gearing up for Auburn's 'athletic' defensive front

[aubiefifty 17,487]

Ole Miss offensive line gearing up for Auburn's 'athletic' defensive front

MICHAEL KATZ Daily Journal

4 minutes

OXFORD – The Auburn defensive line creates problems. And Ole Miss sophomore tackle Jeremy James knows the onus is on him and his trenchmates to make sure redshirt junior quarterback Matt Corral remains upright.

The No. 10 Rebels (6-1 overall, 3-1 SEC) face the No. 18 Tigers (5-2, 2-1) Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Ole Miss, which hasn’t beaten Auburn since 2015, will have its hands full with the Tigers’ stout defensive front.

Three different Auburn players have notched four sacks — defensive ends Colby Wooden, Derick Hall and Eku Leota – and are the only SEC team to accomplish the feat thus far. The trio is a coach's dream of lengthy edge rushers, with each standing at least 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds.

As a team, Auburn tied for 31st nationally in sacks per game (2.71) and fourth with 7.3 tackles per loss a game.

Conversely, Ole Miss allows 2.29 sacks per game, tied for 72nd nationally.

“They’re really athletic and physical. Their edge guys, they get off the ball quick. They’re going to create some pressure,” James said. “We just have to do our jobs, use our technique.”

It’s been somewhat a revolving door on the Ole Miss offensive line lately, with senior guard Ben Brown and sophomore guard Caleb Warren having missed game action. The tackles spots are secured, though, with James and junior Nick Broeker.

All of the moving parts have led to some increased responsibility from the veterans.

“We help them when we can,” James said. “Every older guy, just do your part to help the younger guys.”

In recent weeks, it has been redshirt freshman guard Cedric Melton and senior guard Jordan Rhodes filling in on the interior for Brown and Warren. Rhodes is a graduate transfer from South Carolina who joined the team in the fall, while Melton is a young player who didn’t see any snaps during the 2020 season.

For Melton, the last few weeks have been somewhat of a baptism by fire.

“I must say, it’s a totally different ballgame than what it was when I played back in high school,” Melton told reporters last week. “They’re so much faster. You have to really know what you’re doing, be quick about it and everything. It’s different. It’s a different beast.”

Kiffin talks Bo Nix

While the Ole Miss offensive line faces a steep challenge in Auburn’s front, the Rebels’ defensive line will have its hands full with junior quarterback Bo Nix.

Over his three years as the Tigers’ quarterback, Nix has had a knack for extending plays long after they should have been deemed dead. Auburn has surrendered just seven sacks as a team this season, and Nix’s niftiness in the pocket and outside of it are big reasons why.

In last year’s game, a 35-28 Auburn victory, Nix completed just under 77 percent of his passes for 238 yards and a touchdown and also ran for 52 yards and a score. He threw for 340 yards against the Rebels in 2019.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin didn’t want to give away much of his defense’s game plan for Nix come Saturday.

“Just tell them exactly what we’re going to do?” Kiffin said with a smile. “I’ll give you coach speak for the first time ever. Basically, when you have people like that, you have to stay in your lanes, you have to push the pocket. You have to keep your eyes on him and not try to speed rush.”