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Locked On Ole Miss - Daily podcast on Ole Miss Rebels Football, Basketball & Baseball

Ole Miss' Strong Defensive Line: Key to Victory Over Wake Forest? | Kenton Gibbs Joins | Ole Miss Rebels Podcast

Welcome to the latest episode of Locked on Ole Miss, hosted by Steven Willis! Get ready for an action-packed preview of the Ole Miss vs. Wake Forest showdown, set for Saturday at 5:30 CT in Winston-Salem, NC. With Ole Miss favored by 23.5 points and an over/under at 63.5, this game promises excitement despite potential weather challenges.

🏈 Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart is on fire with an 87% completion rate and 30 consecutive completions. Can he maintain this stellar performance in his third year?

🔥 Wake Forest's unique "long mesh" RPO system will test Ole Miss's defense. How will the Rebels handle the timing and angles of this unconventional offense?

🌟 Key players to watch include Wake Forest's WRs Donovan Green and Taylor Morin, and defensive linemen Pointer, Gain, and Zach Hill. On the Ole Miss side, a strong defensive line and elite wide receivers are poised to exploit Wake Forest's weaknesses.

🔮 Score predictions are in: Steven Willis predicts Ole Miss 41, Wake Forest 10, while our guest foresees a 45-21 victory for the Rebels. Will the weather play a spoiler, or will Ole Miss dominate as expected?

Don't miss out on this comprehensive breakdown and analysis. Subscribe, like, and share to stay updated with all things Ole Miss sports!

Keywords: Ole Miss Rebels, Jaxson Dart, Wake Forest, RPO system, Donovan Green, Taylor Morin, Pointer, Gain, Zach Hill, Steven Willis, Locked on Ole Miss, Ole Miss football, SEC football, college football predictions.

Duration:
35m
Broadcast on:
12 Sep 2024
Audio Format:
mp3

Welcome to the latest episode of Locked on Ole Miss, hosted by Steven Willis! Get ready for an action-packed preview of the Ole Miss vs. Wake Forest showdown, set for Saturday at 5:30 CT in Winston-Salem, NC. With Ole Miss favored by 23.5 points and an over/under at 63.5, this game promises excitement despite potential weather challenges.

🏈 Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart is on fire with an 87% completion rate and 30 consecutive completions. Can he maintain this stellar performance in his third year?

🔥 Wake Forest's unique "long mesh" RPO system will test Ole Miss's defense. How will the Rebels handle the timing and angles of this unconventional offense?

🌟 Key players to watch include Wake Forest's WRs Donovan Green and Taylor Morin, and defensive linemen Pointer, Gain, and Zach Hill. On the Ole Miss side, a strong defensive line and elite wide receivers are poised to exploit Wake Forest's weaknesses.

🔮 Score predictions are in: Steven Willis predicts Ole Miss 41, Wake Forest 10, while our guest foresees a 45-21 victory for the Rebels. Will the weather play a spoiler, or will Ole Miss dominate as expected?

Don't miss out on this comprehensive breakdown and analysis. Subscribe, like, and share to stay updated with all things Ole Miss sports!

Keywords: Ole Miss Rebels, Jaxson Dart, Wake Forest, RPO system, Donovan Green, Taylor Morin, Pointer, Gain, Zach Hill, Steven Willis, Locked on Ole Miss, Ole Miss football, SEC football, college football predictions.

0:00 Intro

1:08 Wake Forest's Challenges in the ACC

11:22 Wake Forest's Defensive Struggles Against Ole Miss

19:00 Handling Ole Miss Defense

20:55 Wake Forest's Offensive Strategy and Defensive Countermeasures

22:25 Wake Forest's Health Status Compared to Last Year

25:28 Donovan Green and Taylor Morin's Potential

Ole Miss football, Wake Forest football, Jaxson Dart, Hank Bachmeier, Lane Kiffin, Dave Clawson, SEC vs ACC, college football, Winston-Salem, Demon Deacons, Rebels, quarterback performance, defensive line, wide receivers, weather impact, long mesh offense, RPO, transfer portal, FanDuel, NFL Sunday Ticket, Pete Golding, Donovan Green, Taylor Morin, offensive line, defensive secondary

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[MUSIC PLAYING] It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Five-hour energy shots give you the feeling of alertness and energy you need to get in the zone and get things done. With zero sugar, a convenient portable size, and coming in several flavors like watermelon, tropical burst, or my personal favorite grape, it's exactly what you need to get through the day. Head to 5hourenergy.com, the set number 5hourenergy.com, and use our code locked on CFB to receive 20% off your order. This offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions. The code is not good on subscription orders. Go to 5hourenergy.com today. Ole Miss is going to overcome Wake Forest and potentially the weather for their playoff dreams. This is the Lockdown Ole Miss Podcast. [MUSIC PLAYING] You are locked on Ole Miss, your daily podcast on the Ole Miss Rebels. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day. Welcome to today's Lockdown Ole Miss Podcast. I'm your host, Stephen Willis, a 10-year veteran member of the National Media, and of course, an Ole Miss staff member as well, formally. On today's episode, we're gearing up for Ole Miss's big matchup against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and we have special Know Your Enemy guests. Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown ACC is going to be joining the show. We're breaking down all the main storylines. The players to watch on both sides, and of course, we'll give you our predictions for the game. You will not want to miss it. And don't forget to check out Chris Gordy of Lockdown SEC, or Zack Blackerby from Lockdown Auburn, the grandson of Carol Blackerby, by the way, the most famous Wake Forest football player of all time. Seriously, not seriously, Zack is the goat in the Lockdown Network, and I just wanted to throw that in there as well. You know, we're free and available in all the podcast apps and on YouTube. Thank you for making Lockdown Ole Miss your first. Listen every day, and a special hello to the insiders and every dayers who make these show what it is. Now, through September 22, all FanDool customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FanDool.com to get started. So Ole Miss versus Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Saturday at 5.30 Central Time, right in between a very special Dawson's Creek, and the season premiere of Arrow, you can catch it on the CW. It should be a pretty interesting game. Ole Miss is actually stepping up in competition. I talked to Dalton Washerman from PFF just last night. He really liked Hank Bockmire. But he did mention that there was nobody else on that offense that is grading up above 75. And when you've played North Carolina A&T and a Virginia team that is not particularly good, that could best be problematic. And when you throw in the weather, which has a potential to be, let's say, less than good, the nighttime forecast is a 50% chance of rain that has not changed since last night. Although the wind percentages have gone up because it was at about five miles an hour, now they're projecting nine miles per hour. And that's coming down from the day time at 12 miles an hour, but the chance of rain isn't quite there. It looks like that as the course of the day, it's kind of drifting to where it's getting to Winston-Salem later and later. I figure by kickoff, you might be looking at what the daytime forecast is, and maybe it could be clear because it's a little bit slower getting there. But as it sits right now, it's looking for a little bit of wind and a little bit of rain, which is going to be problematic for the quarterbacks, Jackson, Darden, Hank Bockmire. But it'll be problematic for the special teams, it'll be problematic for spots, the wide receivers. The weather elements in this game are going to play a factor. We'll just have to see exactly how that goes, but it's going to play a factor. Anyway, without further ado, we're going to take you into Thunderdome. We are breaking out Thunderdome for the first time this season, Kenton Gibbs from lockdown ACC. Here we go, let's go. We are back in Thunderdome for the first time this year. Kenton Gibbs from lockdown ACC is nice enough to join us because there's not a lockdown wait for us, but I'm sure they're working on that at the moment. But Kenton Gibbs, man, how are you doing, buddy? - You know, I'm always great to see, you know. Anytime us two Tigers fans can get together and talk some ball, you know, it's great. By the way, we're talking about the Detroit Tigers, okay? We're not talking about Clemson and LSU. We talk about the Detroit Tigers. We talk about some Diamond right now. But in here, I'm always good to see you, Steven. I'm always excited, man. And I'll tell you what, Ole Miss has what a squad this year, what a squad, what a bunch of transfers, what a bunch of recruits you all have. This should be a special year. And I am, again, always great to see you, brother, always. - Well, I appreciate that very much. It's always good to have you back on the show. And being an SEC guy and you being an ACC guy, almost need one of these ACC schools that don't have a broadcaster to have you on the show. So I do appreciate that a whole bunch. You know, we had Dalton Wasserman from PFF on my show last night. And we were talking about Jackson Dart and his 87% completion percentage through two games. His 30 pass is completed in a row. And honestly, his year is going along better than even the most homerish of Ole Miss fans can think of because I'm gonna tell you something right now, Ken. Auburn could not complete 10 passes in a row against air. 30 passes against the defense. That's nothing to sneeze at. I don't care if it is firm, and I don't care if it isn't middle MTSU. - Well, I mean, completing passes against MTSU shouldn't be seen as that ease of an accomplishment because didn't they beat a couple of power for teams last year? Miami being one of them. So, you know. - They scared Missouri. - Yeah. - Okay, they scared Missouri beat Miami. But that's what I mean, right? That's a legitimate program. Like, you say what you want about the guys, I believe it's Murphy'sboro, Tennessee. You say what you want about the guys from Murphy'sboro. They play some ball. They play the Blue Riders play some ball. So, you know, to see Jackson Dart looked the way that he looked and granted, Middle Tennessee state's never been over their defense. That's never been the name. We get that. But that is, you know, that's still a legitimate program. And I'll tell you the thing about Jackson Dart that I think and him and a Lane Kevin offense that I think is so interesting. You can tell not only is he fully comfortable, the receivers are fully comfortable. Everybody is setting in to the philosophy, to the scheme, to the ins and outs to the, hey, I need to sit this route down right here. No, I need to push this thing with pace before I said, you know, all that type of stuff. So, I mean, objectively speaking, it is amazing to see that type of, you know, accuracy. And again, that sink with the receivers. - You know, I think you're going to agree with me on this because you were on Twitter a little bit talking about 'cause Grace and McCall and NC State's going through some stuff right now. - Yeah. - But year one quarterbacks have the transfer portal, rentals, they're horrible ideas. Just don't do it because there's too much of them to pick up too much of a relationship to build. You need somebody that's been in the system. I'm not saying that you need to go find a high school quarterback, but Jackson Dart in 2022 was not the guy that Jackson Dart is in 2024. - Absolutely, absolutely. And when you talk about that, you know, to me, I don't care if it's high school or two year, three year guy, whatever it is, you need to have guys for multiple years. And Jackson Dart, I believe is a prime example of it. Because not only are you looking at a guy who has grown in his understanding of the system of the scheme of the, okay, we want to hit this at this point and this is how we see this. He also just looks more confident. He looks more sure of himself in his decision making. There's these moments where quarterbacks like to burp the baby a little bit. Oh man, am I sure that I'm, I don't see those from Jackson. Hey, granted, you can say it's through two games against lesser opponents or whatever. But I have, I'm telling you, as somebody who is seeing back quarterback play, I have seen people burp the baby against Western Caroline. Okay, so I'm telling you right now, I think the Jackson Dart, you know, and yeah, I believe this is what, you're three at Ole Miss for him. You're three, he is, he looks fully confident. He looks fully comfortable. And y'all have the talent around him to do something really special issue. - Yeah, and the one thing that is a theory that's kind of going through my head right now through two weeks, it hasn't been fully formed, but it's just a theory at this point. I think Jackson Dart being year three, but also helmet communication. I don't know what they're saying, but I think Lane Kiffin is using that and they figured out a way to use that to their advantage because Jackson Dart in his whole career had five games over 70% completion percentage. In two games, he's done both of them and has an 87% completion percentage. Year three is a big thing, but I do think this technology thing has a role to play as well. - Oh, absolutely. Lane Kiffin is an NFL guy now. Let's be very honest about that. Lane Kiffin has coached all over the place, including in the league, where helmet communication is the standard. So while he has been a guy who's adapted his game to work out for college, work out for NFL, work out for whatever, that communication is something that, some of these college coaches are having to figure it out for the first time because they're like, we've never used it, we've never done it. This is a very new stimuli for us. How do we react to it? As opposed to Lane, who's like, oh yeah, been there, done that. This is all that. Hey, this is how we're gonna execute this. This is how we're gonna call it. And this is what you're gonna hear. This is what you need to be leery of and all that type of stuff. - I'm sorry. Whatever you were just doing that, you said it like coach 30, whatever you're doing, we never did. (laughing) That's all I could think of. That was pretty good. All right, so let's turn the page a little bit because this is the Know Your Enemy episode and we're gonna talk about Wake Forest a little bit. First question, does Wake Forest have a real chance? - So I would love to say yes. I would love to say, oh man, there's a shot here and all that. I would be shocked if this game was within two touchdowns. I honestly would be shocked because Wake Forest has shown some deficiencies defensively that I'm not sure they'll be able to keep up with Ole Miss offensively, but here's the other part. I think Daman, they're running back. He's a really, really good player. He's a special guy, but when I look at that offensive line and in tandem with him and I look at the defense that they're gonna be playing against with Ole Miss with some of the best transfers, some of the best transfers rather, and the nation coming in, the detackle from Texas A&M is the first one that comes to mind. Superstar, stunt, that, he's watching, watching his day brings me joy. 'Cause he legitimately, I heard that he played with bad leverage sometimes and that his hand placement wasn't necessarily where he need to be all the time. And I watched this film and I said, oh, I see. I get it. I get why he gets lazy sometimes because when he's on it, technique what, you cannot stop that. He is as unstoppable of a force as there is in the middle of a college football defense. And so I go forward from there and I say, will Clayborn be able to run against him? I doubt it. I, I, I lead doubt it. Will Hank Brock and Meyer be able to find enough time? That's another very, very tough go for them. And a secondary at Ole Miss, which at times in the past has been very rightfully maligned. They seem to have figured it out on the back end as well. So I, I look at this team and I say to myself, Wake Forest has a lot of holes that we saw come out down the stretch against Tony Calendre and UVA. But I will say this, this game for Ole Miss is not about the opponent. It's about Ole Miss. And I know that we're in the Know Your Enemy segment. So I need to tell you about how Hank Brock, Meyer, has been flinging the ball around for forever. First at Louisiana Tech being their starter for a few years and being in that offense where you know what Louisiana Tech is going to do. And now being in that long mesh office where pretty much every play virtually is an RPO and that long mesh that is so signature today, Claus and, and Wake Forest, it gives teams trouble regardless of who is in the backfield. Regardless of who is on the line of scrimmage, it's always going to give teams trouble. But again, I just think that there's too big of a talent discrepancy here for there to be a serious, you know, kind of threat to Ole Miss in this one. But again, that Wake Forest defense, they're opportunistic, they get after it. And if you make some bad reads, bad passes, they'll be there. But again, I've seen Jackson Dart be so spot on. It's tough to imagine the world with that at. So we've got the intro in. We're going to drill down on this just a little bit more with Kenton about players to watch and story lines from the game. We'll talk about that next. Looking for an easy way to stay on top of your health and wellness goals? Factor is here to help you. With factors, no prep, no mess meals, you can fuel your body with chef crafted, dietitian-approved dishes that fit your lifestyle, whether you're aiming for calorie smart, protein plus or keto options. 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Visit fanDuel.com/lockedon to download America's number one sports book today. (dramatic music) College football is back this weekend. It's not too late to catch up on all the action before it kicks off tonight. The SEC, the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, these squad shows are going to be airing tonight. You can get it all the information from lock-on stable of college football experts by subscribing to the lock-on college football podcast. Who has the chance to make the playoffs? Which teams will cause the most playoff chaos in their conference. Everything you need to know all in one place, be sure to follow and subscribe to all the lock-on college football podcast, part of the lock-on podcast network, your team every day. Now back to Thunderdome. All right, we're back with Ken Gibbs back in Thunderdome talking about Ole Miss and Wake Forest. You called it a long mesh, which is true because they hold the ball in the belly of the running back for a long time. I've heard it called a short mesh and that's what I've referred to all week because of where it is, ends up being the mesh point behind the center because of them riding it up. But we both mean essentially the same thing and it is a completely unique thing. I compare it to a service academy type deal to where you have a week to get prepared and it can be problematic because the angles are just a little bit different. - Not only is the angle different, the timing is different. Even if you get the angle down, you still have to master the timing. Even if you say, okay, I need to be, I need to get to the tackles hip, right? So right now we're gonna talk some inside baseball. So Ole Miss fans, get ready to have your football like you expanded a little bit. There's a thing called Q technique. It basically means that the defensive end that's being read, he gets as close to the tackles hip as possible without giving up outside contained to the quarterback, right? Now, in most read options, that timing is very similar for most teams. It's very like a one, two, okay, he's made a decision and it can be tough as a defensive lineman to stay in that pocket, stay in that hip, stay in that, okay, I'm moving down the line, I'm at the tackles hip, but I don't wanna go too far because if I come down too far, all of a sudden, Jack's dog's pulling it and running. As a defensive back, how do you stay in there to say, I need to play my assignment. Yes, I know I have a run fit potentially, but it's more important for me to be here on the back end to take away this glance route. It's more important for me to be on the back end to take away a potential goal ball on the outside, which they throw goals out of RPLs, which is amazing. I love to see it, Ole Miss does it as well. It's one of those things that I just, it brings the joy to my heart because it stresses out defenses in a way that's like, hmm, who thought of that? But very seriously, they do that at a very high flip and we saw it to start this season off. So, you know, you look at this game and you say to yourself, it shouldn't be that hard on paper. But then, like you said, you have to deal with that deficit timing where the average zone read is one, two, there's can be one, two, three, post. It could be one, two, three, I'm a bullet. It could be, you know, I've seen that mess sometimes run right into the centers behind before the quarterback pulls it. So, it's not just the angles, but it's also the timing. And when you disrupt those two things defensively, we don't think about timing in terms of defense, but that's what can get a Nolan off of his spot. That's what can get your DBs to be a little undisciplined and look like some of those old missed secondaries of old, that long, that holding that, I've got to be where my feet are supposed to be for a while and not take the cheats. - You know, if you're peak-golding and you're old Mrs. Defense, how do you handle that long or short mesh, whatever you wanna call it? - Yeah, so I handle it the same way that you would handle a service academy. And I know that that sounds weird, but it's the same thing. Everybody has to be where you're supposed to be. As much as we talk about the discrepancy and talent between these two teams, the place that will get tested the most is old Mrs. Secondary. Donald and Green, Taylor Marin, those are two. I know a lot of people are on Marin right now about that fumbling all that against UVA. I am telling you right now that young man is gonna get it back together. It seems like he's been playing a college football for forever in the day. I mean, it seems like it's true freshman. I had a strong hairline. But that is a young man that he's gonna get it together. He's gonna get better. And, you know, Donald and Green is a freak athlete as well. That secondary is going to be tested, not just because of receivers who can play with you and who can do it at the top end. You're gonna be tested on your discipline. You're gonna be tested on how well can I be where I'm supposed to be? How well can my eye discipline carry me to where I'm supposed to be? So that I'm not abandoning my assignment to go do something that it's nice if you make that play. But this play is where I need to be. You know, so I honestly, if I'm saying, what is the, how do I defend this offense? I would say, tell everybody, listen, we are slow playing everything. Show up and be where you're supposed to be. Don't worry about nobody else's gap. Don't worry about anybody else's assignment and covers. Don't worry about anything other than your keys and your rules. - And one of the things that I talked about earlier in the week on my show is, this is an interior defensive line type of game. If they're going to be riding that running back up towards the line of scrimmage, you obviously want to push those guards back. - Absolutely. One of the keys to beating Wake Forest is that eliminating that ability to ride it very long. I want you to think about this for a second, right? Do a three second count in your head and now imagine a center getting blasted back at about one. What does that look like? You see what I'm saying? Imagine that three second count off in your head and now all of a sudden you're showing the fact that your senior leader, who I believe was a fifth year guy last year, a center is now going. You're having to replace them with a fairly younger player and you're looking at a situation where this guy hasn't played as much football at center as our last guy has. If you think about that, you're absolutely right at that standpoint of it's going to be about the interior of the defensive line because again, Wake Forest offense is going to make you be disciplined. But one thing that frees you up a little bit to be a little bit undisciplined perhaps in moments is a defensive front that is absolutely relentless. That is absolutely in a quarterback space in the running back space, reestablishing the line of scrimmage to where normally Wake Forest running backs are as patient as that mesh is. So even if they have the ball, they get that little lay beyond bell thing going where they kind of just, they'll sit behind the line, they'll look for a hole, they'll try to find something, make that time shorter. Make that time that they have to do that much shorter and you do that by creating push through the middle of that offense. - So Wake Forest and Health was, how healthy are they at the moment? - Yeah, so they're compared to last year. They are extremely healthy because I know coming into the season they had their quarterback, I don't know what type of sickness or ailment it was, but their starting quarterback was out, it wasn't Brock and Meyer, it was the incumbent who was the backup for Sam Hartman the year before. But last year they had that going, green was out with the torn ACL, all that type of stuff. This team is extremely healthy in comparison with last year. And so you're looking at a situation where it shouldn't be, it shouldn't be a thought or doubt for Wake Forest in terms of like, hey, are we gonna have our full compliment of our best starters out there? I really and truly don't see too much on their injury report to imply to me at least, hey, they're gonna be down a good chunk of, how do I put this, of impact players? I wanna say that all of their impact players are gonna be in tow for this game. There are a few guys that are battling some nagging injuries, but nothing too serious here. - All right, when we come back, we're gonna find three players to watch for Wake Forest for people to keep an eye on and we will get predictions and talk about the outcome of this game and probably what you need to look for. So stick around for that. You know, when you're hiring for your small business, you wanna make sure finding the right people for the job, professionals who can make your business and take your business to the next level. That's why I'm excited to share about how LinkedIn Jobs, how they can help you out finding those quality candidates faster and the best part is it's free. I've personally used LinkedIn Jobs when looking to fill roles. And I can tell you, it makes a world of difference. The platform helps you reach people. You might not be even looking for a job and you can't find those folks on other job boards. 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Discover automatically doubles the cashback you've earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with cashback match. That means with Discover, you could turn $150 cashback to $300. That's right, you could put it towards some memorabilia that you've had your eye on, or treat yourself to a premium sports network. You earn and discover doubles. See terms at discover.com/creditcard. All right, we're back in Thunderdome, Ken Gibb from Locked On ACC in the house, and we are going to start wrapping this up, giving our final thoughts on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Ken, give me three players from Wake Forest and Ole Miss fans need to be paying attention to. - I mean, I think that this thing is gonna be very simple, and I hate to be this guy that says like, "Oh, the obvious names are the ones you should be watching out for." But damn it, the obvious names are the ones that you should be looking out for. Donovan Green is obviously gonna be one of those guys that you have to make sure you're keeping track of. Taylor Marin is another. Those two are going to be a special pass-catching duo throughout the season. Hopefully they can be special enough to get Wake Forest to some pretty good wins and at least be competitive in this game, but I'll tell you, on the defensive line of this group, I really and truly look at that defensive line and say to myself, "How good can they be? This game will tell you." You look at a guy like Pointer who's had a very good season pass rushing so far, but he's a backup for a reason to a certain extent. You look at Bryce Ganias and Zach, I don't want to pronounce that name wrong, but Zach Hill is another guy that you're gonna be looking at and saying, "Hey, this is a group to watch because they have objectively shown that they can be good at making quarterbacks really, really uncomfortable." And I'll tell you what, while Jackson Dart has been accurate, how many times would you say he's had to move off his spot so far this season, Steve? - Maybe once or twice. - So every quarterback looks a little, looks real good when you get to kind of stand back there - He has a good way in 707 lately. Yeah, I mean, that's what he's doing. - And that's what I'm saying. Everybody can look good when you're having time to sit back there, review your auto insurance, access, call your accountant, talk about what NIL deals are coming in, then deliver the ball, right? Everybody looks good when they're doing that, but that defensive front, again, from Pointer to Gaines to Zach Hill, you're looking at a bunch of guys who could absolutely cause problems if they are able to get around that oldness offensive line. - All right, let's flip side it a little bit. Give me a couple position groups and ways that Ole Miss looks to exploit against Wake Forest. - Yeah, so objectively speaking, that is an offensive line group for Wake Forest that, you know, I mean, late in the game against UVA, if they can generate a push, if they can run the ball, guess what happens? They win, they win, they can milk the glove. You're up 14 points now, or 13 points now, you're up 13 points, you need to be able to kind of take some of the era, and it's a shame that even as long as that mesh is, it can't extend your drives if you just cannot create push. I think that that may be the biggest discrepancy that Ole Miss has over Wake Forest. You can, because that Ole Miss defensive line is not only talented, they're deep. Y'all can come in waves of very, very good players. And trust me, as a guy who was in Bank of America Stadium last Saturday, when you see waves of good players from SEC defensive lines, it generally spells trouble. But in all seriousness, that's probably the biggest group that I would say you can exploit offensively, and defensively, I mean, where can't you exploit Wake Forest in terms of that secondary? But comes a better question, because again, they're very opportunistic. Don't get me wrong, those DBs, they're not the type of guys that you would say, oh yeah, he can't catch, that's why he plays DB. But they do have that tendency, a lot like I talk about the long mesh making you take the cheese, and there DBs have a tendency to get caught up in that mouse trap. They have a tendency to say, oh, look at that thing underneath. Oh, wait, was I supposed to have a D-3rd? So, you know, there's absolutely gonna be some liability in that secondary for you. - That is not good for Wake Forest, because if you were to ask and say, hey, what are the two units that are this Ole Miss team? Where are they at Leighton? It's the defensive line and the wide receiver position. And so that is not a good combination. - Yeah, absolutely. And again, that's why I say that I would be shocked if this game was within 14 points. Because again, you know, styles don't make fighters don't make fights, styles make fights, right? And I hate to keep harking back to NC State, Tennessee, but going into that game, I thought it was gonna be much closer than it was, but looking back at even the breadcrumbs and putting it together when I was looking at that game coming in, I said NC State's offensive line is wildly inconsistent and Tennessee has a defensive line. And so it kind of puts you in that mindset. And I know I shouldn't be talking good about the big odds on this show. I know, I know, I'm a shut up about it no more, but in all seriousness, when you look at that styles makes fights mentality in this game, you're looking at a situation where one team is very good in the trenches, another team is a little bit younger, a little bit more improving, kind of relying on some skilled position guys out wide to make it happen. That's gonna be tough. And then defensively, you talk about some wide receivers, you talk about some guys that are gonna be not waiting long in the green room coming up. Ole Miss got a couple of them that are gonna be going deep catching balls from Jackson Dark. So all in all, I look at this and I say to myself, you know, this is just a really tough matchup, a really bad matchup for Wake Forest, but we'll see how it plays out. - All right, give me a score prediction in this game. - Who I hate to do it to them, but I've got 45-21 Ole Miss. - Okay, I'm gonna go with 41 to 10. And that's kind of where I'm living at the moment. And if the weather comes in, it could go down both sides. I think the point total will go down at that point. You're looking at a 31 or a 38 Ole Miss, the winning score. So we'll see, what does the weather look like for this weekend? - Yes, though, I mean, in this situation, where we're talking about the weather and Wake Forest, I'm located in Raleigh, North Carolina. And so I'm only about two hours away from Winston-Salem, but I'll tell you this much, right? We've all heard about all of the storms and whatnot going on in the Gulf Coast. I don't think that that should have too big of an effect on this game, right? Like as far as I know right now, it's just supposed to be an overcast day. So it should be a little cloudy, maybe a little windy, but we shouldn't see anything too crazy outside of that. But you're absolutely right. If we did see something that was going to affect this game in terms of the rain and all that good stuff, I wouldn't be surprised if that was like a net negative for both teams. Because both of these teams like to air the ball out. Both of these teams like to, you know, kind of find ways to generate those deep shots and draw on people opening. There's nothing that depletes that more than a wet, heavy ball. You know, there's nothing that makes that tougher. So we'll see how the weather holds. But as of now, it should be overcast, maybe a little windy. - All right. Did they talk about this game on the ACC squad video? - Absolutely not, absolutely not. You know, we have had a tough enough time at dealing with the other power four conferences at the moment. And we didn't need to talk about this one. You know what I mean? Yeah, you're looking at one of your bottom feeders taking on a big dog from another conference with all due respect to Wake Forest. I know Wake Forest fans are going to scream at me. We were just in the conference championship game not too long ago. Sam Hartman, they're walking through that door. AT Perry, they're walking through that door. I'm sorry to tell you, those boys are not walking through that door. Kenneth Walker, who I know wasn't on that team, is not walking through that door. So, you know, it's, you get what you get. - Yeah, and also, Ole Miss fans, they're not vault Twitter. Vault Twitter is terrible. So sorry you had to go through that. Hey, I made it out all right, you know what I mean? And I'll tell people all the time. When you, I grew up around the game, I grew up playing the game, I grew up playing on the West Auditorium. You think that somebody is going to whip the wheels off you and not tell you about it? If you think somebody's going to win a game against you would not call you everything but a good person. You got to be from a different neighborhood because where I'm from, that zip code of 482 to eight, baby. You know, we gonna beat you, we gonna tell you we beat you. And if you want to fight in the park a lot about it, we gonna beat you there too. So, you know, I'm, it's Twitter, it's all right. It's social media, we use it to be social. - All right, Ken Giv from Walked On, ACC. Thank you for joining the show. And I hope we get to do this again at some point. - Absolutely, I'll be here anytime you need me, Stephen. - All right, take care, buddy. - You too, man. (upbeat music) - A Prime members, you can listen to this "Lockdown" podcast and add free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. - Today's episode is brought to you by Game Time. Game Time is a new feature called Game Time Picks that makes getting tickets for your favorite live events even easier. 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