Ole Miss’ Jordan Watkins puts LSU loss behind, looks ahead to A&M: ‘We’ve just got to respond and play our game’
OXFORD, Miss – Ole Miss has been known to throw a few parties in its history. But in the football locker room this week, there has not been a party – especially a pity party.
After losing to LSU last week to fall to 7-1, the Rebels are taking in the experience of the defeat, but not dwelling on it as Ole Miss prepares to travel to Texas A&M Saturday.
“That was our first road test in a hostile environment,” wide receiver Jordan Watkins said.
Ole Miss wide receiver Jordan Watkins at LSU. (Photo: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
“So, we’ve just got to come back. We’ve got another hostile environment this week, you know. We’ve got to execute better when times get tough.”
Ole Miss WR Jordan Watkins
College Station will be another tough environment for the Rebels. Although Texas A&M is a disappointing 3-4 and has lost three straight games to Alabama, Mississippi State and South Carolina, Kyle Field will still be filled to its 102,733 capacity Saturday night.
And as Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin pointed out, the Aggies have talent.
“No time to sit around and mope with (the LSU loss),” Kiffin said.
“We’re getting ready to go play probably one of the top five rosters in America. I think eight five-star players a year ago, most ever. These guys are ultra-talented, and we’re going to play in one of the top-five hardest places to play. That’s a combination, obviously, that makes you have to do a lot of things right in order to have a chance to win. We’ve got a lot of work to do this week and got to get better.“
Coach Lane Kiffin
Texas A&M, like Ole Miss, will not be at full strength when the two teams meet on the SEC Network. The Rebels were missing running back Zach Evans last week and lost defenders A.J. Finley and Troy Brown to injury during the game. It is unclear, as of yet, if the three will be able to return.
The Aggies announced three players have season-ending injuries and three more – all highly-touted freshmen – are suspended from the team indefinitely.
Ole Miss cannot control the Aggies’ roster, but the team can control how they practice this week. All season, the Rebels’ practice goal is to work to improve to 1-0 that week.
“We want to go 1-0 again,” Watkins said.
“Each week is a different opponent and a different task at hand. Like I said, we’re going into another hostile against a really good football team again. I think they haven’t played at home in a couple of months. We got a night game there, so you know the environment is going to be crazy and we’ve just got to respond and play our game. I think we’ve got to just connect on all three phases of the ball.”
Jordan Watkins on playing at A&M
Ole Miss did that the first seven weeks of the season and after a game that did not turn out as the Rebels wanted, they know what they have to do in practices before heading to the Lone Star State.
The one thing there is no time for this week is for the team to feel sorry for itself after the trip to LSU.
Ole Miss and the Aggies are scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
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.
