The freshman and the senior: Suntarine Perkins and Cedric Johnson helping Ole Miss defense come together
OXFORD, Miss. — The veteran and the kid are making their presence known. This season, an experienced senior and a true freshman are helping pace the Ole Miss defense. Earlier this week, they were both recognized by the Southeastern Conference as true freshman Suntarine Perkins was named Co-Freshman Player of the Week, while defensive lineman Cedric Johnson was named Defensive Line Player of the Week.
Together, the two have a combined 53 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss.
Perkins won the SEC weekly award after his five tackles — four for loss — in last Saturday’s 28-21 win at Auburn. Perkins leads all league freshmen in sacks and is fifth nationally in that category.
Coming out of Raleigh (Miss.) High School, Perkins was a highly-recruited five-star who decided to play in Oxford. Ole Miss coach head Lane Kiffin knew what kind of talent Ole Miss was getting in Perkins. Still, the Rebels got more of a talent than Kiffin even saw in the recruiting process
“We knew he was really special,” Kiffin said.
“I don’t know if there was any way to know he was this electric, this fast. You’ve seen him at different times catch two of the fastest quarterbacks in America in the last week and against Alabama. He’s just really, really special. Phenomenal kid. No issues, he just wants to get better, just wants to be coached and do the right things and not worry about the external stuff, which is very refreshing nowadays with these kids.“
Coach Lane Kiffin on Suntarine Perkins
Perkins is also drawing praise from the upperclassmen on the defense, including defensive end Cedric Johnson.
“He’s a freak athlete to start,” Johnson said.
“I’ve been really seeing him like over the weeks start to focus in and just settle in as a football player. Like the first few weeks he’s in there, he’s a freshman obviously so he’s like, I don’t know how to explain, he’s just in your first game, first few games, you’re just trying to find it — find the pace — get the pace of the game and slow everything down. But I’m really starting to see him settle down, settle in and know what to look for, know what he’s looking at and he’s playing faster and just getting better and better every week.“
Ole Miss DE Cedric Johnson on Suntarine Perkins
Johnson also was singled out by Kiffin for his efforts this season for No. 12 Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1 in the SEC).
“He’s been awesome all along,” Kiffin said of Johnson. “He’s grown as a better player, stronger and bigger and better and faster. Like I said, we have culture guys who are elite thinkers, and elite team players, it’s not about them, it’s truly about the team. And that’s not the case all the time. He’s awesome at having people around, at working with young kids. He’s one of our favorites.”
Johnson has 24 tackles this season, 2.5 sacks and leads the team with seven quarterback hurries.
The defense has been a pleasant surprise for Ole Miss lately. That is a fact that has not escaped Kiffin’s attention.
“I think the last two (games), the defense and the way that they played, the way they’ve stopped the run for the most part except for one really long run. And really just the way they’ve been on the sidelines as a team. Not getting discouraged and really getting into it and overcoming adversity when it comes. It’s been really good.“
Lane Kiffin on the Ole Miss defense
That defense will be on display Saturday when Vanderbilt comes to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for the Rebels’ homecoming game. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and it can be seen on the SEC Network.
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.
