The University of Mississippi Athletics
Facing Florida State's Dalvin Cook
8/24/2016 | Football, Blog
Florida State's Dalvin Cook is a first-round talent, a Heisman candidate, and a potential game-breaker on any run. So yes, he's really good. In camp, a defense can only get so much tackling practice because of the fear of getting a player injured. In week one, Ole Miss faces one of the country's biggest home run threats at the running back position. He rattled off 22 rushes last season that picked up 20 yards or more, the most in the nation.
If Ole Miss doesn't tackle well, it will be a long, long night. Cook is a rolling ball of butcher knives that is incredibly difficult to bring to the ground. He ranked third among Power 5 backs in yards after contact per rush last season with 3.2 yards. For comparison, Leonard Fournette was at 2.8, Derrick Henry was at 2.4, and the Power 5 average was 2.1.
"The guy we're facing week one, this guy's special," Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said. "He's in a different league, and you've got to get him on the ground in a lot of space. They create a lot of good plays to get him in space."
It's not breaking news that in any game, the team that consistently wins up front nearly always wins. Against Florida State though, it's even more important for the Rebels. No one was better when he got through the line of scrimmage untouched last year than Dalvin Cook. He averaged a Power 5-best 12.6 yards per rush.
It's worth nothing that FSU returns the entire offensive line that paved the way for him to pick up nearly 1,100 yards BEFORE contact. Not only is he tough to bring down, the Seminoles are talented up front to give him lanes.
The Rebels have to be especially strong at containing the edges. Most of Cook's explosive runs come when he is able to bounce off-tackle and get in space. He averaged 8.0 yards per rush on off-tackle runs, picking up 1,089 of his 1,689 total rushing yards on the season. When he was kept between the tackles, his per rush average fell to a still-high 6.6 yards. The main thing is he had 14 fewer rushes that picked up 10 or more yards.
Ole Miss was very solid against the run last season, holding teams to 3.3 yards per rush. In regards to keeping off-tackle runs in check, the Rebels were third among Power 5 teams. It's important for Ole Miss to kick off the season in that same form because there's no easing into 2016 for the Rebels.
