Hello HOB. Another rainy day in Lexington this afternoon, but the Cats are outside practicing with the crowd noise and elements again today. It’s defense day for media, so we’ll have DC Brad White and select coaches and players meeting with us to discuss prep for a tough road game at No. 6 Ole Miss. Practice is slated to wrap up around 5:30 ET. Stay tuned for the latest news and notes…
BRAD WHITE Q&A:
* On facing high-powered Ole Miss offense... White says another big challenge. We’ve got a lot of these throughout the year. Talking about combo of focus, execution, and effort again. You have to take it series by series. Playing an 11 am kickoff is tough. Gotta get up ready to rock and roll. Ole Miss numbers are crazy, balanced, weapons all over the place, big O-Line, and a QB who’s playing at a really high level.
* On Ole Miss tempo... Impossible to simulate what we’re going to see from the Rebels, a combination of speed and efficiency. It is what it is. You gotta be able to handle that pace. They're going to give anyone they play issues.
* On Stoops saying it's hard to substitute in this kind of game defensively... You don't want long, extended drives. Gotta get off the field. But even if they have a 10-play drive, it may just last 2 1/2 minutes, so any guy should be able to suck it up and play for 2 1/2 minutes. You just have to be ready to rock and roll.
* Dart is “a different animal” than what they saw last time against Ole Miss. Was a talented, young player in 2022. You can see a lot more confidence now, knows exactly what he wants pre-snap and where he wants to go with the ball. Throws with great ball placement and touch, a WR’s best friend. Can move around, mobile, an OL’s best friend. "I'm sure he's got a lot of friends on that offense." (laughs)
* On Brown and Godfrey… Big opp for them to move up and provide depth at ILB with Rayner possibly redshirting. We're going to be fine.
* Secondary has a lot of pressure on them. If you make a mistake, it can be glaring. Cannot give up big plays over the top. If you're not where you need to be, there's nobody there to fix it. Have to try to create some turnovers and be tough in the red zone. If we can get pressure up front, that can help our guys on the back end. It goes hand in hand.
* Need to create some good positive field position for our offense early in the game. Can’t give them big momentum plays early. That would make it even tougher for our offense. Don't want them to have added pressure. If Ole Miss does hit a big play, you have to shake it off quickly. Big plays on the road can really get that momentum going with the crowd. If we give up a big-play TD, the crowd is electric, then their defense takes the field with an electric crowd behind them. We have to do our part to relieve that.
* Notes that Ole Miss has close to 100 plays over 10 yards. You pull that into your computer (scouting the game) and want to see the big plays. "Oh, this is going to take awhile."
* Ole Miss RB Parrish (7.5 ypc) gets overlooked with the attention their passing game gets. He’s really good, gets downhill, can make guys miss at the second and third level. You can't diminish how good they are in the run game.
* On Soles' development… Twitchy, relentless, violent. Loves contact. Loves football. Sort of a Tasmanian Devil mindset to him. That makes for a great pass-rusher. Calls his pass rush “bloody rushes," lots of effort and strain. Some guys are born with that inate ability.
* Called Lane Kiffin as good an offensive mind as they will face, maybe the best at any level of football. "Feels like we're going against the Super Bowl Rams (Greatest Show on Turf)." Fun challenge but my ulcers may disagree on that. There’s a reason why they are #1 offense in CFB.
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QB BROCK VANDAGRIFF:
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DL DEONE WALKER, DB ZION CHILDRESS, & CB DJ WALLER:
BRAD WHITE Q&A:
* On facing high-powered Ole Miss offense... White says another big challenge. We’ve got a lot of these throughout the year. Talking about combo of focus, execution, and effort again. You have to take it series by series. Playing an 11 am kickoff is tough. Gotta get up ready to rock and roll. Ole Miss numbers are crazy, balanced, weapons all over the place, big O-Line, and a QB who’s playing at a really high level.
* On Ole Miss tempo... Impossible to simulate what we’re going to see from the Rebels, a combination of speed and efficiency. It is what it is. You gotta be able to handle that pace. They're going to give anyone they play issues.
* On Stoops saying it's hard to substitute in this kind of game defensively... You don't want long, extended drives. Gotta get off the field. But even if they have a 10-play drive, it may just last 2 1/2 minutes, so any guy should be able to suck it up and play for 2 1/2 minutes. You just have to be ready to rock and roll.
* Dart is “a different animal” than what they saw last time against Ole Miss. Was a talented, young player in 2022. You can see a lot more confidence now, knows exactly what he wants pre-snap and where he wants to go with the ball. Throws with great ball placement and touch, a WR’s best friend. Can move around, mobile, an OL’s best friend. "I'm sure he's got a lot of friends on that offense." (laughs)
* On Brown and Godfrey… Big opp for them to move up and provide depth at ILB with Rayner possibly redshirting. We're going to be fine.
* Secondary has a lot of pressure on them. If you make a mistake, it can be glaring. Cannot give up big plays over the top. If you're not where you need to be, there's nobody there to fix it. Have to try to create some turnovers and be tough in the red zone. If we can get pressure up front, that can help our guys on the back end. It goes hand in hand.
* Need to create some good positive field position for our offense early in the game. Can’t give them big momentum plays early. That would make it even tougher for our offense. Don't want them to have added pressure. If Ole Miss does hit a big play, you have to shake it off quickly. Big plays on the road can really get that momentum going with the crowd. If we give up a big-play TD, the crowd is electric, then their defense takes the field with an electric crowd behind them. We have to do our part to relieve that.
* Notes that Ole Miss has close to 100 plays over 10 yards. You pull that into your computer (scouting the game) and want to see the big plays. "Oh, this is going to take awhile."
* Ole Miss RB Parrish (7.5 ypc) gets overlooked with the attention their passing game gets. He’s really good, gets downhill, can make guys miss at the second and third level. You can't diminish how good they are in the run game.
* On Soles' development… Twitchy, relentless, violent. Loves contact. Loves football. Sort of a Tasmanian Devil mindset to him. That makes for a great pass-rusher. Calls his pass rush “bloody rushes," lots of effort and strain. Some guys are born with that inate ability.
* Called Lane Kiffin as good an offensive mind as they will face, maybe the best at any level of football. "Feels like we're going against the Super Bowl Rams (Greatest Show on Turf)." Fun challenge but my ulcers may disagree on that. There’s a reason why they are #1 offense in CFB.
******
QB BROCK VANDAGRIFF:
******
DL DEONE WALKER, DB ZION CHILDRESS, & CB DJ WALLER:
