Eugene Brazley runs the ball during practice Monday. (DM Photo/Thomas Graning)
After weeks of practice and anticipation toward Thursday’s game against Boise State, the Rebels seem to be counting the days until they face off against their first opponent.
“Getting to go up against another opponent and especially with the hype this game has and especially with it being in the Georgia Dome, it’s really exciting,” sophomore tight end Evan Engram said.
“Boise’s a solid team, and I think it’s gonna be a really good opportunity for us to really set the season off to a really fast start and a really good start to where we end up in the season,” senior safety Cody Prewitt said.
Many players have stressed a new confidence and readiness that the team has not shown in years past. Senior defensive end C.J. Johnson was among those who lauded the team’s camp performance.
“It’s on a whole other level,” Johnson said. “To be honest I haven’t seen this football team this ready and this prepared since I’ve been here.”
Prewitt and Engram also offered their praise.
“I think we’ve been really good. At this point I cant look back at any other season and say at this point we’re as far along as we are now,” Prewitt said. “We’re playing at a really high speed with minimum mistakes. We’re really anticipating this game and looking forward to getting the season started.”
“We have so much more leadership, so much more confidence in our game and in each other,” Engram said.
“We expect to come up here each day and make each other better,” Engram continued. “We’re pushing each other, it doesn’t matter what class you’re in.“
One of the big reasons for the increased buzz around the Rebels this season is the potential improvement of starting quarterback Bo Wallace. Engram was very impressed by the progress he made.
“His improvement is huge,” Engram said. “Arm strength, his decision making, it’s all going up through the roof so I have a lot of confidence in Bo, and I know he has a lot of confidence in himself, so that’s huge for playing quarterback well.”
Ingram has seen improvement in his own game as well.
“I think I’ve had a strong camp,” Ingram said. “I have a lot more confidence out there and I’m a lot stronger, I’m moving around a lot better, and I feel really good going into this year.”
Engram said that camp and the team’s strength program really helped him improve as a blocker.
“I definitely feel stronger and more confident going up against ends and picking up blitzes on linebackers,” Engram said. “I knew I could go up and battle with the big guys but I definitely feel a lot better this year than I did last year.”
Another place the Rebels look to be improved is on the defensive line, especially in the amount of pressure they can generate.
“Whenever you have the pressure that we have and the talent that we have up front that messes up the quarterback’s timing,” Prewitt said. “When you can make a quarterback really uncomfortable, that’s when the turnovers start coming and turnovers are gonna be a really big key in our defense this year.”
