Going into the closing stretch of the season, the Rebels have to win at least two of their final three games to remain eligible for a bowl game at the end of the season. Ole Miss has faced a brutal schedule this season and thus stands at 4-5 currently. It seemed like the final games, with the exception of Texas A&M, might be a little easier, but one play on Saturday completely changed that.
With quarterback Chad Kelly suffering a season-ending injury against Georgia Southern, Head Coach Hugh Freeze will have to get creative to make sure the Rebels have enough options under center against the Aggies on Saturday.
“Jason (Pellerin) is going to get most of the reps (in practice),” Freeze said. “I thought Jason played well last week. He threw two beautiful balls that both could have been caught.”
Freeze said he will also look at receiver Markell Pack, tight end Evan Engram and offensive lineman Jeremy Liggins at quarterback. All three played some quarterback in high school, with Liggins also seeing a limited amount of time as a short-yardage quarterback for the Rebels last season.
Former five-star recruit and current freshman Shea Patterson could also be in the mix at quarterback, but Freeze was hesitant to pull Patterson’s redshirt this late in the season.
“Shea (Patterson) has been getting reps with the scout team and I am sure he will get some this week just until we make a decision as to what’s best for team first and individual kind of second, and that’s a really tough question when you get to this point in the season,” Freeze said. “When it is what’s best for the individual and what’s best for the team, that’s a difficult question that you have to answer.”
On one hand, Patterson will be fighting for the starting spot next season, and the playing experience he would get could be very valuable. On the other, Patterson losing his redshirt could be giving up a year of eligibility depending on whether or not he attempts to make the jump to the NFL early.
“Hopefully Jason (Pellerin) will stay healthy. I would rule nothing out at this point today,” Freeze said. “It certainly would be difficult to do that, but I wouldn’t quite totally rule it out just yet, but I want to take my time and think through it for sure, and we are looking at all the options.”
In addition to the season-ending injuries of Kelly and John Youngblood, the Rebels have a host of other injuries to deal with, especially on the offensive line.
“(Wide receiver Van Jefferson) has a hip-pointer, no fracture or anything, but those are tender, and we won’t know until we see how he progresses through the week,” Freeze said. “Robert (Conyers) is going to be what he is. He has suffered through a lot of injuries and really probably doesn’t need to play a lot, will travel with us and he has a heart for us. He will go in if he has to if he needs to. (Sean) Rawlings and Rod (Taylor) we just have to see how the week progresses; they are definitely not well. We sure do need one, would be great if we could get both of those available for Saturday night, but we aren’t sure standing here today. They couldn’t play today if we were playing.”
