The Ole Miss football team practiced in full pads Wednesday for the last time before Saturday’s Grove Bowl to wrap up spring drills. The Rebels will practice without pads Friday morning.
Senior defensive back Dehendret Collins runs a drill during practice. (File Photo: Kayla McCarty/The DM)
The gridiron Rebels were back out on the practice fields Wednesday morning for their last full-pad practice of the spring before Saturday’s Grove Bowl, which is set to kick off at 1 p.m. on CSS.
Ole Miss has suffered several injuries during the physical spring drills, but head coach Hugh Freeze wanted to see his squad play physically one more time before the last pre-Grove Bowl practice Friday morning.
“Today was a good, physical practice,” Freeze said of Wednesday.
As for Friday’s practice, Freeze noted that there “won’t be much to it.” A speaker is lined up to come talk to the team, and Freeze said they will get ready to have a physical Saturday.
The defense again proved to be the better side of the ball Wednesday. However, Freeze said Wednesday’s practice was catered to them in some ways.
“The competitions today were more geared toward them. Those third and longs, it’s tough to win those consistently,” Freeze said. “(The defense) had more energy and passion today than the offense. Offensive line didn’t play physical at all.”
Freeze elaborated on how he felt about the spring to this point, with just two practices remaining.
“I like our attitude, and I like our energy,” he said. “I’m not happy with where we are, and some of that has to do with the number of people out. There has been marked improvement in a lot of kids.”
He added that he wished the offense could have been more consistent this spring.
Some of the players whom Freeze noted improvement in were sophomore defensive back Chief Brown, freshman linebacker Temario Strong, senior linebacker D.T. Shackelford, sophomore defensive back Carlos Davis and sophomore defensive back Anthony Alford.
On Saturday, Freeze will be looking to see the same things from his team he has been asking for all spring.
“Offensively, stay away from negative plays,” Freeze said. “Don’t turn the ball over. Stay on schedule with great tempo. Defensively, keep getting those turnovers and keep creating negative plays. On defense, we still give up some big plays from time to time. Need to limit those.”
Freeze updated the status of freshman tight end Christian Morgan. His MRI revealed that he tore his meniscus, and it will require surgery. He should be ready to go for fall camp, according to Freeze.
Senior defensive back Charles Sawyer left practice early Wednesday with an injured knee or quad. Freeze was unsure of his status.
Junior wide receiver Vincent Sanders missed Wednesday’s practice after injuring his ankle in practice on Monday.
Not all injury news is bad news, as senior wide receiver Korvic Neat, who has missed a big chunk of the spring, returned to practice on Wednesday.
One last note from practice is that senior Dehendret Collins, who has spent most of the spring at husky, moved over and played corner on Wednesday. That leaves senior Brishen Mathews and sophomore Mike Hilton at husky, with Hilton labeled as the starter.
The Rebels will return to practice on Friday at 8 a.m.
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