Two answers to the same question, and they do not agree. One is about tempo. The other is about three specific players. Segment one: this defense has died by a thousand cuts for four games. Rush four, drop seven or eight, and every offence in this league will take five yards at a time because you are letting them. The one stretch it looked different was the first half against LSU, when Ole Miss got after Sam Leavitt. Pressure helped the run fits and the secondary too. Send five. Force an early read. The honest risk: five-man pressure against an offence that snaps it inside fifteen seconds is how you give up an explosive, and Vanderbilt runs the G lead on purpose. Segment two: Brad Logan of Talk of Champions gave a completely different answer on this week's show. His words - I think the leaders of that defense need to stand up and take accountability for what happened in Florida. Then he named three: Suntarine Perkins, Will Echoles, Kam Franklin. That is not a list of young players. Perkins is the 2026 Chucky Mullins winner and is tied for fifth in program history with 33.5 tackles for loss per the school's game notes. Echoles was first-team All-SEC last season. Franklin is in the edge group. Logan's point is that none of them has said anything publicly since Gainesville. Scheme or leadership? Tell me in the comments. Locked On Ole Miss Hits - quick takes on the Rebels every weekday. Subscribe and hit the bell. Hotty Toddy. #OleMiss #HottyToddy #RebelNation #SECFootball #OleMissDefense
Two answers to the same question, and they do not agree. One is about tempo. The other is about three specific players.
Segment one: this defense has died by a thousand cuts for four games. Rush four, drop seven or eight, and every offence in this league will take five yards at a time because you are letting them. The one stretch it looked different was the first half against LSU, when Ole Miss got after Sam Leavitt. Pressure helped the run fits and the secondary too. Send five. Force an early read.
The honest risk: five-man pressure against an offence that snaps it inside fifteen seconds is how you give up an explosive, and Vanderbilt runs the G lead on purpose.
Segment two: Brad Logan of Talk of Champions gave a completely different answer on this week's show. His words - I think the leaders of that defense need to stand up and take accountability for what happened in Florida. Then he named three: Suntarine Perkins, Will Echoles, Kam Franklin.
That is not a list of young players. Perkins is the 2026 Chucky Mullins winner and is tied for fifth in program history with 33.5 tackles for loss per the school's game notes. Echoles was first-team All-SEC last season. Franklin is in the edge group. Logan's point is that none of them has said anything publicly since Gainesville.
Scheme or leadership? Tell me in the comments.
Locked On Ole Miss Hits - quick takes on the Rebels every weekday. Subscribe and hit the bell. Hotty Toddy.
#OleMiss #HottyToddy #RebelNation #SECFootball #OleMissDefense