New mindset of Ole Miss defense helped secure second-straight Egg Bowl victory
Entering Thursday’s Egg Bowl, there was a sense the final outcome could come down to the play of the respective defenses more so than the explosive offenses.
In the end, what was once an up-and-down Ole Miss defense shined.
Ole Miss succeeded in its mission of disrupting Bulldog quarterback Will Rogers in a 31-21 win on Thanksgiving night, and the Rebels secured their first-ever 10-win regular season.
The disruption was not immediate. It took Sam Williams a little time to begin bullying Mississippi State lineman Scott Ashley, but once he did, Williams dominated. The senior finished with two sacks, which made up half of his four solo tackles.
He had a single-season-record 12.5 overall.
“We kind of saw that they were going to pass the ball,” Williams said. “At first, we’ve got to read run-pass, but then they gave us the green light. It was just go. I like that. That’s what I like, just go. Like, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’”
Ole Miss finished with three sacks total. Mark Robinson was the first Rebel to get to Rogers in the game.
Over the past month-plus, the defense has had a resurgence of sorts.
Through a period of games since Tennessee in mid-October, when the offense struggled to score points in the second half and Matt Corral dealt with two ankle injuries, the defense began picking up their offensive counterparts.
Head coach Lane Kiffin said there was a complete overhaul of the scheme in the offseason, and the drastic change to the playbook required a total buy-in from all involved.
“We had a major schematical change (on defense). It was completely different,” Kiffin said. “Wholesale on it. We didn’t halfway and say, ‘OK, on first and second down, we’re going to do it, but on third down, not.’ We went all in. It’s kind of like temp offense. We went all in.
“Players, you got different players than a year ago out there, too, playing. In Otis (Reese) and Mark and (Jake) Springer and Chance (Campbell). That’s a lot of guys right there.”
In Williams’ eyes, it was not so much a change in scheme as much as an agreement among all the players to do better.
Earlier in the season, Williams said the Rebels called a team meeting and discussed how they have played up to that point.
Following Thursday’s win, Williams still held strong in his belief it was more of a mental change than anything to do with Xs and Os.
“It’s just a mindset,” Williams said. “Like I said before, we came together, had a team meeting and started to do it. As you can see, we’re doing it.”
The defense has one more chance to “do it” this season and on another big stage. A New Year’s Six bowl is almost assuredly in the Rebels’ future with another high-profile offense waiting on them.
Who that opponent is will be revealed on Dec. 5.
