Ole Miss Reacts: Can the defense regain its salty form?

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The Ole Miss defense was looking like it was going to be one of the better squads in the SEC through the first five games of the season.

A shutout of Georgia Tech in Atlanta and a staunch effort against Kentucky seems like very distant memories now. For fans, the slippery slope of Vanderbilt scoring 28, then Auburn scoring 34 in Oxford, and finally LSU dropping 45 on this defense, it becomes a finger pointing session with most looking at new co-defensive coordinator Chris Partridge.

There is another co-defensive coordinator in Maurice Crum, but the playcalling seems to sit with Partridge alone from all that has been reported. The lack of adjustments in games is also another point of confusion for fans who saw LSU score time and again on Saturday with three down linemen on many of the plays.

Really, to me, a good bit of this comes back to some key injuries to AJ Finley and Troy Brown who are the leading tacklers on the team. Their effort and leadership are desperately needed, and they have to get healthy and back on the field soon. Until they do, it seems this defense may not be able to stop any SEC offense from putting 30+ points on them.