Ole Miss Scrimmage Report: Third week of spring ended on a high note for the Rebel defense

The third week of spring football ended Saturday (April 9) with a 2 ½ hour scrimmage in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on a sunny, cool day.

The results this week were a bit different from a week ago when the offense had an explosive day. This week, the defense looked crisper and more effective, overall, than the offense.

The Chris Partridge-led defenders were stingy all the way around and caused three turnovers – a fumble and two interceptions.

Meanwhile, the offense did score three touchdowns, but they had to fight for every inch and the passing game was sporadic and that’s being kind.

Sophomore QB Jaxson Dart took the first snaps with the number one offensive unit this week, but he and Luke Altmyer both worked with the ones and twos.

Dart had one of those days a quarterback would like to forget, connecting on just 5 of 16 passes for 54 yards and both interceptions. Altmyer was quite a bit better, but didn’t set the woods on fire himself, going 10-21 for 150 yards and no interceptions. Kinkead Dent threw a TD pass, a 22-yarder to Sellers Shy.

(Disclaimer: Those are not official stats, but if they are off, it’s not by much.)

One big difference may have been what we assume was the scripted offensive plan by the coaches that did not include any sets with tight ends on the first two units, meaning Michael Trigg, who lit the field up last week, and Casey Kelly, who also caught some key passes, never took a snap all day.

Regardless, the defense got the edge on this day and it didn’t seem to be close.

RANDOM NOTES

Defensive End Tavius Robinson was still dressed in black – meaning injury – but he participated in a good bit of full contact scrimmaging and registered one QB sack and two QB hurries coming off the edge. He did not seem hampered by the knee he is still rehabbing.

Defensive End Isaiah Iton also had a good day racking up two QB sacks in a backup role to Cedric Johnson. DE/DT Jamond Gordon also had a sack. DE Jared Ivey and Johnson both had a hurry apiece.

Linebacker Ashanti Cistrunk had a fumble recovery and an interception in the workout and generally was around the ball all day.

Based on today, it looks like Patridge is sticking with the base defense of a 3-3, but he’s calling four-man and five-man fronts as well. As we noted last week, it’s an aggressive style with multiple looks and multiple angles of attack. But the main thing that is easily seen is the enthusiasm and fun the defenders are playing with and having. Whenever any defensive player would make a big play, almost every defender on the sidelines would rush the field and the coaches were just as into it. It was exciting to watch, frankly, and practices usually aren’t. Excellent job by the coaches and players to bring the energy and intensity.

Once again a few players were missing due to injury.

WR Jonathan Mingo, S Isheem Young, S Oris Reese, WR Jalen Knox, WR Jordan Watkins and LB Troy Brown were the most notable MIAs. We also never could locate Trigg or Kelly on the sidelines, but we are not assuming they are injured.

Safety Tysheem Johnson was also very active on the day, knocking down two passes and making several plays against the run. Ditton on Rover Ladariuis Tennison, the transfer from Auburn who continues to impress and had a PBU today.

While the QBs struggled in the passing game, all of them had really good runs with Altmyer having the longest with a 55-yarder. Dart and Dent also had runs that moved the chains. All three show adequate speed and a willingness to tuck the ball and run when nothing is open and protection is about to break down.

Safety Marc Britt had the second pick off Dart when the transfer QB was running the number two offense. Britt cut across the face of a streaking receiver and made the pick on the fly with a 15-yard return. As noted last week, Dart, so far, has had a tendency to try to force some throws and take some chances with his aggressive style. Today, it cost him on two throws and should have on another when he threw a long ball in the vicinity of a cluster of four defenders on two receivers.

The running back situation was different as well with Kentrel Bullock taking most of the number one snaps, Quinshon Judkins getting the action with the twos and Zach Evans having a light day with very few carries with the number two offense. Bullock scored on a short run. Matt Jones and Ulysses Bentley IV had a couple of good runs each with the twos and Bobo Miller scored on a short run with the third team offense. As was written last week, the running back room looks to be in good hands.

CB Markevious Brown got his first action with the one offense and started off with the big pass breakup on a third down. Brown is expected to, at the least, be one of the top four CBs along with Miles Battle and Deantre Prince with the fourth being up for grabs. One candidate for that fourth spot is freshman Davison Igbinosun. Another is Kyndrich Breedlove, a sophomore from Nashville. At this early juncture, it appears Igbinosun may have the inside track.

While K.D. Hill is still the number one nose tackle, transfer J.J. Pegues could probably be called 1-B to Hill’s 1-A. Pegues looks to have more pass rush ability while Hill seems to be more of an anchor in the middle of the DL. On one play, Pegues broke through the line of scrimmage and forced Dent out of the pocket to the wide side of the field and almost ran him down. He showed tight end speed, which is what he played in high school at Oxford.

In the three scrimmages we have seen, Altmyer has not even come close to throwing an interception and only two passes total have been tipped by defenders in three outings, one today and one last week.

WR Dannis Jackson is a returning veteran and, along with Mingo, senior leader of the wideouts and it appears he’s ready to step up after a sporadic career to this point. His hands have been good this spring and he’s caught a few long passes as well. He’s taking on the responsibility of being one of the leaders in the WR room and doing a much better job catching the rock than in the past.

Altmyer had one series where he found Slot J.J. Henry, who showed some good quickness today, for a 20 yard bullet over the middle and then Brandon Buckhaulter for 30 yards streaking down the sidelines. Bralon Brown also caught a couple of passes on the day.

We are working on a two-deep depth chart for tomorrow, but don’t hold us to 100% accuracy. Partridge is running in and out so many players with different looks, it’s hard to get a bead on a perfect depth chart. On offense, we believe there is some, quite a bit actually, experimentation going on so we cannot vouch for its total accuracy either. It’s one of those best-we-can-do deals and a work in progress.