Daijahn Anthony tells how the Ole Miss coaches lit a fire under the team after the loss to Georgia
OXFORD, Miss. — Following the 52-17 loss to Georgia, the Ole Miss football team spent the remainder of Saturday and Sunday feeling the emotions of their performance — and putting working to put it behind them. According to defensive back Daijahn Anthony, all of the negativity was quickly pushed out of the window after two coaches addressed the team early on Monday morning.
“We all took it real hard Saturday and Sunday, but coming in on Monday, our coaches did a really good job, Coach Kiffin and Coach Golding, saying how we can still make history this year. They talked about us going 11-2, winning out, and making history. That’s something big that brought light into the defensive room, for sure. When he said, ‘you guys can still do something that the team has never done here before,’ that spoke volumes to all of us, and that’s what made us say, ‘Alright, we have to come hard and finish out strong because we still have a lot of stuff ahead of us.’“
Daijahn Anthony
When Anthony says history, he means it. Ole Miss has never — not once in the history of the program — had a season where the team won 11 games.
As Anthony dove deeper into Saturday night, he alluded to the fact that it was good for the Rebs to see what a national champion-caliber program looks like, especially considering the playoffs are expanding to 12 teams just next season.
“We prepared hard, but now we go out there and play a national championship team. You see you can’t just do the little stuff, you have to do more than the little stuff. You have to do everything and more.“
Daijahn Anthony
One of the biggest problems in the loss Saturday night was getting Georgia to third down and, more importantly, forcing them to punt. For the first time all season, the opposing team only punted once in the game against this Ole Miss defense. Despite the defensive struggles as a whole, Daijahn managed to lead the team in tackles (5) while getting his second interception of the season.
As the year winds down, the regular season will come to a close after the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night — a game which Anthony has never experienced. He briefly touched on what will need to be done to ensure that his body is prepared for the rivalry game, saying he has never had two games this close together in his college career.
“A little more treatment, more water, and they’re doing a good job taking care of us in practice. We didn’t go full pads today in practice, so that was very good on our legs,” Anthony said.
Anthony is not taking the ULM game lightly, saying he wants to beat the Warhawks, 99-0.
“That’s the only thing I’m thinking about. 99-0. I don’t want them to score a touchdown Saturday, so I’ve been watching film harder than I ever watched. Even though it’s a lesser opponent, it’s still a big game for us.“
Daijahn Anthony
As Ole Miss continues its quest for the Rebels’ first 11-win season in history, be sure to pack the Vaught this Saturday against ULM and get the Rebels one step closer to their goal!
Game info
Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
