Photo: Will Echoles, January 8, 2026, at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images.
Ole Miss allowed 302 rushing yards in a 24-point loss at Florida, missed 14 tackles and finished with one tackle for loss. Florida ran 53 times; the Rebels got behind the line of scrimmage once. Defensive lineman Will Echoles, at a bye-week podium Tuesday, said the group put “a whole lot of lack of violence” on film, and that more than 200 of Florida’s yards came after contact.
Locked On Ole Miss host Steven Willis called the single tackle for loss the most damning number of the afternoon and argued the root cause is paralysis by analysis. Willis said Pete Golding is running a three-year defense with nearly eight new starters, and that transfers must unlearn one scheme before they can play the next instinctively.
Echoles did not pass it to the staff. He said Golding can call whatever he wants, but that none of it matters if the defense is not executing, and called it a want-to thing. Asked for a number, Echoles put his unit’s missed tackles at 10-plus, under the actual 14, which Willis said proved he was not managing the figure down.
Echoles also said the defense sometimes tries to play too perfect, doing every right thing right instead of being instinctual, and that he wants the room back to how the game felt in pee-wee: fast, fearless and physical. He described a self-reflect bye week simplified to striking blocks, getting off blocks, keys and reads, and finding the football.
Vanderbilt is next, in Nashville. Willis expects the Commodores to copy what Florida put on tape, and argued Ole Miss should oversimplify: mostly man coverage, no match principles, at least five rushers at a freshman quarterback. He said that for the first time since Saturday night, he is looking forward to the game.
Adapted from the October 1, 2026 episode of Locked On Ole Miss, hosted by Steven Willis, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Watch the full episode.