Ole Miss' tackling ability could be the difference at Kentucky
Auburn provided a blueprint for beating Kentucky last Saturday, as the Tigers bottled up the Kentucky running game and forced Terry Wilson into nearly 40 pass attempts — a plan that’s not at the top of the list for the Wildcat offense.
The Tigers knocked off Kentucky, 29-13, and held the Wildcats to 3.6 yards per rush overall and only 4.1 yards per rush on designed runs, a stat bolstered by a 35-yard up-the-middle Kavosiey Smoke scamper.
UK wold like to control the ball and the clock, but Auburn’s strong front seven limited the run game and allowed its secondary to play coverage, forcing Wilson underneath and relying on strong tackling and a lack of playmakers in the Kentucky passing game.
It was an effective strategy, but Ole Miss struggled in the areas Auburn excelled, so can the Rebels force Wilson into that many passes and how do the Rebels try to pressure Wilson schematically? Or Joey Gatewood, if the Auburn transfer takes snaps from Wilson? Gatewood was cleared this week and is a 6-foot-4, 240-pound load but should run a similar system to Wilson.
Florida quarterback Kyle Task carved up Ole Miss’ secondary for 416 yards despite any strategy the Rebels attempted. Ole Miss blitzed Trask on 13 of his 43 dropbacks but none of those turned into a sack and he was hit just once on a blitz when throwing a pass. The Rebels couldn’t get to him with the extra rushers, and he completed nine of 13 passes for 155 yards and three scores.
When Ole Miss didn’t blitz, Trask was 21-of-29 for 261 yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked once and hit another time in that category. The Rebels missed 19 tackles as a team on Saturday. Auburn only missed four tackles against Kentucky. The Tigers’ exemplary tackling allowed Kentucky to only pick up 1.53 yards after contact, on average, while Florida got 5.54 yards after contract against Ole Miss, on average.
Auburn blitzed Wilson 13 times out of 42 dropbacks and he was 6-of-10 on those attempts for 99 yards with a touchdown and an interception. However, whether Wilson was facing pressure or a blitz didn’t seem to matter with his progressions. Even not facing pressure, Wilson averaged only seven yards per attempt compared to 3.4 yards facing pressure.
He often stuck with short routes and dump offs either way. Ten of his 24 completions were thrown behind the line of scrimmage and 21 of his 24 completions were fewer than 10 yards downfield.
Wilson gave wide receiver Josh Ali 12 targets which turned into nine receptions and 98 yards. The next closest Wildcats in targets was DeMarcus Harris with five, and Ali was all over the place, catching four passes behind the line of scrimmage, four passes inside 10 yards and seeing another four targets down the field.
Ole Miss has to account for Wilson’s (or Gatewood’s) legs on designed runs and scrambles. Auburn neutralized that with playing more coverage and talking well. Wilson didn’t pick up a first down on seven designed runs and added only 0.91 yards per rush after contact. Blitzing and failing to get home gives Wilson additional lanes to run through without second-level support.
The Rebels’ tackling may be the most important stat on Saturday. Kentucky isn’t comfortable pushing down the field routinely, but the Wildcats can do damage with short passes if defenders are out of position.
Many of the stats used in this story were provided by PFF College.