Ole Miss DL Jared Ivey looking forward to homecoming when Rebels play Georgia Tech
OXFORD, Miss. – When a student is accepted for enrollment at the Georgia Institute of Technology, they must be well versed in the fields of algebra, trigonometry, and calculus.
Prior to transferring to Ole Miss, linebacker Jared Ivey attended Georgia Tech, but this week, there is one mathematical equation that is eluding him – how to equally divide four into a much larger number, as in four tickets.
The Suwanee, Ga., native will be traveling with the Rebels Saturday to face Tech in Atlanta, and being a native of the area, the friends and family asking for tickets have been flying to him although he has a finite number of them to give.
“Man, I can’t count on one hand how many ticket requests I’ve gotten,” Ivey said. “But I know I only have four tickets so it might get a little sticky.”
Still, he is thrilled to be playing a game a little closer to home when Ole Miss (2-0) takes on Tech (1-1).
“Obviously going back home and playing in front of a whole bunch of friends and family, I’m going to be super excited,” Ivey said after practice Monday.
Although the 6-foot-5, 265 pounder left Atlanta for Oxford, he still has fond memories of his time playing at Grant Field.
“It’s a very fun environment to play at. I enjoyed being there, loved it, loved my guys. You have some die-hard fans, man, that were really riding for us and one of the coolest entrances in college football. So, I think we’re going to go there and do what we do.”
Jared Ivey
“I’ve been trying to give my two cents wherever I can just about any type of guy any whatever stuff I remember,” Ivey explained, “but you know they’ve had a whole offseason to do what they need to do to prepare the way they need to prepare so it’s not like it’s the exact same. So you know but I’m giving my input where I can,” he explained.
He played in 20 games at Georgia Tech, starting 13 in two seasons before leaving to join the Rebels. This season, he has amassed five tackles, one for loss, a sack, and a quarterback hurry. The Ole Miss defense has held its first two opponents to 13 points and Ivey gives credit to that success to his coaches.
“I feel like I’m rushing the passer well, I feel like we’re doing a lot in the pass game,” Ivey said.
“CP (Coach Chris Partridge) and coach (Randall) Joyner are moving a lot of pieces so credit to those guys. But besides that, as a unit we need to focus on playing the run, being stout, using our hands, all the stuff we might be good at or bad at is all stuff we need to work on regardless.”
Jared Ivey on what the defense is doing well
As talented as Ivey has been on the field, there is one trait he says he does not have. He cannot predict how the Tech offense will attack Saturday.
“You guys have to believe that I know absolutely nothing,” Ivey said to reporters. “They know that I used to play there, play in the scheme, and I’m at a school they are playing right now. So, they’re not going to come in a run all the stuff they ran when I was there. It’s crazy. I don’t think any team in the country with transfers would do that. Everybody makes adjustments, I think like I said, they’ve had all offseason to prepare and adjust what they need to adjust to compete, so I assume that’s what they are doing.”
Ivey, however, does remember what he did see from the Yellow Jackets during his time there.
“They’ve got a lot of weapons, they use their slot a lot in space find him ways to get the ball,” Ivey said. “They try to come out and run like any team does, especially they’re going to be at their place, look for them to take shots. We’re prepared. We’ve got a whole week of practice to get ready for it and I think we’re ready.”
One thing is for certain Saturday, Ivey’s time as a Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket is in his past. His loyalty is with his new team.
“I’ve really been focused on my guys here preparing with my teammates and just going to battle with Ole Miss,” Ivey said.
Up Next
The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. and can be seen on ABC.
(Feature image credit: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
