John Youngblood returns a fumble forced by Marquis Haynes for a 44 yard touchdown. Youngblood’s touchdown put the Rebels up 24-3 early in the game before Alabama would come back to win 48-43. (Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
Coming off of a loss to Alabama and recovering from injuries, the Ole Miss defense is set to take on Georgia’s offense lead by true freshman quarterback Jacob Eason.
Since Eason isn’t a running quarterback like a couple of the quarterbacks Ole Miss has faced this year in Florida State’s Deondre Francois and Alabama’s Jalen Hurts, it will be a different challenge for the Rebels this week.
The Bulldogs are building their offense around their running backs to make things a little easier on their true freshman quarterback. Eason looks like an NFL quarterback and is a guy who will win a lot of games for them, according to Chris Kiffin, Ole Miss defensive line coach.
“They are trying to establish a run and keep it simple for Jacob, but again, just like every game, it is going to be about us and executing our defensive game plan,” Kiffin said.
Isaiah McKenzie is a wide receiver the Rebel defense will have to keep an eye on during Saturday’s matchup in addition to running back Nick Chubb. McKenzie had 10 catches and 122 yards last week in a win at Missouri.
Ole Miss will face a a relatively inexperienced offensive line unit in Georgia. Defensive end John Youngblood welcomes the challenge of facing the Bulldogs up front.
“Their offensive coordinator and their offensive line coach are very familiar with us, so I am sure they are going to come out with a couple packages that we are going to have to adjust to,” Youngblood said.
The Rebels have bounced back quicker from the Alabama loss than from the Florida State loss, according to Youngblood.
Although this loss isn’t as quick of a turnaround as the Florida State loss, the Rebels have had a good week of practice that included watching film of Georgia on Monday and Tuesday.
The Ole Miss defense has already suffered a number of injuries early in the season, including Victor Evans to a concussion. Evans was back at practice on Tuesday hitting, and Kiffin says he looks healthy and they are excited to get him back.
Usually the Rebels play eight linemen confidently, but due to the number of injuries the defense has suffered, they were only able to play seven in their loss to Alabama. With an Ole Miss offense that scores very quickly while running an up-tempo offense, it does not give the defense much time to recuperate on the sidelines. Allowing opponents to convert on third down and get multiple first downs does not help with giving the defense a rest either.
“We can not let them keep getting first downs on us, and if we are out there four or five minutes every time, we are going to go on the sideline gassed,” Youngblood said. “We certainly have to get off the field on third downs.”
Due to these injuries on defense, guys like defensive end Garrald McDowell and defensive end Charles Wiley need to step up to pad the Rebels’ depth.
“It is going to be a collective effort,” Kiffin said. “It always is, and it just depends on how the games continue to go.”
Kickoff between No. 23 Ole Miss and No. 12 Georgia will be at 11:00 a.m. Saturday in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
