Dorsey takes charge

When defensive end Wayne Dorsey arrived at Ole Miss, he was thought to be a quick fix for a position in need of depth, but the 2010 season didn’t go as well as he had hoped.

But one year later, Dorsey is not only becoming a force on the Rebel defensive line, he is becoming something that is much needed on this young team – a leader.

The 6’6,” 270-pound senior was rated the number one junior college recruit in the nation by Scout.com after earning 30 tackles and five sacks in just six games in 2009. The Ole Miss coaching staff had high hopes for him going into the 2010 campaign, but Dorsey never seemed to get into a groove.

Dorsey started in four games last season for the Rebels, while he played in all twelve. He finished with 12 tackles for the season including one sack and four tackles for loss. However, with a full offseason under his belt, Dorsey, who was voted a team captain for this season, looks to be inching closer to the player everyone hoped he would be.

“It’s knowing what to expect,” Dorsey said. “Going into anything the second time, you know what to expect and what will happen.”

In the Rebels’ first two games of the season, the Baltimore native has four tackles with one sack and two tackles for a loss.

“I’ve played OK but I can play better,” Dorsey said. “I will play better. I have to raise my intensity level in the SEC. I’m ready for that opportunity.”

Dorsey’s intensity level was high last Saturday when he made an exceptional play to get a huge interception against Southern Illinois that he returned to the four-yard line on the Salukis’ first possession of the game.

“I saw the quarterback kept taking steps back, so I knew it was a screen,” Dorsey said. “I tried to get off the cut block and get my hands in the air. He threw it right to one of my hands, and I batted it up in the air. I kind of lost it in the lights. 

“Luckily, it fell right into my hands, and then, I tried to get into the end zone.”

Dorsey said at that moment he looked back and saw no one coming. 

“Then I look back toward the end zone and the guy was diving at my legs,” he said. “It was kind of disappointing (to be stopped short of the end zone).”

Dorsey’s interception is one of five this season for the Rebel defense that only had six interceptions last season.

“We’re hungry,” Dorsey said. “That’s one of the things that coach Nix, coach Burns, coach Price and the entire coaching staff emphasizes.”

Dorsey said the Rebels can control the game by getting turnovers. 

“Everybody on the defense takes it upon themselves to try to create one,” Dorsey said. “We truly feed off another person on the defense making a big play.”

Unfortunately, the Ole Miss defense has also been known for giving up the big play. A defense that had no big plays against them in the season opener against BYU saw Southern Illinois bust a couple of big plays last Saturday.

Dorsey knows his team has to do better as they head into their first Southeastern Conference game of the season on the road against Vanderbilt.

“It’s just small things,” Dorsey said. “As a defense, we can get better. We’re going to correct those things.”

Dorsey said he had confidence that Coach Nix and the rest of the staff are going to get the team ready to go. 

“I think everybody is looking forward to this game, especially the ones that were here last year,” Dorsey said. “We had a bad taste in our mouths when we came back in the locker room after we played.”