The Ole Miss football defense practices Tuesday afternoon in anticipation of the Alabama game this weekend. PHOTO BY: ROYCE SWAYZE
Ole Miss’s first, and perhaps toughest, test will come this Saturday as they travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the second ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.
Defensively, the clear focus of the week has been Alabama’s rushing attack, led by junior Derrick Henry and senior Kenyan Drake.
“It’s a great one-two punch,” Ole Miss defensive coordinator Dave Womack said of the two backs. “I’ve never played Alabama in my life when they didn’t have two or three really good backs, and this is no different.”
Henry and Drake provide a combination of a power back and downhill runner in Henry and a quicker and more elusive back in Drake.
“You’ve gotta make him run laterally,” defensive line coach Chris Kiffin said of Henry. “He is strong at the point of attack. You’ve gotta wrap up, and swarm tackle and get eleven hats on the ball, which I think we’ve always done and preached. I think that’s kind of the identity of the landshark defense.”
Ole Miss had success against Henry last year, holding him to just 37 yards on 17 carries, Drake left the game in the first half with an injury. Kiffin and Womack both eluded to great tackling and gap integrity on the defensive line as being key to stopping Henry and the Crimson Tide Rushing attack.
Ole Miss will get some added help in the secondary, as sophomore free safety CJ Hampton will play this week after missing the first two games due to a violation of team policy.
“CJ has done a great job for us in fall camp in helping get people lined up and executing his assignments and tackling and everything, “ Womack said. “I am interested to see him play. I hate that he didn’t get to play in the first two games, from the standpoint of experience, because he hasn’t gotten to play that much, but he knows what he is doing.”
On the offensive side of the ball, the most glaring uncertainty lies on the offensive line with the uncertainty as to whether junior offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil will play this Saturday. Tunsil missed the first two games due to an ongoing NCAA investigation and it has forced a couple of guys to step up, one of them being redshirt freshman Sean Rawlings.
Rawlings has been thrust into the spotlight in the first two games, and is eager for his first game in SEC play.
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge being the first SEC game,” Rawlings said. “The physicality is going to turn up and I am going to have to turn up with it.”
Rawlings said playing in the first two games has helped him get comfortable and ready to go this week, as well as going up against the Ole Miss first team defense in practice.
“Every day we go up against the best defense in the country, so that helps you of course, it helps a lot.” Rawlings said.
Whether Tunsil plays or not, it will be a challenge for the Ole Miss offensive line going up against one of the best defenses in the country, and it will take a collective effort from all personal if they wish to have success.
Ole Miss and Alabama will kickoff on Saturday at 8:15 pm central time on ESPN.
