After bringing in a consensus top 10 class by all major recruiting networks this year, it has become known that Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze and his staff are working diligently to make sure they can lure as many top recruits to Oxford as possible. Now, while the team is on a bye week, the staff will take advantage of their time and hit the road to see where they stand with some recruits.
“We’re sending two guys to Texas,” Freeze said. “Not because we won, that was the plan before, but they’ll have a lot more pep in their step when they walk in those schools. We’re going to use eight people. Four will go out tomorrow, more will go out Thursday to join them, and myself and others will hit the road Friday.
“We’ll get a lot of work done. We get 42 evaluation days, and I want to say we are using about 12 this week.”
After winning on the road this past weekend at Texas 44-23, Freeze believes that conversations he had with recruits via telephone went “real good.”
“You go win at a place like that, that is covered nationally on a lot of outlets, it never hurts you,” Freeze said. “We had a lot of good phone calls (Monday) night and will make some more (Tuesday). It didn’t hurt us for sure.”
Gross progressing in the trenches
Last season for Ole Miss, sophomore defensive tackle Issac Gross came into his own at the defensive tackle position. There were many questions surrounding the size of the 6-foot-1, 250-pound South Panola product concerning his weight, but Gross was able to record 40 tackles, including 10 for a loss and 2.5 sacks.
Now, Gross will begin the meat of his sophomore campaign and is looking to continue to build on his performance, but also add weight as the season progresses.
“Basically gain weight and get stronger,” Gross said of things he needs to do to continue to improve.
Only being a sophomore also is something that Gross feels is preventing him from keeping on the weight the coaching staff would like for him to have to play in the interior.
“I guess I’m too young right now,” Gross said. “You know how you just burn it off, I guess I have to wait until I reach that age when it will sit with me and stay with me.”
Gross also dealt with a nagging groin problem, that kept him somewhat limited at times, but so far this season he has been able to record five tackles, including two for a loss and 1.5 sacks. The injury caused him to miss valuable time in the weight room during summer workouts, and he’s already felt that hinder him some this season.
But with each game and every snap, Gross is getting back into a rhythm and will be key along the Ole Miss defensive line going forward.
Preparing for the Tide
Ole Miss started their preparation for their Sept. 28 battle at No. 1 Alabama in Tuesday’s practice, but most of the time was spent concentrating on themselves.
“We got a lot of special teams work, a lot of individual work, and we looked at a few new things offensively,” Freeze said. “Went some good-on-good just to see. Then, red ball was a good period for us. Then, we had a 20 minute period there at the end to get some game plan stuff in to see what we might like to do there on both sides.”
In Monday’s press conference, Freeze said they have been looking at freshman Derrick Jones at corner. Jones was signed as a wide receiver and moved to safety in fall camp. Freeze is hoping Jones can give the Rebels some size at cornerback.
“We looked at him a lot today,” Freeze said. “I think he’s got a chance. Everything is new to him. It’s going 100 miles per hour, but we just got to keep working at it.
“He’s a great kid and wants to just help the team. He’s a tremendous athlete, so I just have to see if corner is the right spot for him. I know he can play receiver and can probably play safety. It was just be nice to have a corner that you can put in a game that’s 6-foot-3 plus.”
Junior defensive tackle Lavon Hooks was also a guy that was getting looks at other spots, as he was spotted at tight end in some instances Tuesday.
“We’re just looking at Lavon a lot of places,” Freeze said. “Trying to see if we can’t get a little more beef, get a little bigger if we need to run certain things.”
Along the injury front, junior wideout Vince Sanders will move back into the rotation for the Alabama game, and Freeze has been pleased with him since he started practicing over a week ago. Sanders was held out of Tuesday’s practice because of pink eye, but he still did some conditioning work on the side.
During the bye week, Freeze is also using the time to get the two freshmen quarterbacks, Devante Kincade and Ryan Buchanan, some more reps. Senior quarterback Barry Brunetti sustained a shoulder injury in this past Saturday’s game.
“Devante took reps with the ones in that last period,” Freeze said. “He’s got a live arm. I’m excited about him.”
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