Ole Miss’ JJ Pegues talks in regards to the protection’s continued development and the Rebels’ upcoming matchup towards A&M
OXFORD, Miss. — When Pete Golding arrived in Oxford because the Ole Miss defensive coordinator in January, he might have seen his new gamers as form of a jigsaw puzzle. After the Rebels have began the season with a 7-1 document, it appears these items are becoming collectively properly — and one of many key ones is defensive lineman JJ Pegues.
Ole Miss is placing forth a stout defensive effort to this point in 2023. The Rebels are out-gaining their opponents by over 100 yards a sport and outscoring the opposition by 17 factors per sport.
Pegues has seen the stat sheet and is aware of among the causes for the protection getting higher and higher.
“I really feel like we’ve improved a lot. Simply now understanding Coach (Pete) Golding’s philosophy and the way he sees his protection — and I really feel like we have now plenty of expertise,” Pegues defined.
Pegues, himself, is a kind of abilities. This season the Oxford native has accounted for 26 tackles, 13 of them unassisted. He additionally has 5.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and he has damaged up a pair of passes. The protection has continued to enhance all through the primary eight video games this 12 months.
“I really feel like within the first sport versus Mercer, we had been simply attempting to place collectively the items. (There) was plenty of transfers coming in and simply attempting to get to know one another. If we put all of it collectively, which we have now, it’s going to (look) like after we performed Arkansas. We shut down the run sport and the move sport. Simply this previous week towards Vanderbilt, simply doing the small issues and with the ability to talk with Coach Golding.”
JJ Pegues
Pegues talked in regards to the distinction from the primary half of the Rebels’ season to now.
“Simply us locking in and believing the plan that (defensive position) Coach Joyner has given us. Joyner does an ideal job with the move rush sport,” Pegues defined. “Him and Coach Golding, Coach Golding provides him leeway to simply name them, and I really feel like we simply all know who can go. We do completely different personnels and simply attempting to get completely different folks in spots to go towards possibly the weakest o-lineman. I really feel like they do an ideal job with that,” he added.
Pegues additionally believes a 12 months beneath his and a few of his teammates’ belts has helped the Rebels to a Prime 10 rating within the coaches’ ballot.
“We had been all simply new, like final 12 months was my first 12 months coming and you understand simply (quarterback Jaxson) Dart’s first 12 months,” Pegues mentioned. “So it was simply new to us and we had been simply getting used to the system, however I really feel now that we’re right here as leaders we will management the setting…we simply attempt to hold one imaginative and prescient and that’s 1-0 and the following opponent,” Pegues mentioned.
Going 1-0 this week shall be a problem for Ole Miss as Texas A&M involves Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The Aggies are 5-3 on the season, 3-2 in league play, and coming off a 30-17 win over South Carolina.
A&M boasts plenty of explosive expertise and Pegues is aware of his defensive brothers are in for a combat Saturday.
“They obtained plenty of weapons,” Pegues mentioned.
“The O-line is sound from heart to protect, deal with and you understand they obtained the quantity zero (Ainias Smith), the short man Evan Stewart. However like I mentioned, we simply obtained to fret about us and our protection and simply with the ability to hold them one dimensional and never allow them to go round and simply toss the ball round and run the ball.”
JJ Pegues on taking part in A&M’s offense
As for the Aggies’ defensive position? Nicely, former Ole Miss and present A&M defensive coordinator DJ Durkin has his unit ranked No. 1 within the nation in sacks per sport at 4.12, a complete of 33 on the 12 months. However Ole Miss isn’t far behind. The Rebels are ranked No. 4 within the nation in sacks with a median of three.75 per sport, tallying 30 sacks on the season up to now.
There’s no query high quality depth has been a key element of the defensive position’s success this season. Pegues is joined on the road by Cedric Johnson, Stephon Wynn and Jared Ivey. The Rebels are rotating in Isaac Ukwu, Akelo Stone, Jamond Gordon and Zxavian Harris, protecting the unit contemporary and productive. Harris has missed the final two video games for a medical purpose; nevertheless, on Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference, Coach Kiffin indicated he expects Harris to be cleared to play towards the Aggies.
Ole Miss and A&M kick off at 11 a.m. CT Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway. The sport shall be televised on ESPN.
(Characteristic picture credit score: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Steve Barnes
He has been a broadcaster for enviornment soccer and a number of other nationwide match occasions for the Nationwide Junior School Athletic Affiliation in addition to internet hosting numerous exhibits on radio.
A former sports activities info director at Albany (Ga.) State College and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA convention, regional and nationwide occasions, together with serving 5 years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Sequence.
Barnes, a local of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, the place his first journalism trainer was David Kellum. The duo has come a good distance since that point.
He’ll carry a confirmed journalistic monitor document, together with a knack for locating the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Insurgent Stroll.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the seashore as a result of he does have style and a mind.
