Baylor head coach Dave Aranda talks challenges of facing “unique” Ole Miss offense

On3 imageby:Jake Thompson12/06/21

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When Ole Miss and Baylor meet up in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s night, it will not be the first time Lane Kiffin and Dave Aranda have faced each other.

But it will be their first showdown as head coaches.

Kiffin and Aranda have brought their respective programs from losing seasons to a New Year’s Six Bowl in the span of a couple seasons, but now are tasked with putting the cherry on top by leaving the Caesars Superdome with a trophy.

The challenge for Aranda and his No. 7 Baylor team is to slow down a high-octane and up-tempo offense in Ole Miss.

The Bears defense does not see much of that in the Big 12. There are high-scoring games, but very few teams have a two-minute style offense for an entire game.

“I think it is different, what Ole Miss does and what we see,” Aranda said. “We have seen teams that have the ability to go tempo and can sporadically kind of go fast maybe after an earned first down or maybe after just a general big play.

“But, I think what Ole Miss does, it’s more of a way of doing things that combined with big splits by receivers and their ability to make mismatches and create positive plays for them and really negate negative ones. I think (that is) a big strength that makes them unique.”

Ole Miss finished the regular season as the fourth-best offense in the country.

The Rebels averaged 506.7 yards per game. Slowing them down will be the biggest matchup and key of the game on the Baylor side, with a Bears defense ranked 39th in the country and giving up nearly 350 yards to opponents.

The eye-popping Ole Miss production comes as no surprise to Aranda, who was a defensive coordinator at LSU while Kiffin was the offensive coordinator at Alabama. There is familiarity in what Kiffin does, offensively, for Aranda.

Back in 2016, Kiffin got the better of Aranda.

The Crimson Tide beat LSU, 10-0, and scored all 10 of its points in the fourth quarter. The scoreboard leaned Kiffin’s direction, but Aranda’s defense held Alabama’s offense to less than 330 total yards.

That was also six seasons ago and both have evolved in their coaching philosophies since then. Yet, there are still some things Aranda can hang his hat on when preparing for Ole Miss.

“There are some different circumstances to that,” Aranda said. “There are some things that have changed. I think what you get, though, is just kind of how and I think he has this from me, too, is just how we think. Like for me, how he thinks. His view of what openers are. His view of if things aren’t working, what does he go to? His view of what third downs are or how to attack man coverage or how to attack drop eight coverage.

“I think those kind of foundational, simple, concise things are there if you know somebody, to a degree. The less specific, more general, more wide-ranging (things), I think he definitely has those from me as well. It does add a layer to the game.”

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