Jared Ivey got his first 'thick six' but he is focused on the bigger picture of the Ole Miss defense
Jared Ivey is one of the cornerstones along the Ole Miss defensive line this year and, in the transfer portal era, considered one of the veterans in the locker room despite being two games into his second season in Oxford.
With Tavius Robinson now roaming the field for the Baltimore Ravens on Sundays it is up to Ivey to be one of the key threats on the end for Ole Miss. This past Saturday he was just that for Tulane quarterback Kai Horton.
Ivey had four tackles and a sack, but his biggest contribution in the Rebels 37-20 win in New Orleans was the scoop-and-score following a strip-sack of Horton by Khari Coleman. He took it 20 yards for his first collegiate touchdown of his playing career.
“It was great,” Ivey said. “Call it a thick-six, man. It was a great feeling. I haven’t walked across that solid white line in a long time. Very blessed.”
Getting that ‘thick-six’ is a highlight of Ivey’s and one he will remember but in the midst of the regular season he is focusing more on the continued growth of the overall defense.
A stark contrast in the Ole Miss defense’s performance from the first half against Tulane to the second half. Head coach Lane Kiffin noted in his postgame comments there was a sense of “wasted energy” during the pre-game warmups.
Ivey expounded on that on Monday when talking to the local media.
“Lane put it in a great way this morning during the team meeting, talking about how we warmed up inside (ahead of the Mercer game) and we were using that to our advantage to kind of save some energy,” Ivey said. “Then you get out there and it’s a big environment. First time we’re warming up in front of a big crowd like that.
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“Music’s jumping, guys are screaming and running around and getting jacked. So, maybe just played a part in us coming out a little bit slow. Expelling some energy early on that we could have kept in and started a little quicker. Definitely something we’re holding going into (Georgia Tech).”
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Ole Miss managed to get out of the gate faster to start the second half, dominating Tulane the final two quarters to leave with the win.
This time last year the Rebels were also 2-0 and heading into a game against the Yellow Jackets. There was very little resistance or adversity felt by the offenses of Troy and Central Arkansas prior to the trip to Atlanta.
Ole Miss did not encounter adversity until the eight game of the season last year in a road loss at LSU, marking the first of five losses out of the final six games.
With Georgia Tech coming to Oxford the Rebels defense is coming off overcoming adversity in the second week of the season in a road environment. Something Ivey and other players on that side of the ball acknowledge was needed as conference play looms next weekend.
“I think that’s super valuable to experience early in the season,” Ivey said. “That’s something we didn’t experience last year and then we kind of got hit the mouth there in the back-half and hadn’t really faced adversity from a good team, yet. I think that will speak volumes into our improvement moving forward.”
