(Rebels hold off the Aggies | The DM)
The defense that has been ravaged by injuries had their best performance of the year on Saturday night.
Coming into the game, Texas A&M scored an average of 36.5 points per game. Against the Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, the Aggies only scored three points.
The Rebels accomplished this with their two arguably best defensive players, junior safety Tony Conner and junior defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche, ruled out.
Nkemdiche suffered a concussion last Saturday against Memphis, but as of Thursday was expected to play. When Nkemdiche woke up Saturday morning at the team hotel, he struggled with headache symptoms and Freeze said he made the decision to hold him out.
“We had our first team meeting at 10 this morning,” Freeze said. “Right after that is when the medical staff contacted me and said he was having some headache symptoms.”
The Rebels were able to hold Texas A&M to only 192 yards of total offense, the worst offensive output for the Aggies this season. Sophomore Kyle Allen continued with his inconsistent play for the second week, only completing 12 of 32 passes and throwing 20 consecutive passes to end the game that didn’t result positively for the Aggies.
Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said that he was disappointed when he was informed that Nkemdiche wouldn’t be playing.
(Rebels celebrate after a touchdown | The DM)
“I was disappointed when I found out about an hour before we got on the bus that Robert wasn’t playing,” Wommack said. “It kind of surprised me because you build some things into the game casino plan for that.”
Without Nkemdiche, however, the way the Rebels called the game defensively didn’t change Freeze said. Without Nkemdiche, other defensive linemen had to step up for the Rebels to be successful Saturday night.
Sophomore defensive end Marquis Haynes answered that call with three tackles for loss and two quarterback sacks. Haynes said the Rebels had more energy, which caused more pressure in the backfield for the Rebels.
“I guess the energy was up,” Haynes said. “This was a game we had to win, trying to stay atop the SEC West. We just all came together and really just got after it.”
With Nkemdiche missing the contest, the Rebels had junior defensive lineman Fadol Brown move inside to try and make up for Nkemdiche’s absence.
Wommack said he came up with the idea to move Brown inside to defensive tackle around the same time he found out Nkemdiche would not be playing.
Senior linebacker C.J. Johnson returned to action for the first time since Oct. 3 after tearing a meniscus against Florida.
Johnson said during a team meeting this week, the Rebels challenged not only players but coaches to bring more energy.
“I think some guys rely on coaches more than others,” Johnson said. “I think the coaches came out this week with the extra energy and it paid off.”
Freeze said the injuries to Tony Conner and Issac Gross caused the Rebels to lose confidence this year.
“We lost some confidence somewhere in there when we lost those guys,” Freeze said. “Hopefully, we found it tonight.”
