Eli Drinkwitz shows up at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday with a team that’s already figured out who it is.
Pete Golding’s still working on that.
So when No. 13 Missouri visits No. 9 Ole Miss, I’d argue the pressure leans toward the home sideline.
The Rebels don’t get to blame feelings this time. Or first-game nerves. Or a lazy half against somebody they figured they’d handle anyway. They did enough of that early this fall.
This is a good SEC team coming to town.
And Golding’s defense needs to show the Vanderbilt game wasn’t a fluke.
Vanderbilt raised the bar
That was the defense Ole Miss fans have been waiting on.
The Commodores got pushed around all game.
Yes, I know. Vandy’s offense isn’t Mizzou’s offense. Fair enough.
Still, we got to see what this group looks like when everybody’s locked in. The trick is finding that same group after the first plan gets punched in the mouth.
That part hasn’t gone well. Once a game starts going sideways, the Rebs’ defense hasn’t had many answers. Ole Miss hasn’t won a second half yet against a Power 4 opponent.
Vanderbilt technically counts there. The Commodores scored late, long after anybody cared.
Louisville and No. 22 LSU? Trinidad Chambliss and the offense scored enough to get out alive. That works fine, right up until it doesn’t.
Florida is the warning sign
Just ask Gainesville.
Florida hung 52 on the Rebs. Thirty-five of those came after halftime.
The Gators ran for over 300 yards and threw for nearly 200 more. Aaron Philo only had eight completions that went downfield. Eight.
Golding got after his players at halftime that night. Linebacker Keaton Thomas was later asked how that went over.
“Some guys took it, and other guys didn’t,” Thomas said.
Honest answer. Not a comforting one heading into a game like this.
Then it got worse. A week later, Missouri beat those same Gators 45-17.
Mizzou got ahead quick and kept handing it to running back Jamal Roberts until Florida ran out of clock.
Don’t let Mizzou sit on a lead
Roberts is sitting on 828 rushing yards this year, with eight trips to the end zone.
Let Missouri grab an early lead, and you’ll see a whole lot of him. Ole Miss can’t play that game from behind.
I just want Kewan Lacy to stay in one piece for 60 minutes. If the Rebs can run it themselves, Mizzou’s offense sits and watches.
Lacy’s been part of weird before. He caught Chambliss’ throw at the end of that Sugar Bowl scramble against Georgia, the one where Chambliss ran backward to his own 1-yard line. Official result: 8 yards.
Don’t sleep on the passing game, either. Austin Simmons has 14 touchdown passes and one interception, with 1,434 yards.
Cayden Lee and Donovan Olugbode caught 11 of those touchdowns. They’ve got better than 1,000 yards between them.
So it’s the run and the pass. Golding’s guys have gotten burned by each one at some point.
Chambliss can’t carry this alone
Drinkwitz also has a pass rush that could make Chambliss’ Saturday miserable.
Daeden Hopkins has seven sacks. He got 3.5 of them at Mississippi State against Kamario Taylor.
Donta Simpson, a tackle, has five.
Ole Miss’ defensive tackles? Half a sack. Total. Will Echoles has it.
Blake Purchase helped with two sacks against Vanderbilt. He’s up to 3.5, best on the team.
Chambliss is great when a play breaks down, and with his blocking up front still iffy, he might get plenty of chances to prove it. But Golding can’t keep counting on his quarterback to bail out the defense.
Drinkwitz gets judged on the whole year. Golding doesn’t have that kind of time with this defense.
If Mizzou jumps ahead Saturday, we’ll find out fast whether these guys answer this time.
