Practice Report: Week 4

OXFORD, Miss. – Coming off back-to-back wins, the Ole Miss football team now turns its attention to its toughest challenge yet as No. 23 Cal heads to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for a key Week 4 matchup.

Wide receivers coach Jacob Peeler, quarterback Matt Corral and defensive tackle Josiah Coatney met with the media Tuesday to talk about the Golden Bears out of the Pac-12 Conference and the progress of the 2019 Rebels.

INSIDE INFORMATION
Wide receivers coach Jacob Peeler will provide some knowledge of Cal this week. The architect of the NWO coached at Cal from 2013-2016, including two years as the team's inside receivers coach, before joining Ole Miss in 2017. Peeler either coached or recruited numerous players on the Golden Bears roster, giving him a little bit of insight into this week's opponent.

"The entire secondary was there when I was there," Peeler said. "Ashtyn Davis was a receiver before moving to defense, then Jaylinn Hawkins was recruited as a receiver before moving to defense full time. All the accolades are rightly deserved. They're really good football players, really good team. They do a good job of putting a lot of pressure on offenses in that league."

Peeler's group will look to alleviate that pressure any way they can. Elijah Moore has been fantastic through three games, totaling 278 yards and three of the team's eight receiving touchdowns. His 18 receptions are more than every other receiver on the team combined, a figure Peeler is looking to change down the stretch.

"We still have some puppies out there who are learning how to play, learning to execute and do the little things, but I've seen some improvement for sure," Peeler said. "Everyone wants to try to compare them to A.J. Brown and D.K. Metcalf, but they took a while to become what they were. Dontario Drummond is doing a really good job. You look at it, he has three catches negated for penalties, I think it was 50-something yards. . If those three catches aren't penalties, we're probably feeling a little bit different about Drummond's progress. Mingo had his first taste of success. I think they'll continue to progress and take steps in the right direction."

THE CALIFORNIA KID
The only Californian on the Rebel roster, quarterback Matt Corral is eager to take on a team from his home state this weekend, one that will bring a number of familiar faces to town.

"It's pretty neat, just because they're from California," Corral said. "I know a few kids, played against a few of them as well. I'm excited. They're going to come here, they're a ranked team, very well-coached and a lot of good players on that team."

The Ventura, California, native drew attention from programs all over the country out of high school, including the Golden Bears. However, he never had much interest in heading north to Berkeley. Corral explained to the media Monday that, if he had stayed in-state, it would've been at USC, not its Pac-12 rival up north.

"When I first got my offer from Southern Cal, when I was a freshman, Cal was talking to me a little bit," Corral said. "They wanted me to visit, but I didn't see myself going to north Cal. I know they're a very well-coached and disciplined team. It's going to be interesting to see how we match up against them."

GROUND CONTROL
Corral and Co. will have their hands full with a Cal defense that ranks among the best in the country. Meanwhile, the Rebel defense will look to stay strong against the rush. Ole Miss held both Arkansas and Southeastern Louisiana under 70 yards rushing, a first since 2015.

"Just a different approach. We know we have to stop the run to have a chance in these ballgames and get the ball back to our offense," said defensive lineman Josiah Coatney. "You can stop the run, you aren't going to win many games. We're definitely doing a better job at that."

Coatney and the Landshark defense will have a tough task as they look to slow down a potent Golden Bear rushing attack that averages more than 190 yards per game. Cal boasts an impressive one-two punch of Christopher Brown and Marcel Dancy, who both average over 5.0 yards per carry. The Rebels' No. 1 task this weekend is slowing that duo, but ultimately, Ole Miss just hopes to continue improving week in and week out.

"We just have to do a better job of tackling," Coatney said. "We know we can be a great defense. We've made a lot of improvements. But to get from good to great, we definitely have to do everything consistently. We're working on that right now, refining things that we learned early. We're definitely doing a better job of being the defense we want to be."

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

A.J. Brown

Josiah Coatney

Matt Corral

Dontario Drummond

D.K. Metcalf

Elijah Moore

The University of Mississippi Athletics