The Ole Miss defense had its first true test of the 2015 season on Saturday night. Although they bent at times, especially in the second half, they did not break and did enough to earn a victory.
“I thought it was a story of two halves,” Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss head coach, said. “The first half, I thought our defense was dominant. With the exception of the last drive, I thought we had a dominating performance.”
The second half was a different story. The Rebel defense gave up 27 points, including three touchdowns in the fourth quarter that kept the Crimson Tide in the game.
“I don’t know if I did an adequate job preparing our defense in regards to the emotion and output of energy that you’re going to have to have to play in those games,” Freeze said.
He said numerous players played more than double the amount of snaps on Saturday than they did in the first two games, and that led to the fatigue that seemed evident in the second half.
Despite playing so many snaps, Nkemdiche was extremely productive, recording a season high of 10 tackles and caused the Alabama offensive line problems all game. Freeze took notice, calling it Nkemdiche’s best game of his Ole Miss career.
Nkemdiche wasn’t the only one that played a lot more against Alabama than he did in the first two games. Junior defensive back Tony Bridges played 84 snaps, and senior safety Trae Elston played over one hundred.
“The defense was on the field a lot and played a lot of plays,” Elston said. “Our (number) two’s have got to step up, because playing so many plays gets you really tired, and it showed in that third quarter. A lot of people started cramping up.”
The Ole Miss depth chart took a hit on Saturday when it found out that junior safety Tony Conner will miss at least the next four weeks with a torn meniscus.
“I was surprised. It hurt me a little bit,” Bridges said. “We are brothers on this team, he’s right next to me, but we’ve got to go on with it.”
“We’re beat up a bit,” Freeze said. “One of the things I despise most about this game is young men put so much effort into playing, and then you get hit with some bad news about injuries. Every team goes through it.”
Despite the setbacks, the Rebels forced three key turnovers, including two late in the fourth quarter that helped seal the win.
“We shoot for three a game,” Bridges said. “If we get three, we have a chance to put ourselves in better position to win games.”
On the offensive side of the ball, while there were no major injury issues, there are a couple of guys with minor injuries. It is currently up in the air as to whether Robert Conyers and Justin Bell will play this Saturday. If Conyers cannot participate, expect Ben Still and Javon Patterson to have some snaps at center. Rod Taylor and Jordan Sims are both options to play in place of Bell if he is unable to play. The health of the offensive line has become increasingly important as the uncertainty of Laremy Tunsil’s playing status continues to linger deeper into the season.
Ole Miss plays Vanderbilt at home on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
