Objectively Biased with Cody Prewitt: Ole Miss vs. LSU, 2022

EDITOR’S NOTE: Cody Prewitt is a former All-American safety for Ole Miss. His intensity, ferocity and talent are well-remembered and always missed. We are blessed to have Cody sharing his time and insights.

OXFORD, Miss. — There are not many players, past or present, who would disagree with the statement that playing in Death Valley is undoubtedly one of the toughest and most intense college football environments for any opposing team to go in and play, regardless of the matchup or which team is considered to be ‘better’ on paper. 

In regards to Ole Miss’ trip to Baton Rouge Saturday, let’s zoom out for a minute and look at LSU. That Tigers’ team entered the game at 5-2. One of those losses was to one of the most impressive teams in the SEC this season — Tennessee. 

The other of LSU’s two losses came in week one against a historically decorated, successful and established program in Florida State, and it was a very close game. While this is not an excuse for LSU’s loss, it is, however, worth mentioning that the contest against the Seminoles was the Tigers’ first with their new head coach, Brian Kelly, and coaching staff. 

I believe it is important to recognize this because it provides a proper frame of reference in order to better look at the Ole Miss loss in a productive manner. 

So, basically, this is the SEC. Every team has talent, and there are no promises or guarantees in this conference on who is going to be ahead on the scoreboard when that 60 minutes comes to an end. 

Keeping all of this in mind, let’s talk about our Ole Miss Rebels!

My personal expectation going into the game Saturday was that it would likely be fairly close and competitive. I have been pleased with the Ole Miss defense and its performances for most of the season. That being said, I do not yet think we have played a complete game defensively this season, but until Saturday we had made the stops we needed in order to win. 

For each of the Rebels’ first seven games, some inconsistent defensive performances seemed to be broken up by a quarterly or half-game basis where there was just an obvious difference in how we were playing. 

The best example to illustrate this would be our win over Vandy a few weeks ago. I found myself yelling at the TV because on multiple occasions I kept seeing guys breaking down instead of closing the distance. 

On these plays, the majority of the defensive players had done their job and were in the right positions to limit — and even prevent — big plays from happening had we not hesitated to pull the trigger (break down) as we started to initiate the tackle on some of the big plays they pulled off in the first half of the game. 

The effort was there; it just looked to me that perhaps our defenders weren’t trusting their eyes and what they were seeing on some plays and were hesitant, for lack of a better term, to do what I know our players know to do in regards to executing on defense. 

On one play in particular, a Vandy player had just gotten the edge off the line of scrimmage and our cornerback successfully turned the play inwards, leaving the alley to be filled by a safety.  We even had linebackers and d-lineman in pursuit with good pursuit angles in case the safety came downhill full speed and missed the tackle. If he missed to the outside, the runner would’ve had to turn back and run into the help that was in pursuit from the field. 

Unfortunately, we broke down when attempting to fill the alley. That hesitation allowed the runner to get to the outside/sideline and away from the defensive help that was coming from his teammates, and it resulted in a big play. 

I highlight that play NOT to call out any specific player, but to actually show that the guys on defense did know their jobs. They knew their keys and reads, so I know the inconsistent defensive play this season isn’t so much in the preparation but more so is a matter of just not executing on each and every play. 

Yes, to say we have to execute on EACH and EVERY play may seem extreme, but the SEC requires that high level of discipline, execution and consistency to be competitive as a unit week in and week out, especially if we are going to achieve the goals and expectations we have as a team and program. 

Turning to the LSU game

Now, in regards to the loss Saturday against LSU there are a couple of important notes I would like to make before just harping on the obviously unfavorable result of which we are all aware.

Saturday, early in the game we lost one of the most important defensive leaders on the field, safety AJ Finley. 

Great play by AJ Finley pic.twitter.com/1n66s2QTXH

— Charlie Parker (@cmparker999) October 15, 2022

Not only is he a leader in terms of helping his teammates know where to be, but AJ entered the game as literally the Rebels’ leading tackler. So losing his productivity made an obvious difference to the unit. 

Another player who has solidified himself as a leader on the defensive side is linebacker Troy Brown, and his early-game absence due to injury took away another extremely productive player from the defense. 

The reason their absence needs to be noted is because I know from personal experience how crucial it is to have leaders like them on the field, players who are able to exercise that leadership in real time, in the midst of the chaos.

In the game of football, well in any facet of life, to be honest, but particularly in football, leading by example is the most effective way to lead the players around you.

Not having that leadership that AJ brings on the back end — he is the player responsible for vocalizing and communicating a majority of any pre-play adjustments for the defense (quarterbacking the defense) — poses a communication issue right off the bat. 

Of course the guys practice and prepare for situations where the next guy up should be able to hop in without the absence causing any major negative ripple effects, but in reality, the significance of the role that some players fill simply cannot be understood until they are no longer out there to fill their role. 

In addition to AJ, we lost Troy who I believe, after watching over the course of this season, plays a big role in the successful communication and execution of our defense when we are playing well. 

Pointing out these absences is necessary because for a lot of the game Saturday, the defense as a unit just did not seem to be playing with the same discipline and focus that we usually play with when guys like AJ and Troy are present and leading the way. 

No, this is obviously not an excuse as I do believe we do have plenty of guys on the defense who not only make plays, but their presence is most definitely powerful with the other guys on the field. 

Defensive execution: missed tackles and mental mistakes

At the end of the day, as a unit we simply did not execute on defense, and individually speaking the tackling was subpar across the board. 

It is hard to try and pinpoint why we were not tackling well, especially when the Rebs have displayed time and time again that not only are they beyond capable of doing so, but doing so in a manner that lives up to the identity of the Landshark D that we all love to watch. 

Now, in regards to the lack of discipline and mental mistakes that took place, that is something I would attribute to not having all of the parts of the machine present that have allowed the unit to operate at its highest potential in prior games this season.

Again, I am not here to make excuses. I am simply trying to figure out what went wrong. To me, the defense just seemed almost frantic for most of the game. 

Sure, an argument can be made that it was the environment (Death Valley being a very hostile place), but in my opinion the environment just does not account for how frantic the defense looked and played. 

I have seen some criticism about certain aspects of the defensive scheme as a whole, but to be honest, with the lack of execution I saw Saturday, I don’t see where even trying to critique the scheme is nearly as relevant. 

The defense had opportunities to make stops, and we just didn’t. We were missing tackles, we were out of place, and we just were not playing disciplined defense.  

I look forward to seeing these guys learn from Saturday’s film and loss. I see their potential, and I am excited to watch them start to put together full games’ worth of that potential to return the program to the national spotlight on a regular basis.

Jaxson Dart

I will be the first person to say that I was a little “iffy” on our quarterback situation this season, but on Saturday Mr. Dart’s performance finally let me rest easy when I think about the QB position. 

I was particularly worried about how our very young QB room was going to handle a place like Death Valley for the first time, but Jaxson not only managed the game and atmosphere well, he was making throws and decisions I have, frankly, been looking for out of our QB room all season. 

Setting The Tone! What a play by Jaxson Dart and Jonathan Mingo!! pic.twitter.com/G5oIZAC7Fd

— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) October 22, 2022

Prior to finding out running back Zach Evans was not going to be available to play, I was nervous about potentially having to rely solely on our very, VERY good running game to get us through the game, so a huge shoutout to J. Dart on his performance Saturday. 

Judkins is special

I think anyone who has watched an Ole Miss game this year can see that Quinshon Judkins is something special at RB, and I will go so far as to say he has Heisman potential in a couple of years. He is that great a talent — but I am also very impressed at his willingness to step up, as a freshman, and in his first truly hostile SEC road environment, and be a work horse — especially knowing his INCREDIBLY talented teammate Evans would not be able to share the load. 

Quinshon Judkins is up to 831 yards rushing on the season with 4 games remaining.

Judkins had 111 yards and 2 TD against LSU.

pic.twitter.com/xt88Hp7cqh

— We Run the Sip (@OMRebelNation) October 24, 2022

Moving forward

I am sure Kiffin and many other people may be offering more criticism on the offense’s performance, and yes we did have our fair share of missed opportunities on offense, but me being me (ha ha!) I do feel a responsibility to be more critical on the defensive side. 

And for this particular game, I believe my critiques of the unit are far more necessary. When you go into an SEC environment like Death Valley, you can effectively hand the crowd a jersey and a number because those environments can and will affect the momentum and outcome of a game. 

Unfortunately for the Rebs on Saturday, defensively we allowed that extra jersey to play its part, and that inability to keep points off the board and quiet the crowd in Death Valley added unnecessary and additional adversity to a collectively young offense. 

As I pointed out in the beginning of this, give LSU its due; they did their job, they protected their house. 

I do believe the next time Dart and this offense make the trip to Baton Rouge, regardless of how the defense plays, we will see way more than 20 points. 

I also know that this defensive group of guys will take Saturday’s loss and respond with vigor. 

We are just getting started, Rebel Nation!! LFG!!