Coach Hugh Freeze speaks at Monday’s press conference about this week game against Memphis.“I am excited to have the first night game in our stadium. I expect it to take it up another level for our fans.” (Photo by Ariel Cobbert)
After two heartbreaking losses in the first three weeks of the season, the Rebels rebounded on Saturday with a pummeling of the then No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs. Hugh Freeze said he was proud of the offensive performance the team showed in the 45-14 victory.
“I thought our quarterback’s play was outstanding after watching film,” Freeze said. “Taking care of the ball, making good decisions, there was one questionable decision that I thought we made. I thought we were efficient running the football, which always helps us.”
Ole Miss was able to spread out their ground game well, with seven players getting carries to help them rush for 180 yards. A big part of the rushing attack was the emergence of freshman running back D’Vaughn Pennamon, who ran for 37 yards of six carries and his first career touchdown.
“(Pennamon) had a good game Saturday,” Freeze said. “We felt like he ran physical, ran downhill, finished runs, and looked for contact. I was impressed with the way he ran and it will certainly earn him some more snaps.”
Ole Miss’ improvement was apparent on defense as well, with the Rebels allowing just 166 yards through the air.
“Defensively, we were very good on third down which was exciting to see,” Freeze said. “We had a turnover and a pick six which is great to see. I thought we stopped their run game early on in the game; it kind of set the tone and did not allow them to be two-dimensional, and there were some good things there also.”
Freeze said he felt there was still room for improvement in containing the run, as Georgia finished with 230 yards on the ground, although many of those came after the Rebels had taken a large lead.
“We gave up too many rushing yards again for our comfort,” Freeze said. “We have got to continue to work on our fits in that regard, but didn’t give up explosive plays. There actually wasn’t a single explosive play that we gave up Saturday, which is big for us. We had been susceptible to some of that. This week will test us in that regard again. (Memphis) is really explosive on offense. They are kind of like us and take chances to get a lot of explosive plays.”
Junior college transfer Detric Bing-Dukes started his first game for the Rebels at linebacker and finished with seven tackles, the second most of any Rebel on the day. Freeze said he thinks he may have found a new rotation at linebacker after Saturday.
“I think we’ve pretty much made the decision that we are better off with (DeMarquis) Gates at stinger, (Terry) Caldwell at stinger and Bing-Dukes, (Rommel) Mageo and Willie (Hibbler) at Mike linebacker,” Freeze said. “That could change from week to week, but that’s what we felt like was our best answer last week. We haven’t formulated it. Later tonight we will meet here and go over what we think the plan should be and kind of decide as we go from there. It could be week to week, but last week we were pretty set that was the way we needed to go.”
Defensive backs Montrell Custis and Carlos Davis were both injured in Saturday’s game, but Freeze expects both of them to return this week.
With Georgia out of the way, the focus now shifts to a Memphis team that delivered a shocking upset when the Rebels traveled to the Liberty Bowl last season.
“They are a very confident football team that has won a lot of games in the last few years. Justin (Fuente) did a great job there and now Mike (Norvell) has obviously been carrying it on,” Freeze said. “They put up some crazy numbers offensively and defensively and they are playing very, very good football. It is going to be a great test for us.
Freeze said he is excited to have the first night game of the season in Vaught-Hemmingway.
“I expect it to take it up another level for our fans,” Freeze said. “We need them desperately to make it difficult for opponents to play here, particularly on a Saturday night. I guess I am challenging our people to make it a very difficult atmosphere here Saturday night when Memphis comes here.”
