Ole Miss lineman Jalen Cunningham adjusting back to offense
Jalen Cunningham is suddenly the utility man in the trenches for Ole Miss.
Moving to the defensive line during fall camp, Cunningham saw his number called to return to the offensive side of the ball against Liberty, filling the whole left by Ben Brown, who suffered a season-ending injury (torn bicep) earlier this year.
Cunningham found out the Monday of Liberty week he would be transitioning from defense to offense. But moving over to the other side of the ball did not stress Cunningham.
He has previous experience playing on offense.
“It’s been a tough process, but I’m capable of playing on both sides of the ball,” Cunningham said. “I know both sides of the ball very well. It wasn’t that hard. I hadn’t started here at Ole Miss on the offensive line. So, it was a tough challenge, but I’m just trying to keep working at it.”
The mentality is different for Cunningham.
He’s been focused on getting to the ball all season. Now, though, he must realign that focus to protecting the football.
“When I’m on defense, my whole mindset is to just attack offensive lineman, “ Cunningham said. “On offense, I’m still attacking, but I’ve got to be focused on my steps and all my foot placement being right so I can get in the right position. On defense, I’m just coming off the ball.”
Cunningham redshirted in 2018. He played in 10 games at offensive guard a year later. Last season, he primarily worked on the field goal unit and saw limited time as a reserve right guard.
Now in his second game as the starter on the offensive line, Cunningham is tasked with slowing down a dominant Texas A&M defensive front. The Aggie defense has recorded 28 sacks through nine games and also hurried the quarterback 28 times.
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“They’re a very versatile group. Like, the whole front seven,” Cunningham said. “We’ve just got to be on our Ps and Qs. Get blocking assignments and maintain the dudes in the middle and edge protect on the outside.”
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was not thrilled with his offensive line’s performance as a whole against Liberty.
However, Kiffin noted losing a starter in Brown does lead to an adjustment period.
Despite the 70-yard touchdown run by Jerrion Ealy on the second play of the game, the Rebels did not have another explosive run the rest of the game.
“You know, losing Ben Brown has been a major hit for us,” Kiffin said on Monday. “He was a very smart player who helped the center who is brand new.
“Jalen Cunningham went in and did some good things, and like you probably would expect, a little inconsistent having just moved back over. We need to get better all around, especially with our inside players.”
No. 12 Ole Miss (7-2, 3-2 SEC) hosts No. 11 Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2) on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.
