Penn State Brings 'Most Complete Defense I've Seen' to Peach Bowl, Ole Miss Coach Says
Ole Miss totes the nation's No. 15 offense in average yards and the 18th-best in scoring into Saturday's Peach Bowl date with Penn State. Good numbers, to be sure, but the Rebels will face a Penn State defense that is tops in the nation by many accounts. But after playing a schedule that featured the SEC's top three scoring defenses (Georgia, Alabama and Auburn), Ole Miss offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Charlie Weis Jr. called Penn State “probably the most complete defense” he’s seen.
“I think they're just an extremely well coached, disciplined football team. They play very assignment sound, very minimal bust, very minimal mental errors,” Weis told reporters Thursday in Atlanta. They've got great players at all three levels of the defense. They've got a great D-line, linebackers, secondary players.”
No. 11 Ole Miss had nothing but praise for Penn State's defense, which takes a metaphorical "last ride" Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. A few buzzwords from members of the Ole Miss offense were “wreak havoc” and “always in the right spot” when talking about the Nittany Lions. Penn State’s defense ranks first in the country in sacks (48) and tackles for loss (101) while ranking second in turnovers gained (24).
“They're a great unit, super explosive up front. And like the guys said earlier, they wreak havoc,” quarterback Jaxson Dart said. “I feel confident in our game plan going into it. We've played against really good, my opinion, the best competition all year long. It's not going to be something to where we feel like it's out of the norm or anything like that.”
Tre Harris, Ole Miss' leading receiver, said Penn State compares “pretty well” to the likes of Alabama, Georgia and other SEC teams, especially across the defensive front. Penn State’s run defense has skyrocketed this season, ranking first in the nation with 69.7 yards allowed per game. Rebel running back Quinshon Judkins feels his team will be fine because of their grit, coaching staff and the guys up front.
“They're well disciplined and they're real depth sound,” offensive lineman Victor Curne Jr. said. “So I think just getting to our spots and executing is a big part of the game plan. Tempo is another big part of the game plan.”
Penn State has also gotten two of its top cornerbacks to stay for the Peach Bowl, Kalen King and Daequan Hardy. In response to that, Harris said his mentality is “no matter what DB it is, kill, go dominate, no matter who is in front of me.”
“We know they've got a good secondary back there, but we've got good receivers. We've got good guys with good pass catchers and a good QB that is going to give us the ball on time,” Harris said. “So we'll go out there and play our game, and we're going to bring it to them.”
Ole Miss plans to use an up-tempo style to keep Penn State’s defense on its heels. Co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter noted it, and a bevy of Ole Miss offensive members did, too. The goal is to prevent Penn State from being able to substitute players on and off, keeping those high-ranking defensive linemen tired throughout the afternoon.
“It's all about us at the end of the day is the thing that we talk about,” Weis said. “So utilizing our tempo, playing fast, having success, moving the chains on third down. All those things go together into us having a good game on Saturday.”
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Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59.
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