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Ole Miss Football: Three Things We Can’t Ignore Against UT-Martin

By Daniel Skipper

OXFORD, MS - SEPTEMBER 02: Head coach Matt Luke of the Mississippi Rebels takes the field before a game against the South Alabama Jaguars at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on September 2, 2017 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS - SEPTEMBER 02: Head coach Matt Luke of the Mississippi Rebels takes the field before a game against the South Alabama Jaguars at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on September 2, 2017 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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Defense Is Still Growing

This is a young defense with relatively little game experience as a unit. Of course, they are still growing and there are obvious growing pains. They will continue to improve as they log more playing time together. However, the learning curve may become a rough one if they fail to improve quickly. In less than three weeks they will face the Alabama Crimson Tide and defense will be a must have.

Of course, it’s great to get the win but Crimedawg is not a happy camper with their performance against UT-Martin. According to OleMissSports.com,

"“They did a tremendous job of running the ball,” defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff said. “We have to continue to shore up our run defense and our tackling. You can’t ignore that. We did not tackle well and I am not satisfied at all.”"

We’ve noticed coach McGriff, trust me. The inability to stop the run was obvious with the Skyhawk offense as they put up 219 rushing yards against the Crimedawg D. Of course, this is just another takeaway from both of the first two games of the season. There is an overly obvious area of improvement which needs to be addressed immediately.

However, there were play-makers on the defense. DeMarquis Gates led all Rebels tackling on the afternoon with 9 total tackles. Marquis Haynes, AJ Moore and Victor Evans each had 7 total tackles in the game. Those four players recorded 6 TFL while CJ Moore and Benito Jones each added a TFL to give Ole Miss 8 TFL on the day. Marquis Haynes and Victor Evans each had a half sack. Javien Hamilton had the only Rebels INT in the game.

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