Ole Miss’ JJ Pegues talks about his return to Auburn and what he expects at Jordan-Hare Stadium
OXFORD, Miss. — For JJ Pegues, Oxford, Miss. is home. But the Ole Miss defensive lineman gets a unique experience this weekend — he gets a homecoming on the road.
Pegues began his college career at Auburn after leading the Oxford Chargers to a Mississippi state championship his senior year. But after two years at Auburn, a coaching change there and Lane Kiffin starting a successful program at Ole Miss, Pegues returned to his roots.
And Kiffin knows the emotions that must be running through Pegues’ brain as he prepares for his first trip back to Auburn. So much so, the coach offered him some advice.
“I know coach was talking to me and just telling me just treat it as any other game and any other week and to dominate and do what I do. Obviously I played there for two years and it’s just going to be great a lot of emotions going in but at the end of the day we have to go in there in a hostile environment and get a win.”
JJ Pegues on playing his former team
To get that win that would move the 13th-ranked Rebels to 6-1, Pegues knows he and his teammates will have to deal with a lot of noise. In fact, at practice this week, the War Eagle fight song has been blaring through the speakers on the Ole Miss practice field.
“It’s going to be real loud, I mean like I said I played there two years and I mean they got a great atmosphere and it’s going to be a hostile environment,” Pegues said. “We just have (to have) great communication and just have little keys for offense and defense and go in there and get a win.”
Unlike some other stadiums, Pegues knows the noise will continue no matter the situation.
“I feel like the crowd plays a big part of just the environment and the energy when I was there. I mean no matter what our record was or what the score was we felt the energy from the crowd definitely at home.“
JJ Pegues on the atmosphere at Auburn
Although Pegues has kept his emotions in check this week, even some of his teammates can sense this anticipation of going back to Auburn.
“He’s pretty excited to go back and just witness the atmosphere again,” linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste said. “So I think he’s pretty excited to go back.”
Still, after spending two years in east Alabama, Pegues knows the trip will be bittersweet. He wants to beat Auburn, but he will be doing it in front of people there with whom he has forged great relationships.
“I know I had a couple of people reach out to me just saying I’m glad to see (you) play again,” Pegues said. “But I feel like it’ll be a welcome home from the friends and family members I met there.”
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN.
(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.
