When Derrick Jones intercepted a Jacob Eason pass between the hashes and housed it for the Rebs’ first pick-six of the season, ecstatic ebullience blasted through Rebel nation, because the Landshark myth had finally, dammit, delivered a psyche-killing blow in 2016.
The numbers tell no lie that Ole Miss’ secondary — banged, bruised, and inexperienced — has improved by strides since the Week 1 debacle in Orlando. FSU finished that game with a passing success rate of 54 percent. Against Alabama — who didn’t throw much at all — the secondary held their opponent to a 29 percent success rate through the air, but Jalen Hurts completed passes of 22, 30 and 45 yards.