Ole Miss Dominates Middle Tennessee, But Rebels Secondary Needs Work

Is it time to overreact to the Ole Miss secondary, or are we be being picky?

Sep 7, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels defensive back John Saunders Jr. (5) intercept a pass in the end zone during the second half against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The 2024 Ole Miss Rebels have started the season the way we expected with two blowout wins against lesser opponents. As we saw on Saturday, no team is safe in college football, especially if look at what happened in South Bend between Notre Dame and Northern Illinois.

Head coach Lane Kiffin spoke to the media after the game against the Blue Raiders, and he sounded satisfied with the teams' performance but said they still have lots of work to do, especially in the secondary.

"I thought in pass defense, we were sloppy and had too many people open," Kiffin said. "We did a good job in red zone defense to overcome that, but I don't think we're really pleased about how we played in the pass game on defense."

MTSU quarterback Nicholas Vattiato found a rhythm in the second quarter and hit a streaking Omari Kelly for a long touchdown pass that was called back for holding. Nevertheless, it was a little problematic for the Rebel faithful.

Trey Washington also spoke with the media after the ballgame where he touched on some of the errors in the secondary.

"There were too many loose screws, too many people uncovered," Washington said. "We'll get that fixed in film and practice."

The Rebels defensive line might be one of the best in the country, but with holes in this secondary, it would almost make that play from the defensive front obsolete. Still, we have to remember that this is Week 2, and secondary coach Bryan Brown and defensive coordinator Pete Golding will be able to fix these flaws and make the required adjustments.

While we shouldn't overreact, the secondary has to be better as the competition level will be amped up from this point on, beginning next week at Wake Forest.