Ole Miss second-half defense

One thing that stands out to me with Ole Miss through two games is how different their defense has looked before and after halftime.

They’ve been extremely good early. Against Charlotte, five of their six first-half possessions ended in three and outs. That’s impressive against any opponent.

But Charlotte was able to sustain drives after halftime:

65 yards on 13 plays — FG
61 yards on 12 plays — FG
70 yards on 11 plays — FG
9 yards on 3 plays — time ran out

What makes me curious is that Louisville showed a similar pattern.

Louisville before halftime:
FG, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, FG

Louisville after halftime:
TD, TD, FG, TD, TD, TD

So far, opponents have had 10 second-half possessions against Ole Miss and scored on nine.

Two games is nowhere near enough to draw a conclusion, but that is a pretty dramatic split. I’m curious whether it’s a conditioning issue, teams figuring them out as the game goes along, or Ole Miss not countering offensive adjustments well enough.

There may be simple explanations for both games.

Louisville - QB making his first start since 2022. Was clearly pissing down his leg early

Charlotte - Ole Miss was leading 27-0, the game was basically over, and LSU was next on the schedule.