Ole Miss secondary in for a test against Texas Tech's passing game
The path to Ole Miss winning its second bowl game in the last three seasons goes through the ability to slow down yet another potent passing attack in Texas Tech.
A challenge set in front of the Ole Miss secondary in a week at the Texas Bowl is to slow down the top passing team in the Big 12, and 12th best in the country.
Through the regular season the Red Raiders led the Big 12 with 307 passing yards per game and 25 passing touchdowns.
Maybe this should not be much of a surprise coming from a team that helped make the late, and former Texas Tech head coach, Mike Leach’s air raid offense infamous.
“I feel like they like to go deep,” said cornerback Deantre Prince. “They got big receivers. They like 50-50 balls. They want their receiver to go get the ball. A corners and safeties we’re going to have to do a good job of being able to play the ball and taking the ball out of the air.”
A height advantage goes to the Red Raiders with 6-foot-5 freshman Jerand Bradley and 6-foot-4 junior Loic Fouonji roaming out wide.
Bradley leads Texas Tech with 656 receiving yards and tied for team-best touchdowns with five. Senior Xavier White is the next best wideout with 561 receiving yards to go with three touchdown catches.
Texas Tech sophomore quarterback Donavan Smith was the eighth best passer in the Big 12, throwing for 1,505 yards and 12 touchdowns.
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Though it may not always be Smith who is throwing up those 50-50 balls. Tech has used three quarterbacks with freshman Behren Morton and senior Tyler Shough getting some playing time as well.
Morton has 1,117 passing yards and seven touchdown passes while Shough has thrown for 1,062 yards and six touchdowns.
Next week in Houston will not be the first time Ole Miss has faced a potent passing attack this season.
Texas Tech’s offense reminds Ole Miss defenders of a couple other teams they played in the regular season, specifically Tulsa.
In September the Rebels hosted the Golden Hurricanes, who at the time were the nation’s top passing attack. Ole Miss held them to less than 200 passing yards and only two passing touchdowns in the 35-27 win.
“It’s not just air raid. They do run the ball a good amount,” said defensive lineman JJ Pegues. “They got two good backs. (It’s correct in saying Texas Tech is like) Tulsa, they’re just fast paced. Want to get the ball out in a hurry and get to the perimeter and just line up to the ball.
There are no plays the Ole Miss defense can take off against Texas Tech, which is also the fastest playing offense with a nation-best 89.1 plays per game.
Watch Prince’s full post-practice interview from Monday below. Video courtesy of Ole Miss Sports Production.
