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Florida secondary to be tested by a deep and talented Ole Miss receiving corps
By John Hollis
Published:
There’s something to be said for a gunslinger’s mentality, especially when he has the serious skills and talent around him to back it up.
Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly seemingly has both in abundance these days, and it’s the combination of the two that figures to give Florida all it can handle on Saturday when the third-ranked Rebels (4-0, 2-0 SEC) take the field at The Swamp for the SEC showdown.
It should be the stiffest test yet for a deep and very confident Gators secondary that began the season billing itself as “DBU,” as in Defensive Backs University. They’ve since scuttled such talk after a somewhat slow start to the season, but you can be assured that the bevy of talented Rebels receivers will nonetheless take that as a challenge this weekend.
“It’s going to be a great matchup,” Florida sophomore cornerback Quincy Wilson said during a press conference this week. “We match up well against them. They’ve got the receivers. We’ve got the defensive backs.”
Kelly, the nephew of Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills, is the triggerman for a potent Ole Miss offense that is averaging a staggering 54.8 points per game. Their 543.5 yards of total offense per contest largely comes courtesy of Kelly’s strong right arm to the tune of nearly 345 passing yards per game. Ole Miss leads the SEC in both scoring offense and total offense.
Wide receiver Laquon Treadwell (22 catches for 332 yards, one touchdown) has been Kelly’s favorite target, but the future NFLer is just one of the five Rebels players to already boast at least 10 catches this season.
Fellow receivers Cody Core (14-320, 3 TDs) and Quincy Adeboyejo (10-224, an SEC-best 5 TDs) are both averaging better than 22 yards per reception, while tight end Evan Engram (5-68) has proven himself equally as capable at blocking as he is at pass catching.
“Obviously, they’re very good,” Florida coach Jim McElwain said. “They’re highly rated. They have great players. They’ve done a great job at recruiting and getting some of the top players in the country.”
But the Gators are hardly lacking in talent either, especially in their defensive secondary. All-American cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III heads a strong unit that has only recently begun playing with its full allotment of projected starters because of various injuries and suspensions.
Junior free safety Keanu Neal is coming off an excellent performance in last weekend’s win over Tennessee after registering a team-high 14 tackles and a forced fumble. Strong safety Marcus Maye added 13 more stops and another forced fumble.
Either Wilson or sophomore Jalen Tabor will start at the cornerback spot opposite Hargreaves, but they will all be tested by the tremendous speed of the Rebels receivers and the sophisticated passing game they deploy. Nickelback Brian Poole will also be asked to play a pivotal role.
Hargreaves is healthy again after experiencing back issues against Tennessee last week and figures to spend at least part of the day personally trailing the bigger Treadwell in what figures to be the marquee matchup of the game.
“I feel like Vernon can win that matchup against him because Vernon is Vernon,” Wilson said. “He’s just going to get the job done.”
The Ole Miss receiving corps comes in with a decided size advantage as all of its top five receivers are at least 6-foot-2 inches tall, with three of them going at 6-foot-3. None of the Gators’ primary defensive backs are any taller than 6-foot-1.
“They’ve got big guys who know how to go get the ball,” Wilson said. “We’re just going to have to make plays this weekend.”
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
