Photo By: Evan Farrell
By Billy Watkins
In my 51 years of writing about sports — and other things — I can’t remember a more blunt press conference from a football coach than Pete Golding’s postgame at Florida.
Of course, he was fresh off a 52-28 thrashing at the hands of the Gators where his Ole Miss defense surrendered 302 yards rushing, 498 overall. Most of those yards came too easily.
Former Gator Tim Tebow summed it up perfectly at halftime on the ABC broadcast: “Florida looks like they have something to prove, and Ole Miss looks like they’ve already proved it.” He was referring to the Rebels’ victory over LSU and Lane Kiffin the week before when the defense swarmed to the ball and tackled well — for the most part.
But not on Saturday at The Swamp. Golding used these words to describe his defenders’ effort:
* “A lot of guys trying to ankle bite (tackling)”
* “A lack of courage”
* “You’ve got to go chest to chest with (230-pound running back Jadan Baugh, who gained 142 yards ) whether you like it or not.”
* “I addressed their manhood at halftime.”
* “You better have that burning in your gut in order to go fix something. I think we have guys like that. We don’t have enough guys like that right now.”
* That’s the beautiful thing about this. You get to choose whether you’re going to go all-in and do things right or not. And we get to choose who plays.”
Folks, that was an old-fashioned woodshed moment for everyone to hear. And know this: He wasn’t saying that for the benefit of the media or the fans. He was talking to the players who would read or hear it.
Such public honesty is rare these days. Refreshing. We have talked about how Golding does things his way, and this was one of them: Ask me a question, and I’ll tell you like it is.
If I’m a player and hear that in the dressing room postgame, that’s one thing. But if I hear him shout it to the world, that strikes at another level.
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When Golding was done, it was linebacker Keaton Thomas’ turn at the podium. He led the Rebels in tackles with 11 and leads for the season with 29, which is no surprise. He made 200 tackles — that’s not a rounded off number — the past two seasons at Baylor.
Thomas called the performance “inexcusable.” When Golding addressed the lack of effort at halftime, Thomas said “I think some guys took it and other guys didn’t. I think that showed in the second half.
“I’m going to call guys out and let them know that if you don’t want this, you shouldn’t have come here. This is a league where you’re going to play against the best week in and week out.”
He said some guys “might have thought they arrived” after the LSU game.
He added: “There shouldn’t be any excuses from now on. We’ve played four games. It’s not dipping your toe in the water to check the temperature anymore. We need to dive in and dominate for four quarters.
“This isn’t the end of the year. This is one game, and, to be honest, we needed this.”
New head coach Jon Sumrall, the former Ole Miss assistant, was happy to provide it. He had his Gators at a fever pitch. They now find themselves 4-0 and ranked 8th nationally.
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Since the beatdown Saturday afternoon, I’ve watched the game again twice. For every one positive that I saw from the defense, five negatives showed themselves: Poor tackling, gaping holes at the point of attack, receivers running loose, no pressure on the quarterback, no urgency.
Film Guy, a popular dude who breaks down games each week on YouTube, said while meticulously going through the LSU game that Ole Miss’ front could be one of the best in college football.
Maybe. SEC talent is definitely there. We’ve seen what the holdovers can do — they went all the way to the semifinals of the playoffs a year ago. And many of the players signed out of the portal had video tape to prove their worth.
For Ole Miss to be dead last against the run in the SEC is mind boggling. Obviously, there is a disconnect somewhere, and it’s up to the coaches to figure out what it is.
Did some defenders get paid and now want to coast through the season? That question has to be on the table. But it hasn’t happened before in Oxford, and I can’t imagine that being the case now.
Was it truly a hangover from the win over LSU? At times, Ole Miss’ defensive linemen were tossing around Tigers like couch pillows. They played in a controlled rage the entire evening. I didn’t see anything resembling a rage against Florida.
I hear people say that Golding must simplify his scheme. Why? Players have picked it since he came to Ole Miss in 2023. There is no reason this bunch can’t.
And do you really want to go into an SEC game with a simple defensive system?
Any sort of turnaround has to start with the players, most notably Thomas and defensive linemen Willl Echoles and Kam Franklin. They have to set the standard with their play and demand others to follow. That’s the way it works in most team sports. And the coaches have to say, “Either play SEC football or the guy behind you will get his chance.”
I’m certain that is going on inside the Manning practice facility this week.
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No, the season isn’t over. Ole Miss is 3-1 and ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll.
Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss worked his magic as usual in Gainesville, but he was constantly playing catch-up. Running back Kewan Lacy, who missed the Florida game due to injury, should be back soon.
Ole Miss is off this weekend and next plays at Vanderbilt on Oct. 10. That game appears to be this team’s fork in the road. Who is onboard and who is not?. Decisions need to be made.
As the beloved Chucky Mullins told his teammates before the 1989 Liberty Bowl, “It’s time.”
I’m sure he would say the same to this team.
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That specific defensive alignment only works when the opposing team commits a certain number of penalties. My previous experience showed that the situation changes completely under different pressure conditions.