The Ole Miss football team has been plagued with injuries early in their season. With their depth depleted, it was even more important for the defense to get rest. Unfortunately for the Rebels, rest was hard to come by, as the Tide was on offense more than 10 minutes longer than the Rebels.
“It’s a big concern because some of the guys are beat up,” Defensive Coordinator Dave Wommack said. “You’ve got to be able to play a lot of defensive linemen. We need to be able to play more linebackers than we’re playing. Your body wears down and I think you don’t think as well when you’re worn down. We’ve got to step up in that area and some of the other guys have to step up.”
Ole Miss defensive back’s Montrell Custis and Deontay Anderson attempt to block a pass intended for Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley. With injuries early in the season and the defensive depth depleted, Ole Miss struggled holding Alabama throughout the game as the Tide stayed on offense 10 minutes longer than the Rebels. (Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
Wommack felt the coaching staff had to step up as well.
Senior defensive end John Youngblood played a lot of snaps in lieu of injured defensive ends Fadol Brown and Victor Evans and saw the effects of the defense being stuck on the field first hand, especially late when the game was on the line.
“There are some big suckers you’re lining up against. Kind of being shorthanded, like we are, you go into a game not knowing how many snaps you’re going to have to play,” Youngblood said. “You obviously know it’s going to be a lot, but you don’t know how many. Just the hits you take play after play, they really add up once you get to the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter in the SEC is just as real as you think it is.”
The 21-point deficit Alabama erased en route to their comeback victory was tied for the biggest deficit the program had ever overcome. With the Rebels losing a similar lead against Florida State, Wommack knew some changes had to be made.
“You’ve played the No. 1 and No. 2 teams at the time, in the nation, and we’ve come up short a few times,” Wommack said. You don’t get off the field on third downs, gave up too many rushing yards, we’ve got some work to do to have success in this league.”
A lot of the credit for Alabama’s offensive explosion goes to freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts, who made a couple of big throws but really made his presence felt scrambling.
“He rushed for (146) yards so he made some big plays on third downs and made some big plays in the game,” Wommack said. “He’s a new element for Alabama and they sure exploited it on us today and they have other people so far so they have another line of offense with him.”
The Rebels also struggled containing running backs Damien Harris and Joshua Jacobs, giving up a total of 334 yards and three touchdowns on the ground to Alabama.
“We didn’t get it done stopping the run and we have to regardless of what the circumstances are or you’re going to end up with the short end like we did today,” Wommack said.
