Rippee Writes: Ole Miss is 2-0
Some receiver thoughts, the back up quarterback storyline and a look around the SEC
Hope everyone had a good weekend. We have a new podcast out with former Ole Miss recruiting specialist Weldon Rotenberg. We covered a litany of storylines through two games, talked some SEC and added some NFL thoughts at the end. Check that out here or anywhere you get podcasts.
We have a ton of football to dive into today.
Rebels throttle Austin Peay in home opener
Ole Miss won. That was expected. There was only so much you could learn about this team in a game like this, but I’ll do my best to add a few thoughts I wrote down while I watched the game Saturday and then re-watched it on Sunday.
Ole Miss is committing entirely too many penalties
The Rebels are the most penalized team in the FBS thanks to 26 penalties for a whopping 255 yards through two games. There’s really no profound way to analyze this. Ole Miss needs to play cleaner and commit fewer penalties. It’s this type of analysis that keeps you reading these things, I know, but I don’t know what more to add. Pass interference was the predominant issue in this game. Last week it was targeting. While one could argue the officiating in Saturday’s game was crappy, it’s still a concern. Miles Battle’s pass interference in the end zone was not pass interference at all, and at least one more that is escaping my memory was suspect at best, but it doesn’t really matter. The Rebels have to get better.
I will say that I have noticed Ole Miss being called for grabbing/locking up opposing receivers wrists.Hand fighting happens on virtually every single pass play in man coverage, but it’s becoming clear Ole Miss is being targeted for this tactic. Each coaching staff meets with the officiating crew before the game and offers concerns and things to look for. It seems pretty obvious teams either have or will soon start pointing this out, and it’s some thing this secondary must adjust to, because the amount of yards given up via pass interference fouls on Saturday was more than enough to get beat by a good opponent. Again, I am not a coach, but this is certainly something to monitor going forward.
Altmyer, Dent see extended action
Both back up quarterback candidates (at least on paper) saw their first extended action of the year. Neither did a whole lot to stand out, which isn’t entirely their fault. The end of these types of games are sloppy by nature and the supporting casts were also backups, but I do think we learned a couple things on Saturday. A few random thoughts:
Altmyer has a smooth delivery. He threw a couple of incomplete deep balls down the sideline. One was better placed than the other and probably should have been caught, but we caught of first glimpse of the concise, sound arm action that made him an enticing prospect.
The following isn’t a slight on Dent. If it were up to me, I’d start 22 MAIS kids and cruise to a national title, but it does seem like that, should Corral go down, either Altmyer or John Rhys Plumlee would get the first crack at keeping the offense afloat. I don’t have a ton to base that off of, and Dent did complete two passes in this game, but I just have a hunch this is the case.
Plumlee played quarterback toward the end, too. Kiffin offered a pretty funny reason for why this was the case when asked about it after the game: "We made a big thing about the fans staying for the fourth quarter."Plumlee had not practiced at quarterback at all this week because he was trying to get receiver down. But I figured the fans will stay longer if Plumlee has the ball so that’s why he stayed in with the young guys. Lebby was saying ‘you know he hasn’t practiced these plays, right?’ I was like ‘he’ll be fine.’ We need to keep the crowd around.”
Perhaps a little bit of this was tongue-in-cheek, but I honestly think Kiffin was being mostly serious. Over the last seven days, he’s repeatedly harped on having good crowds and staying for four quarters. On at least one other occasion in his postgame presser, he mentioned “needing to play well/better to keep the crowd around.” It’s plainly obvious he views this as an important element in building this program. I wasn’t there on Saturday and I have long retired from opining on crappy iPhone photos of crowd shots with the intent to shame. I think the student section being moved to the sauna that is the north end zone in 2016 did me in. I found the whole ‘the students are the worst, look at those piping hot empty metal seats’ takes to be incredibly unimpressive, and the idea of telling other people to do with their time to be pretty weird. That rant aside, this is clearly something Kiffin finds important.
4. On a more serious note, there’s good chance point No. 2 is entirely moot. If Corral teaks an ankle, you have to believe they’ll ride with Plumlee. I am just speculating, but it doesn’t appear that Lebby and Kiffin trust either of the backup quarterbacks and going to Plumlee makes the most sense. That’s fine, because, speaking of moot, if Corral gets injured, this ship is sunk anyway. The Rebels need No. 2 healthy and performing like the Heisman candidate he is. It’s really that simple.
Drummond, Mingo have huge games:
Dontario Drummond notched another 100-yard game via six catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns. He’s been the early beneficiary of this scheme. Some of that is due to the attention opponents have placed on defending Braylon Sanders, who has just four catches for 59 yards through two games. That will eventually switch, unless teams are cool with Drummond hitting them for 100 a game and a pair of scores, but it really is sort of the perfect compliment. Drummond, though a very good college receiver, does not have the breakaway speed of Sanders -- the type of speed that allows Sanders to run himself open in one-on-one match ups and the same speed that will make him a more enticing draft prospect than Drummond — but what Drummond certainly does have are a pair of steady, reliable hands that make him a consistent and dependable threat over the middle of the field. He’s fared quite well in the slot and catching the ball in traffic, and has seemingly gotten better running in the open field. Some of this is merely a product of the reads Matt Corral makes breaking in Drummond’s favor thus far, but the attention Sanders has garnered has helped him too. None of this should be viewed as a slight to Drummond. He’s been awesome and the other major factor in his success is his versatility. Ole Miss can move him around the field because he is capable of doing it. Take this play for example:
First of all, this is terrific scheming from Lebby and Kiffin. Just a beautiful draw up. Second, you’ll see Drummond in the h-back position here. The reason he can play this is that he is strong, particularly in the lower body, and is a viable threat as a blocker. This look wouldn’t be effective if Drummond didn’t pose a legitimate threat to block in the running game. Because he is very much a serviceable blocker, it allowed Ole Miss to disguise this nifty little action over to the short side of the field. The end result was a touchdown and another huge night for Drummond.
And then there’s Mingo. That had to put a smile on the coaching staff’s face when watching tape the next day. Seven catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns. He should’ve really had three, but had one illogically taken away via replay. Mingo is a big, physical receiver on the outside, who has gotten more consistent with regard to some of the little things that go with playing receiver. He and Corral seem to be building better chemistry. Corral looked to Mingo first a couple of times on the night. If Mingo emerges into a consistent threat on the outside, that’s only going to make this receiving corps tougher to guard with Sanders on the other side and Drummond in the middle. It will stretch opposing defenses even further across the field and create more space in the middle. Ole Miss has looked the part at receiver through two games.
New guys get looks on defensive line:
Ole Miss played a lot of guys on defense. This was to be expected. We got our first look at Tywone Malone. The towering freshman registered three tackles and sack despite just playing nine snaps. He’s been held back with an injury so far, but as he continues to get healthy, I figure his role will grow as Ole Miss searches for depth on the defensive line. We also saw more of Jamond Gordon. I don’t really know what to make of his performance, but what I do know is that this defense has yet to be tested running the ball on the interior and if there is an overarching weakness on this defense, this is probably it. Ole Miss needs Quinten Bivens and K.D. Hill to be good and it also needs both Iton, Gordon and Malone to show they can be impact players. It will add both flexibility and depth to a position group that sorely needs it.
Williams scores defensive TD in big night
Where Ole Miss does appear to be decent shape is its top end pass rushers. Sam Williams forced two fumbles, including a strip sack that he scooped and scored on. Williams terrorized an inferior Governors offensive line. The ability has never been the issue with Williams. It’s consistency. He knows this and the coaching staff has challenged him to put the time and work in to become more consistent, using his future at the next level as incentive. Kiffin seems to be pleased with what he’s seen from the best athlete on the defense.
“Sam showed up to camp as a different player,” Kiffin said. “We struggle to block him every day in practice. I was just hoping it would carry into the game. We are not doing as many different things defensively, which I think has helped him. Look, in the system we play, if your two ends are not good rushers, then it isn’t a very good system. We only have three guys rushing and they double the nose every time. Luckily, we have Sam and Cedric (Johnson) that give people problems.”
Umana, Springer out
Orlando Umana and Jake Springer didn’t play with injuries. Kiffin said he expects them back next week. That’s good news.
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Kiffin wasn’t pleased with offensive line play
Pro Football Focus rated Ole Miss’ defensive line as third best in the country in week two. Kiffin disagreed at his Monday press conference earlier today.
“No disrespect, but they don’t know a lot about watching film,” Kiffin said. “"We got beat in pass protection in one-on-one matchups, and the quarterback had to get rid of the ball early. So, I was not pleased with how we played up front.”
Who knows how much stock to put into that. Ole Miss threw for 294 yards and ran for 336. One of Corral’s two sacks appeared to come on a blitz and a poor pick up from Snoop Conner. The Rebels ran the ball better than they did in week one, but Kiffin clearly sees room for improvement on all fronts.
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Around the SEC
I should have done this last week, but the Monday kick threw me off. Let’s take a look around the SEC.
Alabama - Mercer earned every penny of that check taking a beating from the most physically imposing team in the country. If you’re nitpicking for weaknesses, I suppose you could somewhat reasonably say Alabama doesn’t look quite as dominant up front on the offensive line so far, but again, I am reaching to find flaws.
Auburn - The Tigers have played no one, but have handled business soundly through two weeks. At least they know who they are: a team that runs the football and let’s Bo Nix play within himself based off it. Not everyone in this league knows who they are.
Arkansas - what a win for Sam Pittman and his staff. He has two good coordinators in Barry Odom and Kendall Briles. This proved itself yet again on Saturday night as the Razorbacks dominated Texas. The Longhorns were out-schemed and out played. I don’t think Arkansas has the talent to make any real noise in the SEC West just yet, but they play hard, are well-coached on both sides of the football and have a coach who knows both who he is and who he is not.
Florida - It seems like the Gators are really good at most all positions, except quarterback, where they are aggressively average. I wonder how long Mullen sticks with Emory Jones. They beat a horrific USF team over the weekend by three scores, but didn’t look fantastic doing it.
Georgia - Stetson Bennett started in place of J.T. Daniels (injured) and threw five touchdowns in a win over UAB. I have no idea what that means, if anything, but if the Bulldogs get competent quarterback play, the defensive front has all-time great potential and they could be a legitimate threat to Alabama by the end of the year.
Kentucky - The win over Missouri was a sloppy game in general, but the Wildcats are similar to Georgia in the sense that they have competent quarterback play to elevate an otherwise good roster. That’s not always been the case in Lexington. Kentucky could very well end up finishing second in the East.
LSU - The Tigers beat McNeese. I don’t have much else to add, other than this program feels like a ticking time bomb that could explode, or probably better put, implode at any moment. I do not buy Max Johnson. John Emory was ruled ineligible and I don’t believe the true freshman Garrett Nussmeier will come close to rectifying all of their issues.
Mississippi State - Credit to the Bulldogs. Last week was a pretty brutal showing, but they responded by pushing N.C. State up-and-down the field. I still have questions about their offensive line play and decision making at quarterback, but Mike Leach and his team are a win at Memphis away from a 3-0 start with LSU coming to town to begin SEC play. That’s a nice place to be entering October.
Ole Miss - I’d like to see more from the Rebels this week against a real opponent (Tulane is good), but are we sure they aren’t the second best team in the SEC West? I would probably still bank on Texas A&M, but do I really feel great about that after watching the Aggies play at Colorado? Plus, the game is in Oxford. It’s early to be having these discussions, but this division is wide open past Alabama and the Rebels have a real opportunity to have a special year.
South Carolina - Graduate assistant turned starting quarterback Zeb Noland is 2-0. I don’t think the Gamecocks are very talented, but they do play hard. They beat a decent East Carolina team on the road over the weekend. That should build some confidence that will likely be eroded by playing Georgia in Athens in five days.
Tennessee - There’s no shame in losing to Pitt, but the Vols are simply not good. I think Josh Heupel is a good coach, but he’s got his hands full. I am not sure Joe Milton is the answer at quarterback.
Texas A&M - The Aggies survived a scare in Denver in a 10-7 win over Colorado at the Broncos Stadium. Quarterback Haynes King cracked a bone in his leg and underwent surgery, Zach Calzada had a nice fourth quarter, but this offense looked toothless when its ability to run the football is taken away. I have no idea how they’ll find the end zone against Alabama with that type of passing game.
Vanderbilt - A week after a 20-point home loss to East Tennessee State, Clark Lea and the Commodores pulled off a road win at Colorado State. Good for Vanderbilt. Wins will be hard to come by this year.
On the horizon
- Magnolia State golf update
- Tulane preview pod Wednesday
- Picks and football pod Friday
- A week full of football-centric newsletters.
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