Ole Miss LB Ashanti Cistrunk is not a starter, but he is a producer and playmaker
Ole Miss senior linebacker Ashanti Cistrunk isn’t a starter on the Rebel defense but his stats tell a different story.
As was the case last year, when Cistrunk wasn’t a starter then either, he’s one of the leading producers on that side of the ball for Ole Miss.
This year, through 10 games, Cistrunk is the third-leading tackler on the team with 52 stops. That’s only 1 behind starting Safety John Saunders Jr who is in second and well ahead of another starting safety in Daijahn Anthony, who has 39 tackles and is in fourth place.
Besides tackles, Ashanti has three tackles for loss, 2.5 quarterback sacks, one interception with a 28-yard return and a quarterback hurry.
We realize those aren’t mind-boggling numbers for the most part, but when you are playing part time, as Cistrunk is, his numbers are very, very impressive.
Cistrunk has 4 letters in his career, which he recently called a long journey.
“From my freshman year until now has been a long journey,” he smiled. “It was a big jump from high school to college and then we had a coaching change and I have been with four different defensive coordinators, so it’s been a lot.”
A lot indeed.
Think about this – Cistrunk has had to learn – for all intents and purposes – 4 defensive systems in his time at Ole Miss, yet he has come out on the other side as a major contributor through it all and has been loyal to Ole Miss in a day and age of the transfer portal and not a lot of loyalty.
The Rebel defense has been a mixed bag this year. In some games, pretty good. In other games, namely LSU, Texas A&M and last Saturday against Georgia, not good at all.
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Ashanti feels that leaves a lot of meat on the bone to eat and a lot to clean up in the film room as the Ole Miss’ next two games will be played in a matter of five days with the annual Thanksgiving match with Mississippi State immediately after the ULM game this weekend.
“We definitely have things to clean up and get ready for the next two games. We did a lot of things wrong against Georgia and that’s not the impression we want to leave of the defense this season,” he explained. “It’s hard watching that tape because we can see where we messed up was so simple and shouldn’t have happened.
“Simple mistakes are the hardest to watch, but in the end we just have to fix it and get better and put those mistakes behind us.”
Cistrunk is not overlooking the next game, but when pressed he sure likes talking about playing against Mississippi State. You see, the 6-1 230-pounder is from Louisville, just down the road from Starkville.
“Man, I love playing against them,” he said. “Where I am from, you have to love the rivalry.”
In the middle of the action this Saturday and Thanksgiving you wont see Ashanti Citrunk’s number 36 start the game if things hold like they have all year, but at the end of the day, you will see No. 36 high on the stat sheet.
Producing as always. It’s just what he does.
