Ole Miss Rebels 'Focused On' Themselves Amidst Bye Week
Rest and relaxation rarely come amid a race for a national championship, but everyone needs a second to breathe and regroup.
That's how Ole Miss Rebels defensive back Trey Washington views the bye week. It's not a moment where the No. 13 Rebels can get complacent, but rather just healthy for a push toward Atlanta in the second half of the season.
“We’re just more so focused on us," Washington said Monday. "Obviously Auburn is (coming) and we’ll have some install for that, but we’re more so focused on us…we’ll see them play LSU (and) we’ll see them play the games previously in the season."
Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1 SEC) escaped Saturday's heart-wrecking matchup against Arkansas with a 27-20 victory thanks to clutch defensive moments. KJ Jefferson threw the game-sealing interception with less than two minutes remaining. He also threw an earlier interception in the first quarter, leading to a Quinshon Judkins 1-yard touchdown run.
Ole Miss running back Ulysses Bentley (No. 24) scores a touchdown against Arkansas in the fourth quarter to give Rebels a late lead.
© Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports
Defensively, Pete Golding's play design put the Rebels in exceptional positions to respond after allowing LSU to total 637 yards of offense in last week's up. Jefferson and running back Rahiem Sanders were bottled up behind the line, totaling a combined 26 yards on 25 carries. Ole Miss forced five punts and held the Razorbacks to 7-of-16 on third-down conversions.
"We made plays and we took advantage of the plays that came to us,” Washington said. “Like the pick. We took advantage of plays that came to us. One thing we could do is just execute in between plays.”
Ole Miss does not control its destiny to Atlanta at the moment. Sure, if the Rebels win out, there's a chance they could finish as the third-best team in the SEC, but with a Week 4 loss to No. 11 Alabama, the tiebreaker would go to Nick Saban.
Of course, the Crimson Tide still could fall apart following their 26-20 win over Texas A&M. The Hogs might not present challenges for Saban's defense, but Tennessee and LSU's potent offenses could lead to chaos in the SEC West.
Washington is only worried of things he can control. One area in which he can command excellence is the continued improvements to a hopeful surging secondary.
"I’m confident in this defense," said Washington. "I think we got a lot of people across the room that are performing well."
The Rebels hit the road to take on Auburn next Saturday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m.
