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Ole Miss Football News
August 9, 2006
Offense Shines In Wednesday
Practice
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss
Rebel football team continued pre-season drills
on Wednesday afternoon with a two-hour session in
helmets and shoulder pads in the blazing heat at
the practice fields adjacent to Vaught-Hemingway
Stadium.
Particularly impressive in the fifth day of practice
was the evolution of the passing game with junior
transfer quarterback Brent Schaeffer and the offensive
line.
“I thought Brent worked really well in the pocket
toward the end of practice and made some big plays
scrambling in third-down situations,” said head
coach Ed Orgeron. “We tried to four-man rush him
and he’s difficult to four-man rush. We tried a
bunch of blitzes and he picked them up well. He
really had a good day today.”
Orgeron also noted the big guys up front. “The offensive
line had a good day of protecting.” The Rebels’
young defensive linemen also continue to impress
the coaching staff and have earned more practice
time already in the fifth day of practice.
“Marcus Tillman and Kentrell Lockett both had a
lot of snaps with the first team today and did very
well,” Orgeron said.
With all the buzz surrounding this year’s incoming
class, there are some veterans holding their own
during the early days of practice.
“Michael Oher is having a fantastic camp,” Orgeron
noted. “Another guy who’s coming along is Quentin
Taylor. We made the switch moving Garry (Pack) back
to Sam and Quentin back to Will linebacker. We feel
like we filled a hole there. Quentin has come to
play. He knows he has to compete to earn a starting
spot. Trumaine McBride had a wonderful day today.
He and Nate Banks are very confident about their
abilities at corner. Chris Bowers is doing fine.
He gained some weight, has gotten bigger. He’s had
some good days at practice.”
Because of the large number of newcomers in 2006,
there has not been a significant amount of movement
within the depth chart after a week of training.
Orgeron commented about the depth chart on Wednesday:
“There’s been nothing significant to talk about.
We’re really taking our time with that because of
the installation and all the new guys. We just don’t
want a lot of moving around from practice to practice.”
A particular battle for playing time has been in
the special teams, regarding the Rebel place-kicking
duel between Joshua Shene and Justin Sparks.
“I think it’s going to come down to those two,”
Orgeron said. “I don’t want to limit us, but I think
that’s what we are looking at.
“(Sparks) has really gotten stronger. He’s gotten
in the weight room. When he came to us (last year),
he wasn’t as strong as he should have been. He’s
a little more mature. You can see that he wants
to be here, he’s competitive and he likes being
here.”
Signees are not the only newcomers hitting the Rebel
practice fields, as there has been a flurry of walk-ons
taking part in pre-season drills.
“Yesterday we had some defensive linemen that came
alive, especially Garrett Ryan,” Orgeron noted.
“I think our staff has done a tremendous job of
bringing walk-ons in here. We have some guys that
can play. Some of them will play on special-teams,
some of them might play for us on the field. We’re
going to be able to build an outstanding scout team,
and some of the guys I believe will eventually earn
a scholarship.”
Ole Miss will go through the first day of two-a-days
on Thursday as the team continues to prepare for
the Sept. 3 opener against Memphis in Oxford.
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