OXFORD — Penalties are part of the price you pay when you aim to play as physically as Ole Miss does, particularly on defense.
The No. 6 Rebels (4-0) have committed 22 penalties in their last two games, with 13 coming on the defensive side of the ball. Of the eight defensive penalties Ole Miss committed in its 52-13 win over Georgia Southern, two were holding calls in the secondary, three were for facemask and one was for roughing the passer. Of the five defensive penalties the Rebels committed against Wake Forest the previous week, two were for holding in the secondary and another was for pass interference.
Ole Miss has been flagged for 33 penalties this season, which is tied for the most in the SEC. Head coach Lane Kiffin understands that, when building a team that wants to be physical in nature, penalties are going to happen. The key, he said, is limiting the ones that come down to poor choices.
“I think sometimes when you create a team that’s a really physical team that’s really going to try to play really physical at a high level with you snap to snap, it’s going to get violent. And you’re not going to be the least penalized team, especially defensively,” Kiffin said following the Georgia Southern game. “So, I understand that. I understand what we’ve created. … So, we just have to be smarter at it, but we’re not going to have the least defensive penalties, not with these players. I understand that. But we have to not have the penalties we can avoid with decision making.”
Playing aggressively is what Ole Miss wants to do. But senior cornerback Trey Amos is aware that the effort to have less penalties called starts at practice.
“The whole DB group just want(s) to play aggressive. That’s our whole motto, just playing fast,” Amos said. “Sometimes you’re going to get calls. But we want to make plays and to be in the right spot.”
The emphasis on physicality has evidently worked — Ole Miss is tied for first in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 5.5 points per game. The Rebels are tied for second nationally in red zone defense, 12th in total defense and rank 24th in passing efficiency defense. While the stakes are going to get higher starting this weekend against Kentucky (2-2, 0-2 SEC), Ole Miss isn’t going to stop playing with aggression and physicality. It’s all about balance.
“It’s all about discipline. And we have played a little bit undisciplined. But we play fast and we play hard. And (when) we’re playing fast and hard, those penalties are going to come,” senior defensive back Brandon Turnage said. “If we have penalties, it needs to be an aggressive penalty, playing ball.”
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