Ole Miss Can't Afford Any Drop-off from the Defense in 2015

OXFORD, Miss. — It was the kind of thing that Hugh Freeze didn’t have to worry too much about with his previous jobs and definitely falls into the “good kind of problem to have” at Ole Miss.

Last year, the Rebels were clearly led by their defense, which at times was so effective and tenacious that he had to go against his offensive philosophy of "Faster is always better."

“(When) you've got a defense that for most of the year is giving up 12 points a game, it doesn't take a lot of rocket science to figure out that if that defense is that stingy, you give the opponents lesser and lesser opportunities, you're going to have a chance to win some games,” the coach said on Tuesday on the eve of Ole Miss' first practice of training camp. “So we kind of played to our strengths. “

He’d very much like to see that again this fall, except for the way the 2014 season ended. After going 2-4 following a 7-0 start, “We didn’t finish” is something being heard a lot around the football complex.

“Fatigue, injuries,” senior linebacker C.J. Johnson said. “It’s been a multitude of things. Sometimes you just don’t get the lucky bounce and the ball doesn’t go your way.

“It’s a matter of staying in it, staying in the grind, and keep at it.”

There’s no denying that the Ole Miss defense was outstanding at times in 2014. When things were going well, its quickness and relentless play posed more than a few problems for opponents. Through its first eight games, only one managed to post more than 17 points on the scoreboard.

For the first time since 2008, Alabama didn’t finish atop the Southeastern Conference in scoring defense, snapping the five-year streak that was the longest in league history.

Ole Miss topped the nation in that category and was No. 13 in total defense, No. 16 in passing defense (and passing efficiency defense), and No. 29 in rushing defense.

But Ole Miss can’t afford any sort of a defensive drop-off if it wants to challenge for the SEC West title. Although the offense has nine starters returning and could potentially boast a very potent attack, there are still a lot of questions and concerns.

The most pressing at this point may be the quarterback competition, which doesn’t appear to be close to a resolution between former Clemson player Chad Kelly and sophomores Ryan Buchanan and DeVante Kincade.

Numerous offensive linemen are coming off injuries, and starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil is also the subject of an NCAA inquiry.

Consequently, one has to wonder about the offense’s continuity—especially during the first few games.

Category	Per game	SEC	National
Scoring	16.0	1	1
Rushing	136.9	5	29
Passing	192.1	3	16
Total	329.0	4	13

Overall, the Rebels finished the 2014 season ranked No. 67 nationally in scoring offense, No. 73 in rushing offense, No. 75 in third-down offense, and No. 116 in red-zone offense.

That’s a lot to try to turn around with a new quarterback.

A year ago, many predicted Ole Miss might be the surprise team in the division primarily due to its defense, but attrition caught up to the Rebels—especially once the injuries started to stack up.

Not too many defenders finished with 13-13 at the beginning of their stat line, which indicated games played-games started. The only ones who did were Mike Hilton, Tony Conner, Cody Prewitt, Senquez Golson and Robert Nkemdiche.

It’s one reason why even though All-Americans Prewitt and Golson have moved on to the NFL, the players say there’s room for improvement.

“It’s definitely possible,” Johnson said. “I think the biggest thing for us is going to be how well we adjust, how good can we add on to what we’re already done. When guys get complacent there’s a drop-off, and that’s the stuff that you’ve already heard about, but as far as talent I think we have the talent to not only be as good as we were last year but be even better.”

The defensive line is again led by Nkemdiche, a second-team All-American who is listed as 6’4”, 296 pounds. When the Rebels want to beef up, there’s senior Woodrow Hamilton (6’3”, 319 lbs) and junior college transfer D.J. Jones (6’0”, 324 lbs), not to mention junior end Fadol Brown (6’4”, 280 lbs).

The rotation, which line coach Chris Kiffin wants to include at least eight players but have 10 if possible, also has undersized defensive end Marquis Haynes (6’3”, 220 lbs) and defensive tackle Issac Gross (6’1, 240 lbs). Haynes led the team with 7.5 sacks last season as a freshman.

“Even if you have a guy like Robert Nkemdiche, who is athletically freakish, he’s still going to need a breather, especially if you’re playing a tempo team,” Kiffin said. “He’s going to get exhausted in the first quarter.”

Johnson moved from the defensive line to inside linebacker, where he’ll line up next to senior Denzel Nkemdiche, who broke his ankle against LSU last fall.

In the secondary, Ole Miss has good size at the corners.

Junior Tee Shepard (6'1") is back after missing the 2014 season with torn ligaments in a toe, and junior college transfer Tony Bridges (6'0") played so well during the spring that coaches moved senior Mike Hilton to safety even though he led the Rebels in tackles with 71 and made three interceptions last year.

Factor in Hilton’s versatility and experience, senior Trae Elston’s improvement and the hard-hitting Tony Conner often playing near the line of scrimmage in the Rebels’ 4-2-5 base formation, and Ole Miss believes it could have the best secondary in the league.

“We do,” Hilton said. “Especially with guys like Tony Bridges and Tee Shepard, guys like that, and we have more depth actually than we did last year, and we got more experience so I feel like we’re not really losing a step.”

Now they just have to prove it, week in and week out, which of course is the hard part—especially in the SEC West.

Nevertheless, Robert Nkemdiche calls the possibility of having an even better defense this season “realistic.”

“I feel like the energy of the team and the cohesiveness that we’ve created this summer is at an all-time high. I don’t feel like it was like that the past two (summers),” he said. “I’m excited to see what we can do.”

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer. Follow Christopher on Twitter @WritingWalsh.