Ole Miss Safety Tysheem Johnson Reflects on Grove Bowl, Looks Ahead to Fall

Ole Miss safety Tysheem Johnson talks to reporters about his Grove Bowl pick-six and the current state of the Rebel defense.

Ben King | Apr 24, 2022

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Ole Miss Rebels

OXFORD, Miss. -- Ole Miss concluded its spring football drills on Saturday with the annual Grove Bowl in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The red team knocked off the navy team 48-36 thanks in part to a dominant showing from the red defense in the first half.

By halftime, the red defense had held the navy offense to just six points while the red team added on 26.

Ole Miss safety Tysheem Johnson helped contribute to the 20-point lead when he intercepted a pass from quarterback Jaxson Dart and returned it 67 yards to the endzone for a pick-six.

Tysheem Johnson

Johnson talked to reporters after the Grove Bowl about what was going through his head as he made the play.

"It happened kind of quick, honestly," said Johnson. "I was just reading Dart, I looked and the ball hit my hands. I saw one player in front of me and I knew I had to take it for a pick-six."

Johnson also gave his thoughts on how the defense performed as a whole on Saturday.

"I feel like we played good," said Johnson. "We only played with certain defenses, a lot of man coverage, cover three, stuff like that. We went out there and executed and got the big win."

With so much new talent on the defensive side of the ball going into next season, Johnson talked about the current state of the Ole Miss defense.

"I think we're just getting started, for real," said Johnson. "We have a lot of new transfers and a lot of young guys stepping up. People from last year have more confidence, so I feel like we're going to be really good this year."