good enough, you just have to learn (the game) first.’ So I learned it, and I’m just going with it now.”
Hampton further explained what specifically he’s gotten better at since last year.
“I’m smarter, I think,” Hampton said. “I’m back to my old playing style. My coverage skills are good, so everything is good. It just had to add up at a certain time.”
In order to continue the success the defense had in the 2014 season, this year’s team must continue their ball-hawking mentality and be just as aggressive. Overall, Wommack feels good about the new secondary.
“I like the guys that we have back there,” Womack said. “I think our defense revolves around what those safety, husky, rovers and free safeties can do. I think there’s a lot of improvement in that area; I’m confident that we will have a nice unit next year.”
