Football Practice Report: SEC Play Begins

OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss football team made it through non-conference play unscathed at a perfect 4-0, and the Rebels now welcome their biggest test of the season to date: their Southeastern Conference opener against No. 7 Kentucky.

Head coach Lane Kiffin, along with defensive tackle KD Hill, offensive lineman Jeremy James, linebacker Austin Keys, safety Tysheem Johnson and receiver Malik Heath, met with the media this week to recap last weekend's victory over Tulsa and preview the coming clash with the Wildcats.

BACK TO BASICS
After allowing just 13 points over their first three games, and just three in the previous eight quarters of football, the Rebel defense had an off day against Tulsa, which brought the No. 1 passing offense in the nation to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

As it turned out in the 35-27 win, the vaunted Golden Hurricane passing attack wasn't the main issue—the Rebels held Tulsa to just 195 yards through the air, less than half of what they averaged coming into the game. However, after showing outstanding tackling for the first three games, Ole Miss had its issues wrapping up the Tulsa ball carriers.

"We had a little off day," Keys said. "It was a test. We definitely needed that. Tackling could have been better, but we're back to work this week. I just got done practicing tackling before I left the field."

Defensively, Ole Miss generated 10 quarterback hurries on the day, but despite the pressure, the Rebels failed to bring down the Tulsa quarterbacks for a single sack. The lack of negative plays allowed the Tulsa offense to establish a rhythm and even threaten a comeback after trailing Follow the uncharacteristically off day tackling, the Rebels have gone to work stressing that point on the practice field as they prepare for Kentucky.

"Just getting back to the details, the fundamentals," Johnson said. "Doing extra tackling after practice, make sure we're hitting the bag. Just getting back to the fundamentals to make sure that second half won't look like that this Saturday."

I KNOW THAT CAT
Ole Miss will need to be on its game against a Kentucky squad that is also out to a 4-0 start. The Wildcats have already bagged their first SEC win, a 26-16 victory at Florida in Week 2.

Kentucky has had a winning record in five of the past six seasons under head coach Mark Stoops, including a 10-3 finish and a Citrus Bowl victory over Iowa a year ago. The Wildcats will also have some familiarity with Ole Miss thanks to defenders and former Rebels Jacquez Jones and Keidron Smith.

"Both really great kids," Kiffin said. "It was awesome to be around them. Really good program guys. It's like I said, it's more like professional sports now with free agency where you go play people that used to play on your team, which didn't used to happen very much in college football. Glad they're doing well, just like all of our guys who leave and go other places. Wish them the best of luck."

Jones was a key member of the Rebel defense from 2018-20, leading Ole Miss with 75 tackles in 2020 and finishing second on the team with 71 in 2021. Smith played in 47 games as a Rebel from 2018-21, even earning the Chucky Mullins Courage Award a year ago. But as is now common the transfer portal era, both headed to Kentucky to close their careers.

Jones is Kentucky's leading tackler with 26 on the season, including 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a pass breakup and a QB hurry. He also led the Wildcats in tackling in 2021 with 86. Smith, meanwhile, has logged seven tackles on the year with an interception, a fumble recovery and three pass breakups. While there is no animosity with the former teammates, the Rebels won't be taking it easy on their friends either.

"Their names ran across my head. I miss 'em. But it's business week," Keys said. "We've got to handle our business."

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

Malik Heath

KD Hill

Jeremy James

Tysheem Johnson

Austin Keys

Keidron Smith

The University of Mississippi Athletics