Mississippi defensive back Senquez Golson (21), defensive end Channing Ward (11) and defensive end Fadol Brown (90) celebrate with defensive back Cliff Coleman (6) after Coleman returned an interception for a touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014. No. 15 Mississippi won 41-3. (Photo/Thomas Graning)
The spring brought big changes for junior Channing Ward.
The defensive end from Aberdeen, Mississippi, was moved to tight end after what many considered to be unproductive seasons at defensive end. Ward totaled 45 total tackles in his freshman and sophomore years and one sack.
The move in the spring to tight end was a big change for Ward, where his coaches saw him more as a blocking tight end than a receiving tight end.
Ward ended up not making the move to tight end and stuck with defensive end. So far this season, he has nine total tackles in the first three games of the season.
Head coach Hugh Freeze commented on Ward after the Boise State game, where he received a significant amount of playing time and proved something to Freeze.
“The game is why he played more. He plays better in the games that he practices,” Freeze said about Ward after Boise State. “He keeps producing like that, and he’ll certainly keep playing.”
Ward has noticed a difference between the person he was his first year and the person he is now.
“I guess it’s just getting a better feel of the system,” Ward said. “It’s just getting different looks down and knowing your place on the defense. It’s really just knowing the system.”
The defense so far has had a knack of giving up big runs and not plugging up the holes enough to hold opposing rushing attacks in check. That seems to be one of the few weaknesses on defense so far for the Rebels. Ward has noticed the problems and sees some ways to correct them.
“It’s not that we’re not playing together. It’s just we’re not at the right place at the right time,” Ward said. “We’re not getting our eyes in the right spot to see the running lanes better. That would be our biggest mistake.”
Ward mentioned that he struggled to learn the playbook in his first two years at Ole Miss and that was the main reason he didn’t make the more significant impact his coaches wanted.
His coaches and teammates have encouraged him to be more dedicated to his craft and helped him develop as a player.
“All my teammates kept pushing me to do this and do that,” Ward said. “Any time you have good coaches and good teammates that like to keep on pushing you and tell you that you are able to do it, it certainly helps.”
Even with Memphis coming up this weekend, it’s hard for the players not to look ahead to the next couple of weeks as third ranked Alabama comes to Oxford and then a road trip to face sixth-ranked Texas A&M. Playing two of the top six teams in back-to-back weeks after the Memphis game is a big distraction, but Ward has the mentality of playing who is in front of him.
“You have to focus on the next team that is in front of you, and the team in front of you can take you out at any time just like the team coming in expects to do,” Ward said. “Right now, you have to worry about the next team and be ready for them.”
When asked about Freeze’s comments on being a better player on Saturdays than in practice, Ward laughed.
“I don’t know what the difference is,” Ward said. “I guess it’s just the moment of Saturdays that changes me.”
