SB Nation - Jonathan Cornell

Post-Game: Arkansas

Whiskey Wednesday — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:08:49 -0000

Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino executes a textbook facepalm, the result of being outsmarted by USM graduate and Mississippi defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix, who sometimes fails to speak in complete sentences. Mississippi won the football contest, held Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009 in Oxford, Miss. (AP Photo/The Clarion-Ledger, Ryan Moore)

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PAY ATTENTION TO US!!!! Is it just me, or would the complete lack of coverage for today's game have been different if Arkansas wins? Sorry, the anti-Ole Miss conspiracy is gaining some credibility, at least in my head. I want the rest of the nation to join us in making fun of silly Arkansas fans today. Instead, I got to see Air Force/Utah and Indiana/Northwestern on Sportscenter, as well as coverage of a baseball game that was postponed due to rain (enthralling!!!), but didn't see Ole Miss until we were getting scored on by Arkansas in the Top Ten plays of the night. I wonder if Mark May's glasses contain a mind control chip that forces him to act like a smug, metrosexual, football-ignorant piece of dog shit, or if he's just always that way. More post-game thoughts after the jump.

So in the Florida game, the officials were about as observant and fair as a referee in a late 90's WWE match, distracted by a woman shaking her cleavage while Florida hits MSU with a metal folding chair. Good thing you suspended the officiating crew from last week's Florida game, SEC. That sort of monkey business just won't stand around here. Although I felt bad for State, I had a pretty hearty chuckle at Robert Eliot getting tackled by the crushing weight of his own douche-itude.

On to more pressing matters...

Kent Austin is probably calling the plays now. Arkansas fans (I'll address you directly a few paragraphs down), I'll admit that I don't want Houston Nutt calling the plays. This game, we used intelligent playcalling, ran plays to set up later plays, took what the defense gave us, ran the offense with a nice tempo, and otherwise abused the defense from a strategic standpoint. That was probably Kent Austin's doing. This I will concede.

Dexter McCluster may be the best offensive threat in Ole Miss history not named Manning. A great QB can cure all woes, but a guy that's often just too fast to tackle is pretty effective, too. Find me another 170 pound guy in a BCS conference that can take 29 touches and carry a team on his back.

Pat Patterson: keep throwing him the ball. Also, Jesse Grandy and Ferbia Allen. But mainly Patterson. You have to love a 5-star caliber guy who will lay out for any ball that comes his way, drag guys along the field with him, run block like a maniac... I mean, this guy likes to play some fucking football. Let's facilitate his desire to do so.

Bradley Sowell (and the rest of the offensive line) played like a 14 year-old who'd just gotten dumped for the first time for the first several games of the season. Today, he was pumped. He went after people. He was good. I can't imagine the reason for the turnaround (or for the shit-tastic play in the first place) but hey, thanks for showing up while we can still have an awesome season.

We could really use a fullback who can get to the perimeter a little better. Powe is not that guy. Neither, apparently, is Hartmann. Anyone?

I loved the playcalling. Screens should have been a cornerstone of our offensive scheme from day one. You can't let a defense get used to pinning their ears back against a line like ours and going for the ball. The passing game was much less vertically oriented, which really helped as well. When we needed to throw it downfield, we had some space to do so, because we'd passed it short to set it up. Amazing.

The defense did not play it's best game, which is pretty great, because they still looked good. Tackling needs to improve. Michael Smith was able to bounce off of guys all game long. We had trouble bringing guys down after the catch, which is a new problem that needs to get fixed, STAT. We had some unlikely guys step up today, so that's fun to talk about. Lamark Armour had an amazing sack. Marcus Tillman made some real noise against the run, coming off blocks nicely a few times. Jonathan Cornell had a great game. Powe continued to have the most enthusiastic offsides penalties in the history of football, but you know that gets in the O-line's head, because if he jumps the snap successfully, I've got news for you: you aren't about to block him.

Defensive playcalling was great, and if you're an Arkansas fan, you have to be upset about Petrino's inability to adjust. To be fair, this game was an ambush for Petrino and Arkansas. Ole Miss hasn't played well all year, hasn't called a good game offensively, haven't given teams enough good material to study. How could they have known that we'd suddenly be 5000% better than we were against Bama and USC? Also, Ryan Mallet's receivers had a pretty shitty day catching the ball. Mallet could've used more touch on several passes, but this is big kid's football. Dropping sure TD passes won't take you very far. After the catch, the Arkansas receivers were exceptional, but it wasn't even close to enough.

Because let's be real here for a minute. Ole Miss thoroughly kicked the shit out of Arkansas. If not for a lucky bounce on a 3rd and super, super long, Arkansas manages 10 points. If Cordera Eason doesn't fumble, or if Andru Stewart doesn't make an amazing interception, maybe Ole Miss extends the lead even further (not trying to take away from two outstanding Arkansas defensive plays, but they were both huge and unusual momentum swings). I'll say with confidence that Ole Miss didn't benefit from any bounces or bad officiating in this game. We just... won. The game was in doubt for all but the final 3 minutes, but it was so cleanly called, so well executed... It was an incredibly fun game to watch, even though it was nerve-wracking.

Sitting in the Grove post-game, talking about an outside shot at the Capital One Bowl is a lot more fun that getting drunk in the dusk and wondering if we'll ever be good at football again.

And finally... Arkansas fans.

I almost miss your nagging today. Maybe you knew we'd feel this way if we won, and you disappeared strictly to spite us. Maybe you're just not ready for this realization to sink in. But here it is:

Somewhere in the madness, you forgot that Houston Nutt is a good coach. He hired great assistants here, he (usually) motivates the shit out of his team, and he uses tried and true strategies to win in the SEC: run the ball, take care of it, and play nasty defense. He isn't perfect, but compared to some coaches, Nutt peaks at the right time. He drops games he should win, but he does it in September and October. Is that frustrating? Yeah, it can be, but so, too, can starting off 5-1 just to end up in the Indy Bowl. We've been there. Nutt helped claim a respectable spot in the SEC for Arkansas, and gave you the leverage to go and get a hot, slutty piece of coach when you got tired of him. At Ole Miss, we'd be thrilled if he elevated our program a bit, retired, then allowed us to hire someone who can win us an SEC title when he's gone. We're patient like that (usually).

To the better half of the Arkansas fan base: You have lots of reasons to be excited about your situation. Your team is young, your coach is recruiting the players he needs to make some runs in the SEC. I don't think he'll win an SEC title, but he could, if the chips fall his way. We feel like we're in the same position, just at a different time. Next year will likely be a down year, as the juniors and seniors will represent the dark years of Orgeron's recruiting. But we'll bounce back, and Arkansas and Ole Miss will be fighting for a spot in the West division race more often than not. We hope you'll come around and talk football, but man... let's drop the coach shit-talk.

To the shitty Arkansas fans: Please realize that this convincing victory has crushed most of the even slightly valid theories about Houston Nutt. Even if you feel like you still have something interesting or important to say on the matter, please be assured that you are mistaken. It's over for the year. We're doing fine, you're doing fine, but not quite as fine... because we beat you. We were the more experienced team this year, playing at home. Next year, it's your turn; we lose a lot of talent from a great 2006 recruiting class, and we play in Arkansas against a bunch of young guys who are coming around big time. You'll probably win next year, and it won't mean much with regards to the long-term futures of either program. We're tired of hearing the same stuff, we could easily turn this season around and be really good, and you have no ammo left in the chamber until next season. Give it a rest; even you guys will probably feel better.

That's about all I've got. Feel free to add your experiences and observations. It was a hell of a weekend. Hotty Toddy and goodnight.

Mark Ingram Learns from His Mistakes

kleph — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:24:49 -0000

There was an interesting story about Mark Ingram in the Opelika-Auburn News today written by Ken Rogers. It told how the star running back had been concerned about a mis-block that had led to a sack of Greg McElroy. OTS and I went back over the tape and noticed a few interesting things.

The story describes the play resulting in a sack by Ole Miss linebacker Jonathan Cornell and defensive end Kentrell Lockett. “You know, that’s the only play I’ve been thinking about,” Ingram told McElroy according to the newspaper. “That’s the only play that’s been bothering me. I’ve been thinking about that play since it happened.”

So we went back and checked the tape. Sure enough, with six minutes left in the third quarter, there is McElroy getting pounded for an 11-yard loss.

Ingram is clearly outmatched by Lockett who has 50 lbs on him and is a full seven inches taller. He gets overpowered and Lockett is able to disrupt McElroy's throw. But the sack itself is made by Cornell who nails McElroy after running completely unimpeded through the Alabama backfield.

The goat of the play isn't Ingram, it's Alabama tight end Preston Dial who seems to have some kind of brain fart right there in the middle of the field. He makes no attempt to block Cornell or to be ready for the dump off pass to save his quarterback. It's an abysmal effort and we are just lucky McElroy wasn't seriously hurt on the play.

Yet, while Ingram may not be responsible for that particular set of grass stains on McElroy's jersey, he had a lot to do with some that got put there in the first quarter. On 1st and 10 at the 11:16 mark, McElroy takes the snap for a passing play and has just a moment to scan the field before his facemask is full of Ole Miss defensive end Greg Hardy.

But this time it is Ingram's missed block that leads to the sack and loss of three yards. He immediately realizes whats happens and rushes back but it's too late. And it's this play that has stuck in his mind after the game.

"When you get the quarterback hit pretty hard or a play doesn’t work because you missed your blocking assignment, it kind of sticks with you more than those good plays," Ingram told the newspaper. "I kept rewinding it and rewinding it again. ... I want to get better and take advantage of the mistake that I made."

Aside for the confusion about the play Ingram refers to, the story is a superb peek into Ingram's progress as a player. He explains a bit about how Glen Coffee helped him improve his game last year and how he's been able to use that on the field this season. It's also got some wonderful insight into the strategy Alabama employs to make the running game work. RBR says, "Check it out."

POST GAME - Alabama

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:18:37 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

You wanna bright spot? How about a Rebel secondary which kept Julio Jones from scoring.

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Alright, I'm no Whiskey Wednesday, and he's already gotten his post game up but I'm still going for this as per WW's post which steered clear of football and focused on Ole Miss fandom in general.

It was fantastic, don't get me wrong. It just doesn't talk about the game.

I realize this is late--as well as things like the Rebel Roundup, RotW, and UAB HATE WEEK--but I hope you all are cool enough to understand that between our inclination towards partying far too hard and my travel schedule that we were still really going to have a tough time bloggin'.

Oh, and I killed Juco's computer yesterday. That also has something to do with the dearth of action around here. Juco, I'm not sorry. Your computer sucks anyway.

Alright, so, enough with the apologies and excuses. It's time for football.

I feel that, in order to give me the strength I'll need to finish this, I will approach this by making a series of observations in descending order from "bright spot" to "damn you Snead."

The brightest spot of them all was our defense as a whole. Not only did the defensive line play well, as per the status quo over the past two seasons, but the linebackers worked their asses off and the secondary played inspired ball. Hardy wasn't the force he was against the Tide two seasons ago in Oxford, but his presence was certainly felt. Powe made some great plays, Tillman was his typically consistent self, and Lockett made some serious bids on the ball.

I was not unpleased with Allen Walker and Jonathan Cornell which is somehow more than I can say thus far this year. There was only one big run given up (the game's lone touchdown) which was the result of our 'backers being in the right places at the right times. Seriously, these guys played tough. Patrick Trahan and DT Shackleford have still not forgotten how to tackle which is a plus-ish.

The secondary though. Wow. Marshay Green, who is approximately 4'3", made Julio Jones look average. Cassius Vaughn went up against him as well and did the same. The fades to the endzones were the right playcalls by Saban and company. With a guy like Jones and his 90 foot arms with eight-fingered hands, why not run that play in the red zone? Still after three (right?) attempts at that play, Julio came up with nothing. Nada. Zilch. Johnny Brown was our team leader in tackles and Kendrick Lewis was constantly in a ton of plays. For a unit which was supposed to be one of the weakest in the SEC, they have really turned we at the Cup into believers. They play every single play with their motor revved up as high as it can go.

Unfortunately, sometimes amplified play like that can lead to bad news. Sorry Rebel fans, Marshay cracked a rib and lacerated a kidney and is out indefinitely. He could be back in a week or a month, it's just one of those things.

Keep this in mind: up until Saturday, Alabama was averaging 40.5 points a game. Think about that and tell me you aren't very, very proud of our D. The Landsharks held the--per the Cup's opinion--best team in the nation to 18 points below their average. Alabama ran 78 plays. Seventy. Eight. With their extremely physical style of football, it really is a testament to our defensive strength to have made it out alive, let alone hold the Tide to one successful trip into the endzone. It really is a damned shame that their hard work was all for naught come 0:00.

And, this comes as a shocker to nobody, it's Snead's fault! BOO JEVAN SNEAD! Okay, maybe not, but still Snead; no excuses, play like a champion. You made the former and didn't do the latter. I know there are rumors surrounding your lady-situation 'n' shit but dude, man up. No explanation necessary. The offensive line played well (To the gentleman standing two rows behind me--you know who you are, you have fat cheeks, bucked teeth, and talk like a sailor with epilepsy--not every single play that doesn't work out is the fault of Bradley Sowell. And his name is pronounced "SOW-ell," not "SOAL".) when considering the caliber of defense they were facing. The running backs didn't have much room to work with regardless though, so really we needed big gains in the passing game.

We didn't get them.

True, some of the poor plays were the result of badassery on the part of the Crimson Tide, and others were the result of bizarre play calling. But, if my memory serves me well (iffy, I know), we had several good plays called which were for nothing due to piss-poor execution, most of which from Jevan Snead. I can vividly recall three therrible passes into the flat which, for those of you who aren't terribly football savvy, is a generally easy throw to make. I also recall a play where Dexter McCluster was wide the hell open on a crossing route with a good fifteen yards of green space in front of him, only to have Jevan throw it high and behind.

Speaking of high and behind? That first pick Jevan threw was such, allowing it to cruise right into the hands of Justin Woodall.

He, as he tends to do, turned it on in the 4th quarter, making some great throws and even reeling off some impressive runs (Snead did, in fact, lead the team in rushing... eesh) but it was way too little and way too late.

As an aside: why don't we run Jevan more? The guy can run quite well. We really need to utilize that more, especially if we plan on having pocket trouble for the rest of the season.

Anyway, if it seems I'm being rough on Snead, it's because I am. Our defense put our team in a position to, at the absolute least, be very competitive against the best team in the entire nation. Our offense couldn't capitalize, and a very disproportionate amount of the inability to capitalize resulted from something Jevan Snead did or did not do.

But, I'm with Whiskey on this. I'm over my anger and frustration. I still had a kickass time Friday night, despite losing my favorite Ole Miss cap in the back of some girl's car on the way home from the Rib Cage (if you find it, holla at cha blogga). I'll be back in Oxford town in time for the LSU game. I hope to see all of you there.

Rebel of the Week Result - "Week 2"

Juco All-American — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:28:05 -0000

Unsurprisingly so, DT Shackelford won Rebel of the Week after a game in which he accounted for three turnovers and saved another ball from hitting a receiver in stride in the end zone. I happened to be watching him during the entire play in which he broke up a pass, and I was extremely impressed.

Even though the score was a ton to not very much, DT was playing football like his life depended on it. He bolted out of his stance, bounced backwards, read the QB's eyes, and jumped towards the ball, getting a piece of it. Even though I was watching, I didn't realize that he had deflected it until I watched the replay on the jumbotron. It looked like it was just a bad throw, but it wasn't. DT was just in the way.

It's important to note that in some ways DT was just in the right place at the right time. Generally, people don't laud fumble recoveries (unless they're in the end zone by a Boise receiver, seriously, if you didn't see that, it was nuts). DT found the ball on the ground, but the players who ripped it out deserve a lot of credit too. So thanks Lawon Scott and Marcus Tillman. Good job ripping the ball out. And the real praise for the interception should go to Joel Kight, who obliterated the quarterback on the play, causing the ball to shoot up into the air.

That's what's so exciting though, DT was able to capitalize off of the opportunities given to him, and he played hard. Jonathan Cornell needs to watch his back, because the true freshman is nipping at his heels.

That's the story of the game though. True freshmen making an impact. Pat Patterson was the leading receiver. DT Shackelford contributed to three turnovers. Joel Kight, who can really deliver some kaboom for a small-ish guy, demolished the quarterback. Jesse Grandy had a long touchdown run that made even casual fans try to remember his name. That was a freshman Mico McSwain (see: Mico McSwain before partying, pregnant girls, and failed classes got the best of him) type of run.

It's such a good feeling to get that kind of contribution from players who won't be asked to do too much this year. We lose an incredible group of seniors, but early indications are that this group of true freshmen will help soften the blow.

TLV #86 - Greg Hardy Edition

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:04:43 -0000

You know, like his jersey number? Fine, whatever, just click the jump.

You've been soaking it all in for the last few months now. Whether propagated by ESPN, your drinking buddies, or every body's favorite Ole Miss Rebel sports blog, you've become inundated with the idea that this upcoming Rebel football season could be one of the greatest ever. There's talk of finally making the trip to Atlanta for the SEC championship game, an SEC Title (ok maybe not so much), and a Heisman Trophy for Jevan Snead (slow down, dreamer).

And why not? These Rebels have talent all across the board, a coaching staff as competent as any we have had in Oxford in decades, and a very favorable schedule. Despite the best efforts of our Rebels' detractors, this is a damn good football team.

But, how good?

When people think of the greatest Rebel teams of recent memory, two should readily come to mind: this one, and the 2003 version of our Rebels. As most of you should recall--we understand if you don't--2003 saw a Rebel team led by Eli Manning fall a lousy three points short of a berth to a very winnable SEC Championship game. A few miscues throughout the season kept the 2003 Rebels from legitimately running the table. That was a good Rebel squad; there is no doubt about it. However, despite the high level of success achieved by Eli and company, they were not nearly as complete a squad as we will see on Saturdays this fall.

Yes, we are suggesting that the 2009 Rebels are better than the 2003 Rebels.

While difficult, if not impossible to prove before the season starts, let's do our best to objectively look the upstart 2003 Rebels and the talented 2009 Rebels position-by-position. Go:

Defensive Line: Strong Advantage 2009

By far the easiest assessment to make, the 2009 Rebel defensive line will go down as one of the most effective unit of angry-ass skull smashers to ever play ball in Oxford. The 2003 unit wasn't too bad, but they certainly weren't a strength of the team.

Linebackers: Slight Advantage 2009
The linebackers in 2003 left a lot to be desired in terms of speed. While Patrick Willis was technically on the team, he was having a year of eligibility thrown away on special teams in David Cutcliffe's seniority-based depth chart. Patrick Trahan, Allen Walker, and Jonathan Cornell form a solid unit, and there's a little more depth here than people think.

Secondary: Slight Advantage 2009

Texas Tech's BJ Symons passed for 661 yards against the 2003 Rebel secondary. That is the third highest passing total of any quarterback in any college football game EVER. While the 2009 secondary may be better--because it couldn't be worse--it's certainly not by much. It's funny to say this, considering how much Ole Miss fans despised him, but Von Hutchins was a good corner. He was just undercoached in a terrible, terrible defensive system.

Special Teams: Push
Johnathan Nichols, when not playing LSU, was perfect. Joshua Shene is the conference's best placekicker, but he still hasn't shown that he can be what Nichols was. What 2009's special teams may "lack" in kicking, it more than makes up for in athleticism and innovation. Remember, Special Teams Coordinator, James Shibest, won National ST Coordinator of the Year in 2008. He can scheme with the best of them.

Offensive Line: Strong Advantage 2003

Three of Eli Manning's five blockers are still playing ball in the NFL. Enough said. If the 2009 unit still somehow had Michael Oher, this would be a push.

Running Backs: Strong Advantage 2009

In 2008, the combination of Brandon Bolden, Cordera Eason, Dexter McCluster, and Enrique Davis was the 2nd most effective rushing attack in the SEC. The 2009 Rebels return every single one of them. In 2003, the Rebels struggled to find an identity when running the football, causing many once reasonable fans to urge Cutcliffe and Company to let Eli throw on every single down.

Wide receivers: Slight Advantage 2009

Yes, we know that we're all supposed to be good Rebels and fawn over Chris Collins, Mike Espy, and Bill Flowers. They were all good receivers, but imagine replacing two of those three with Shay Hodge and Dexter McCluster. Yeah, thought so.

Quarterbacks: Slight-to-Strong Advantage 2003

Well that was an easy choice. Jevan Snead is good; there is no doubt about that. He is big, strong-armed, and became a very good decision maker towards the end of last season. He has also shown great leadership abilities and proven to be fearless, even when facing superior competition. However, he's not a Manning. Eli Manning was the 2003 Rebels. Quick, without looking, how many other skill players from the 2003 Rebel squad were drafted into the NFL. If you answered zero, you're correct. Jevan Snead has already lost one of his offensive companions, speedy wide-receiver and overall badass Mike Wallace, to the 3rd round of last year's NFL draft, and will likely join a few others when he eventually makes that jump. Eli Manning was truly a once-in-a-generation type of player surrounded by an experienced roster of "pretty" goods and "alrights." Jevan Snead is a once-in-a-decade type player surrounded by several "goods" and a few "very goods." If these quarterbacks were to switch places, the 2003 Rebs would have ended up with an 8-5 record whereas the 2009 Rebs would be the preseason pick to win the SEC. I know it's a wild and crazy hypothetical, but what in the hell else are we supposed to be doing with nearly a month left in the offseason?

Wow. In looking back up at that, I never realized how truly woolly we Cuppers had become. Yeah, we're calling it: the 2009 Rebs are, when all positions are considered, better than the 7-1, Cotton Bowl Champion 2003 Rebs. Enjoy the rest of your summers while you can because, come September 6th, we will all be waist-deep in the throes of insane fandom. This season is sure to be one of the most interesting Oxford has ever seen and we are more than happy to share it with you.

Previewing Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss: Linebacker

Seth C — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:00:07 -0000

LINEBACKER

Player	Ht/Wt	Class	Position	Tackles	TFL	Sacks
Bront Bird	6'3"/220	So.	LB	58	3	1
Marlon Williams	6'0"/224	Jr.	LB	65	3	2
Brian Duncan	6'1"/238	So.	LB	90	2	0
Victor Hunter	5'11"/256	Jr.	LB	20	1	0
Ashlee Palmer	6'2"/222	Sr.	LB	48	5	1
Allen Walker	6'1"/215	So.	LB	37	3	2
Jonathan Cornell	6'1"/225	So.	LB	42	4.5	3
Patrick Trahan	6'3"/225	Jr.	LB	24	3.5	1
Lamar Brumfield	6'0"/224	Jr.	LB	20	2	0
Tony Fein	6'2"/245	Sr.	LB	51	5	0

Texas Tech

Brian Duncan is focused.

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the resurgence of the Texas Tech linebacking corp. At some point during last year's offseason, Ruffin McNeill determined that it was imperative to send out on the field more athletic linebackers than we've seen in the past. The result was the emergence of Brian Duncan, who should have been named to some of the all-conference teams, led the team with 90 tackles, 59 of which were solo tackles. Duncan is by far and away the best linebacker that Texas Tech has had, perhaps since Zach Thomas. Duncan's been on a tear of late as he's had 7, 11, 11 and 5 tackles over his last 4 games and had a huge interception against Baylor.

McNeill prefers to play a traditional 4-3 defense, despite the Big 12's move towards more offenses running the spread. That typically means that Marlon Williams, for most of the season, was covering the opposing team's slot receiver. I think there was a movement towards the latter part of the year to move away from Williams in the slot, preferring a bigger safety or defensive back, which in turn limited Williams time on the field. Against Kansas, Williams had 4 tackles, but over the next 3 games (Texas, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma) Williams had 2, 2 and 5 tackles, before returning to form with 9 tackles against Baylor. In my opinion, Williams is much better playing the run than the pass and he excels against more traditional teams, which is Ole Miss.

As the season moved on, it seemed like Bront Bird became that linebacker that tended to initially cover a team's tight end or slot receiver. Bird, a former safety in high school, seemed to struggle a bit in pass coverage and much like M. Williams, Bird is better suited playing the run. Bird tends to run very hot or cold in terms of involvement, but I think that's partly because of playing time, not necessarily the inability to make a play. Bird will have one game where he makes 10 tackles and then not show up in the boxscore.

Victor Hunter is the bowling ball run stopper. He is your goal-line stand guy that tries to plug the middle of the field. He doesn't see a ton of playing time (i.e. due to the number of spread offenses), but he's effective at what he does.

Mississippi

Ashlee Palmer is excited.

The SEC is not typically a spread-offense conference, it's more traditional in offensive schemes (for the most part). The difference between the linebackers for Ole Miss and for Texas Tech is that the Ole Miss defensive line does a ton of the dirty work, leaving the Rebel linebackers to make a few tackles each game, which is a good thing.

While perusing the Ole Miss linebacker stats, it's apparent that they each contribute 3 to 4 tackles a game. Leading linebacker tackler Tony Fair's last 4 games were 2, 2, 5 and 2 tackles. Ashlee Palmer: 4, 1, 3 and 0. Granted, 2 of these last 4 games were absolute blow outs, but it's still interesting to note that this is a collective effort. If there is one linebacker that has the ability to take over a game, it's Palmer, who had a very nice stretch early in the year with 5 tackles against Florida, followed up with 9 against S. Carolina an 8 against Alabama. Keep in mind that Palmer was the player that the Ole Miss staff thought might not make it because of grades, but was eventually fully reinstated.

Of course, the difficult part about playing Texas Tech is that the Ole Miss linebackers may be completely taken out of the entire game play because Texas Tech will run 4-wide more times than not. You'd have to think that the Ole Miss staff will have, at the very least 5 defensive backs at any given time, probably more, and as a result, the linebackers may get squeezed.

With that being said, these linebackers are part of the same defense that is #6 in the country at stopping the run, and although the defensive line deserves quite a bit of the credit, I think it would disingenuous to not credit the Rebel linebackers as well. Collectively, these guys get it done.

I'd love to hear from Ole Miss fans to find out what they think we'll see in terms of matchups during the Cotton Bowl.

Conclusion:

I think this is a pretty close matchup and interesting to look at the numbers. Only a few of the Texas Tech linebackers see much playing time, while Ole Miss prefers to rotate, at the very least 6 linebackers, that each make a some impact during every game. Ultimately, the Ole Miss has a better defense and despite my thinking that we may not see the Rebel linebackers receive much playing time, they still get my vote.

Previous Matchups

Quarterbacks :: Running Backs :: Receiver :: Offensive Line :: Defensive Line :: Linebackers :: Secondary :: Special Teams :: Coaching

Matchup	Advantage
Quarterback
Running Back
Receivers
Offensive Line
Defensive Line
Linebacker

Poll

Who do you favor in this matchup of linebackers?

Texas Tech

84 votes

Mississippi

84 votes

168 votes | Poll has closed