Ole Miss linebacker Jaden Yates has been named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week after a strong showing in the Rebels’ 45-10 blowout of Tulane.
Yates, a Marshall transfer, had a team-leading 11 tackles and assisted on a drop-down for a loss. His efforts helped Ole Miss hold Tulane to a 33-year low in points scored in a game against the Rebels in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Altogether, Pete Golding’s defense held Jon Sumrall’s Greenwave to just 282 yards of offense, including a career-low 56 passing yards for quarterback Jake Retzlaff. The Rebels also limited a Tulane ground attack that had averaged 222 yards per game through its first three performances to 178 yards and no scores.
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Yates, after the game, told the media that Golding held a meeting with the players on his side of the ball to discuss what went wrong against Arkansas — a game in which Ole Miss gave up 526 total yards of offense and five touchdowns. The words uttered in that meeting appeared to have gotten through to the unit, as the defense swarmed against Tulane.
“If you look at the tape from last week, we shot ourselves in the foot a lot. We had a lot of miscues communication-wise,” Yates said, adding that he took accountability for his role in the defensive breakdowns in the prior outing. “Maybe you can say they’re growing pains, for better or for worse … I like our guys over everybody else.”
Ole Miss, which came in at No. 13 in the latest AP top 25, will have an opportunity to put the college football world on notice this Saturday when No. 4 LSU rolls into Oxford. The rivalry battle between the Rebels and Tigers will kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT. ABC and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations will broadcast the game.
