Explosive plays were key in Ole Miss' win over Kentucky.
Kentucky knew going into Saturday's matchup with #20 Ole Miss that they feed off of explosive plays and that's exactly what Lane Kiffin's offense did. Early, though, Kentucky's defense did a good job preventing them, really making quarterback Austin Simmons uncomfortable.
But, the Rebels offense started clicking in the second quarter to get out of a 10-point deficit, where they then went into halftime up 17-13. Those chunk, explosive plays became the reason Ole Miss was able to pull off the close win, getting those plays when it mattered. When looking at the stats, it's clear how many chunk plays Ole Miss was able to get off, as multiple players were featured in those. Running back Kyren Lacy's longest rush was a 33-yard rush, which helped put the game away for the Rebels with just a couple of minutes left in the fourth. Then, in the passing game, Harrison Wallace lll was the start of getting Ole Miss' offense going, as he had a 55-yard catch to begin the second quarter. From there, the Rebels were able to find the explosive plays in the most crucial moments throughout the game. As good as Kentucky's defense was at getting pressure on Austin Simmons, especially early, Mark Stoops knows how much those explosive plays were the difference in the game. "You know that going in and playing them, that they thrive off of explosives and I really think we did a really good job for the majority of plays.But, you know, that's kind of who they are." Stoops did not the exact play mentioned earlier, the 55-yard pass from Simmons on 4th and 1 to start the second quarter, saying it "really ticks us off, because we worked it. And you could have a man on a man there. We covered the flat perfect, there's no excuse. We got covered with two people. We were just off, you know. And that's a huge play right there." Speaking off defense, Stoops talked about the corners of the defense, saying that has been a real weakness so far this season and it showed Saturday. "If you're talking the corners on the perimeter, it hasn't been good to me," Stoops said. "They've been too soft. I mean, it's a double edged sword. They get up tight. They did get behind us a couple times. So, you know, I think the corner position has stood out to me that being below average at times here this year, both in the first game and in this second game. Our safeties and all that have generally been good, we did lose leverage late in the four-minute drill with some of our guys, and that's inexcusable as well." Kentucky doesn't just have a lot of things on offense to iron out. The defense has some work to do, too.
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