Keys to the Game: Ole Miss

The Texas A&M Sports Network team of Andrew Monaco, Dave Elmendorf and Will Johnson bring you their Keys to the Game on the Ole Miss edition of RTIC Cooler Talk.



ANDREW MONACO: Tres hombres, trios locos, back together. Along with Will Johnson, Dave Elmendorf, I'm Andrew Monaco. We continue our preview of the Aggies and Ole Miss. Dave, interesting matchup after playing two No. 1s and a No. 8 team. Really the first true road SEC game. The Aggies' last time on the road was the neutral site game in Arlington against Arkansas. SEC road game…you have to be close to perfect if you're playing any SEC game. But against Ole Miss, these Rebels create a very interesting challenge for the Aggies.
 
DAVE ELMENDORF: Well, it's not something they're going to see a lot of, a read option offense and a quarterback that can fly.  Gonna be very, very difficult. And don't let their 3-4 record fool you. They've lost to Alabama and they've lost to two 5-1 teams. This is a pretty good football team. Their other loss was to Cal, ranked No. 23. They play well at home. The Aggies are gonna have their hands full tomorrow, there's no question about it.
 
WILL JOHNSON: It seems like they always have, coming to Oxford.
 
DE: There haven't been any blowouts, that's for sure.
 
WJ: I mean, one loss, three wins, but all three wins by a touchdown or less. And this is one of those strange places, but you're gonna have to work through some things tomorrow. SEC games bring adversity at times. That's part of the Jimbo process. How do you handle it? How do you move on? They'll get hit with a few things tomorrow night and I'm interested to see how well this team handles it.
 
AM: The other thing I find of interest for both of these squads…you have some senior leadership, but not a lot. And then that big old gap to a lot of freshmen, especially for Ole Miss. A lot of freshmen. So both of these teams are gaining experience as they go through this season.
 
DE: A lot of freshmen at the skill positions. They've got some upperclassman up front, particularly on offense. But something like 90% of their offense, it comes from freshmen. That's amazing.
 
WJ: Yeah, a lot of youth in this game. There's a lot of you don't know what you're gonna get. You'll hit some big plays with freshmen, but you also will live with some mistakes with freshmen. Both sides. So a little bit of who knows what you get Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway.
 
AM: Talk a little bit more about the rush lanes. We were talking earlier this year that Gus Malzahn at Auburn says that the Aggies are gap secure when you talk about their defense. But talking with Bobby Brown a couple of weeks ago, he thinks that defensive line could be better, and is seeing those mistakes that they made against Clemson, they're not making as much. But you were talking about those rush lanes, especially against Ole Miss being so important.
 
WJ: Well, like Dave said, with a quarterback that can fly, you can't let him out. If he can fly, you keep him in his cage. You don't let him flourish and get downfield on you. This isn't necessarily a thing about getting sacks. You don't have to just rush in and get sacks all the time. It's about collapsing a pocket, making that horseshoe pattern get inward and inward and inward on the quarterback. And also, if you're a defensive end, if you're Tyree Johnson, if you're Micheal Clemons and those guys--those all-out past rushes--sometimes you can run by a quarterback. He takes one step up, then he's out. You've got to be conscious of that against John Rhys Plumlee and even a Matt Corral, who can run a little bit. But the big runner is Plumlee.
 
DE: We call it keep him in that box. You've just got to get containment. It's no different than when they run the sweep. Somebody has to get up there and stop it or they're gonna go around you and get away from you. You've gotta have somebody that contains. And then you've gotta have people that fill. Same thing when you're rushing a quarterback that can run like this…man, you got to just keep him in that net.
 
WJ: And that involves the defensive front. But linebackers, too, because they'll be coming right? They're the fill. The linebacker can't go miss a tackle and let him run on out of there.
 
DE: No question, particularly when you're talking about an offense that runs the ball like they do when Plumlee's in there. I mean, they're gonna run it most of the time when he's in there. He's completing 50% of his passes, so they'll bring in the other quarterback if they want to throw it.
 
AM: Does it help that the Aggies were talking about these same topics playing Auburn and freshman quarterback Bo Nix?
 
WJ: He's a little bit like this, but I don't think he runs as well as Plumlee.
 
DE: He doesn't. He's a really gifted runner, I don't want anybody to misunderstand…but this guy can fly. I mean, he really…I wish I had a 40 speed for him, but I'm sure it's down there, probably 4.5 or less.
 
AM: But to that point about the discipline and keeping them in the box. Remember Jimbo said if you over-pursue, young quarterbacks usually like to run, and you're doing them the favor because you're giving them that outlet. Does that message then apply as well to what Will was saying and what you were saying about over-pursuit actually puts everybody else in a bad position?
 
DE: Well, the thing is, most of the runs that Plumlee's gonna run are going to be designed runs. He's their quarterback in there for running purposes. He doesn't have the number of pass attempts that Corral does, but he still thrown it and he's completing 50% of his passes. So they're going to start with him and see how he does. And if they get into a passing situation, we'll see how they substitute, see if they bring in Corral. Of course, that's a pretty much dead giveaway.
 
AM: I was just going to ask that.
 
DE: If you bring a quarterback in because he's their passer. But today, with as complicated as offenses are in college football, you never know what you're going to see. They certainly will fight any tendency for that.
 
AM: Will and I were talking about trust and I said, trust your teammate. Trust your instincts. Trust yourself in a game like this. This is what we want to see from not just this Saturday but every Saturday from now on. Keep building on the good things that you've done this season.
 
DE: Well, that's it. Jimbo talks about the culture. It's learning how to do it right every time, and this is just another opportunity for learning, for seeing different things. And that's the thing about young players. They haven't seen everything. An older player, you've got 30 games under your belt. There are not very many things that you haven't seen. A few, but not very many. And you know how you're supposed to react to them, which means you recognize it quicker, which means that you get to it quicker, which means you're more effective at stopping it. And that's the culture you're trying to get from this Aggie group because they're young. You need to learn when you see this, this is what you do, and it gets you there quicker. And when you get there quicker, it's a good thing.
 
WJ: You said it. Trust is you don't think about it. You know it and you go. When you have the trust, when you gain it, you're just going.
 
DE: We used to talk about it. Are you going to believe your keys? Or are you going to believe your lying eyes? Because they're trying to fool you.
 
AM: I call it eye candy.
 
DE: Well there's no question. That's exactly what it is. they're trying to fool you. So that's why you've got to rely on your keys. The keys will tell you where you're supposed to go. That's part of the culture.
 
WJ: And part of that process I want to see tomorrow night is the ability to just keep hammering a team. We've talked about it on other platforms before that, when you get a lead, Jimbo asks for another score and a stop. Then another score and a stop. He's so big on burying an opponent, he calls it take away hope. You get that chance tomorrow, and I want to see the Aggies do it. Really in the big games, the four big games this year, you've only had about one chance to do it, against Arkansas. You're up 14-3, but you fumble the ball away and Arkansas got back in the game. The other side of that…keep going on a team. Foot on the throat. Physical. Just bury them. And if the Aggies have that chance tomorrow night, I think that's another step in their process of culture change. Do it. When you get that opportunity, go do it.
 
AM: I feel like we've countered every team that we've played. I want to be the aggressor and make Ole Miss adjust to us. I would like to see that.
 
WJ: Yeah. against good teams, you've done some things to hang in there, but, yeah, be the team that doesn't hang in. be the team that puts them away.
 
AM: I look forward to it.
 
DE: Oh, me too. It's gonna be a fun day. Looks like it's gonna be a beautiful day.
 
AM: Closer to his kind of weather.
 
WJ: Yeah, we're getting football weather. I'm with him every step of the way. We're playing half the college football season in 100 degree heat. Nope.
 
DE: Easy for us to say, we're up in the air conditioned booth. You're down on hot sideline.
 
WJ: I am so thrilled about the opportunity to wear a jacket tomorrow night you don't even know.
 
AM: We will be with you at 5:30 with the CHI St Joseph Health pregame show. Kickoff is at 6:30. For Dave Elmendorf, for Will Johnson, I'm Andrew Monaco. This has been RTIC Cooler Talk.