Ole Miss DL Isaac Ukwu discusses his preparations for Alabama and what it will take defensively to beat the Tide
OXFORD, Miss. — Football coaches are fond of saying winning begins with preparation. If that is true, Ole Miss defensive lineman Isaac Ukwu is ready to win this week.
The 6-foot-3, 260-pounder arrived at Ole Miss just prior to fall camp with a computer science degree in hand from James Madison University. He is currently enrolled in the sports analytics master’s program at the University.
That kind of mind gives him a unique perspective into preparing to play opposite either side’s tackle each week.
“(Defensive line) Coach (Randall) Joyner usually gives us a film sheet on Monday and it has a couple things on there like what type of blocker they are what type of things they like to do. Then you go through the film and you fill out the sheet. Are they a leaner? Are they a puncher? Are they a riser? Then how they like to block. Do they finish blocks? Do they position block? So you just go through that with the right and left tackle to see what type of player they are. Do they 45-degree set? Do they vertical set or do they just try and jump and maul you at the snap? Once you get a feel for that, you kind of make up plans for that…obviously everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth. You go into the game with the plan and then after that you have counters and change ups off of that. That’s really how I do it.“
Isaac Ukwu on how he prepares for his opponent each week
In the first three games of his Rebels’ career — each of them wins — Ukwu has ten total tackles, six of them solo stops. He also has three tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. In fact, he leads the Rebels in sacks and is fourth in the SEC.
Granted, those were non-conference games. Now, Ukwu and the Rebels go against Alabama in Tuscaloosa Saturday.
The Crimson Tide is 2-1 with a single loss to Texas. Ole Miss is surrendering just shy of 17 points per game and 350 yards of total offense. This week will present more of a challenge as Alabama has announced Jalen Milroe will start at quarterback. He is the most athletic signal caller on the Bama roster and has run for 92 yards and a pair of scores already this season.
That gives Ukwa and his fellow defenders a daunting task this week.
“You have to play more sound in the pass rush lanes, you can’t really go balls to the wall and lose your responsibility,” Ukwu said. “So that’s the type of challenges it puts forward.”
Ukwa is used to challenges. He is on the watch list for the Reese’s Senior Bowl and last season at JMU, he was named first-team All-Sun Belt and and honorable mention All-American.
He was asked if the Rebels do come out on top Saturday, what would have happened defensively to leave Tuscaloosa with the win.
“I would say we dominated the line of scrimmage and we were the more physical team. Whether that comes with block destruction, making tackles, playing the ball in the sky. I feel like the more aggressive team will win. I feel like if we can impose our will on the offensive line and then have the linebackers come in and filling gaps with bad intentions, we can pull out the win.”
Isaac Ukwu on what it will take to beat Bama
The cerebral Ukwu is not paying attention to those who are spreading rumors of the Tide’s demise. In fact, he believes the culture head coach Nick Saban has instilled in Alabama is alive and well. “At the end of the day Bama is Bama, no matter what’s going on,” Ukwu said.
“I’ve been a fan of college football for a while, and I’ve seen seasons like at the beginning of every season, there’s always this ‘oh, is Bama the same Bama?’…but then they still find a way to be who they are and who they have been over the past couple of decades. That’s really because of culture. I think culture really carries at a place like that…if we go in thinking ‘this is a down year, it’s a down year’–I mean what have we done lately? I mean honestly, so it doesn’t matter. You could say they’re having a down year, but what year are we having? We’re going to go in there like any other week and give them the utmost respect and try to go out and play physical and win the game.”
Isaac Ukwu on facing Alabama
The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on CBS.
(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.
