This is part five of an eight-part series where the Daily Mississippian’s David Collier and Matt Sigler give a position-by-position breakdown of the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl featuring Ole Miss and Georgia Tech. Today, we will take a look at the defensive line.
In a game where both teams will be looking to pound the ball on the ground, the play of the defensive lines for Ole Miss and Georgia Tech will be vital, as the two teams face off on Dec. 30 in the Music City Bowl.
It will be extremely important for each defensive line to disrupt plays and get the offenses into tough third-down situations.
Looking at both defensive lines this season, Ole Miss (7-5, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) has played pretty well against the run at times, but they’ve struggled getting pressure on the quarterback. Georgia Tech (7-5, 5-3 ACC) has done a good job of getting runners down behind the line of scrimmage and has been able to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
These numbers bode well for both clubs, as the Yellow Jackets won’t be looking to drop back and pass the ball often and the Rebels are a balanced attack that has been slowed down by disruptive defensive linemen in both the rushing and passing games.
Georgia Tech is fourth in the ACC in total defensive, giving up just 350.5 yards per game. They rank second in the conference in rushing defense, allowing only 107 yards on the ground each game. The Yellow Jackets are also sixth in the ACC in sacks, as they’ve racked up 32 on the season.
Senior defensive end Jeremiah Attaochu will present the biggest problem for Ole Miss. Attaochu is the sixth on the team in tackles with 40 tackles, but he leads the ACC in sacks (12) and ranks fifth in the conference in tackles for loss (15.5).
Sophomore nose tackle Adam Gotsis has also put up a solid season, earning 33 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and five sacks.
Senior defensive tackle Euclid Cummings and senior defensive end Emmanuel Dieke round out the starting lineup for the Georgia Tech defensive line. Cummings has 35 tackles on the year with 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Dieke has totaled 25 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.
For Ole Miss, the defensive line has been a mixture of guys moving around, as many have gone down with injuries.
The Rebels are seventh in the SEC in total defense, giving up 376.5 yards per contest. They are giving up 155.25 rushing yards per game, which is ninth in the conference. Ole Miss does rank fifth in the SEC in tackles for loss with 78.
Ole Miss’ starting defensive line for the Dec. 30 matchup will likely have junior Bryon Bennett and senior Cameron Whigham at defensive end, freshman Robert Nkemdiche at defensive tackle and sophomore Issac Gross at nose tackle.
Nkemdiche is second on the team with eight tackles for loss. He has also racked up 29 total tackles, two tackles and three quarterback hurries. He’s shown the ability to live in the backfield, but sometimes, Nkemdiche plays too fast and misses opportunity for big plays.
Whigham is one of the top tacklers on the defensive line, as he has accumulated 34 tackles to go along with 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Gross is the sack leader with 3.5. The Batesville native also has 26 tackles and six tackles for loss. Bennet has 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.
Also, look for senior defensive end D.T. Shackelford, sophomore defensive tackle, sophomore defensive end Channing Ward, junior defensive tackles Lavon Hooks and Carlton Martin all get rotated around to keep Ole Miss fresh, especially with the grind-it-out style of the Georgia Tech offense.
Shackelford leads all Rebel defensive lineman with 39 tackles. He also has 6.5 tackles for loss and a sack. He has really come on strong late for Ole Miss after returning this season from two ACL surgeries that kept him out of action the prior two seasons. Shackelford amassed 13 tackles, four tackles for loss and a sack in the past two games.
Analysis
With the way Georgia Tech runs the ball in the triple-option and the way I think Ole Miss wants to establish the ground game early, the defensive line play could be what decides this game.
For Ole Miss, they have to play with their head. The Yellow Jackets’ attack is tough to defend if you try to make every play yourself. Instead, everyone has to play their assignment, and when it comes time to make a play, don’t miss it.
If the Rebels can get Georgia Tech into third-and-longs, they’ll have a much easier time of getting off the field. The Yellow Jackets’ attack wears defensive lines down and usually exploits that in the second half of games.
Knowing what is coming at them and having over a month to prepare for it will certainly help Ole Miss, but when it comes down to it, it will rely on how well the Rebels defensive lineman can play within themselves and play sound assignment football.
Georgia Tech’s job isn’t quite the same. They don’t have to worry about a complex, unique system, but they do have to worry about a balanced Ole Miss offense.
The Yellow Jackets need to key in on the run game first and foremost. Ole Miss has just won one game all year when they rush for under 150 yards. If they eclipse that mark, they are 6-0. The Rebels’ offense relies on getting production on the ground to open things up in the air, so that will be what Georgia Tech looks to stop.
Opponents began playing their defensive ends out wider than normal to take away Ole Miss’ outside running attack. The Rebels countered with a bigger package that uses a tight end as a lead blocker to have success up the middle.
Alabama and Missouri were able to control the inside runs while still having their ends out wide, and that really put Ole Miss in a bind. If Georgia Tech can do that with good play on the interior, that will really be beneficial, as it will result in more third-and-long situations where Attaochu can pin his ears back and go after Rebel quarterback Bo Wallace.
There’s a lot to look for on the defensive line in the Music City Bowl. In a unique matchup with offenses that are designed to run the ball in order to be successful, it could be what ultimately decides who walks away as bowl champions.
Tomorrow, Matt Sigler will break down the linebackers for Ole Miss and Georgia Tech.
In Case You Missed It
Music City Breakdown: Quarterbacks
Music City Breakdown: Running Backs
Music City Breakdown: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Music City Breakdown: Offensive Line
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss football, follow @DavidLCollier, @SigNewton_2 and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— By David Collier
thedmsports@gmail.com
