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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Football Practice Report: Repairing the Penalties
9/15/2021 | Football
Cedric Johnson, Tylan Knight, Nick Broeker Meet with Media
OXFORD, Miss. — Following Tuesday's Ole Miss football practice, Cedric Johnson, Nick Broeker and Tylan Knight spoke with the media to discuss their team through the first two weeks of the regular season and improvements that need to be made before Saturday's game against Tulane. A common denominator was found within their comments: finish.
The No. 17 Rebels entered this week at 2-0 with convincing victories over Louisville and Austin Peay. Despite outscoring those opponents 97-41 and turning heads in the process, head coach Lane Kiffin didn't hold back on Monday expressing disappointment in some areas. His players agreed.
"Overall as a team, finishing," Johnson said. "As a whole, I feel like we can finish a lot stronger and be dominating all across the board from first quarter to fourth quarter."
Defensively, the edge pass rush led by Johnson and Sam Williams have stood out among other things. When brought up, Johnson immediately gave credit to the new man hired to lead the defensive line.
"(Randall) Joyner, he's been a huge part of that, teaching us new things, techniques, setting things up, making us better pass rushers overall," Johnson said. "It's not just me and Sam (Williams) either, the whole D-line."
In the secondary, Knight says he finally feels at home playing the "star" position and has backed it up on the field with a handful of big blows delivered early on.
"I'm most definitely having fun. Fun comes with winning," Knight said. "If they need me to go somewhere, I can plug and play. I have no problem with it."
Last weekend against Austin Peay, the Rebels were the victims of handful of pass interference calls resulting in fresh sets of downs for the Governors. As a team, the Rebels were penalized for a total of 130 yards.
"Don't use our hands that much," Knight said. "The film shows grabbing, but the DB's and receivers grab so it's a two-way street, but in those situations, nine out of ten times we're going to get called for it. So not using our hands as much when the ball is in the air. That'll be a major part in not getting those P.I.'s."
Penalties were also brought up by Broeker in regards to the offensive side of the ball. Like Johnson, the Rebel left tackle also brought up a another big point of emphasis along with a crucial duty for the position.
"I think the biggest thing is still communicating and finishing some of the blocks up front. Finishing and being on the same page," Broeker said. "I think we've done some good things. We've definitely got a lot to clean up, especially penalties."
Kickoff for Saturday's game against Tulane is set for 7 p.m. CST and can be seen on ESPN2 or listened to on the Ole Miss Radio Network.
Get all the latest information on the team by following @olemissfb on Twitter and Instagram and OleMissFootball on Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at OleMissSports on Twitter and Facebook and OleMissAthletics on Instagram. To purchase 2021 Ole Miss football season tickets, visit OleMissTix.com.
