OXFORD — Ole Miss senior quarterback Jaxson Dart could only laugh postgame. Yes, it was, in fact, nice to see the defensive line he’s gone against in practice every day for the last month make someone else’s life tough for a change.
All offseason, the talk for No. 6 Ole Miss (1-0) has surrounded its retooled offensive and defensive lines. The latter, specifically, has been of note, given the additions of defensive tackle Walter Nolen and edge Princely Umanmielen. The additions of the former Texas A&M and Florida stars, respectively, were big reasons the Rebels once again had the top-ranked transfer portal class in college football.
For nearly all of fall camp, the talk from head coach Lane Kiffin and the players who met with media was the defensive front, which not only added Nolen and Umanmielen but brought back star end Jared Ivey — the Peach Bowl defensive MVP — and tackle JJ Pegues. The goal all offseason was to be better, stronger and faster in the trenches. Now, it was time to see it in action against another team.
And while it was against an FCS foe Saturday night, the early returns on the Rebels’ star-studded defensive line are just as positive as previously suggested.
“Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Dart said with a sigh and smile. “I feel bad for whoever has to go against them.”
Ole Miss cruised past Furman in its season opener 76-0 — a game in which the Rebels racked up 772 yards of offense. But the defense more than held up its end of the bargain as well, holding the preseason FCS top-10 Paladins (0-1) to 172 total yards, with just 26 coming on the ground.
Nolen and Pegues created havoc up the middle, frequently stopping guards and running backs alike dead in their tracks with three combined tackles for loss. Umanmielen had two quarterback hits, and Jacksonville State transfer edge rusher Chris Hardie notched 1.5 sacks. The Rebels’ freshmen made their statements too, as Kam Franklin had 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss while William Echoles had 0.5 tackles for loss.
“It was exciting. It was a feeling we’ve never had here,” Kiffin said. “I haven’t had it as a head coach just where, you just look at the four guys that are going out there, and then they have about three guys that rotate in with them, and it’s elite. It’s elite size, length players that present major problems if they’re doing the right thing and playing hard. It’s very intimidating to play against. They all came out and showed up.”
Ole Miss hosts Middle Tennessee (1-0) Saturday at 3:15 p.m. on SEC Network.
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