Last week was a good one for the Ole Miss offensive line. The big men up front paved the way for 510 total yards of offense and showed significant improvement in protecting quarterback Chad Kelly, who threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 53 yards and another score.
Sophomore Sean Rawlings said he felt the offensive line’s effort was the biggest improvement made on Saturday.
“We had those two sick feelings in our stomach from Bama and Florida State, so we were ready to go,” Rawlings said. “We stressed all week high energy and I think everybody did that. And I think that was the difference, having that energy up for all four quarters.”
Jordan Sims (Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
The starting guard, sophomore Jordan Sims, was named the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week for his part in the 45-14 victory over Georgia.
Rawlings started over half of the season last year in relief of the suspended Laremy Tunsil, and has started at the right tackle spot in each of the first four games. With plenty of SEC experience, Rawlings now rotates at right tackle and center throughout the game.
“I feel like I’ve grown, and that’s because of experience,” Rawlings said. “That experience has helped me out a lot, and I feel like collectively as an offensive line we’re starting to get this thing rolling and executing together and we’ve always communicated well because we’re so close and we can continue to get better at that.”
Rawlings felt his experience helped a lot in terms of the speed of the game.
“At the end of last year it really started slowing down, but I’m starting to see more and more and every game,” Rawlings said.
The lone senior starter on the line is Robert Conyers, who spends most of his time at center but can also move out to tackle. Rawlings felt that Conyers’ experience made him the obvious leader of the group.
“I think Robert brings a lot of leadership, a lot of motivation to us and energy,” Rawlings said. “I think that me, Jordan and Javon (Patterson), because of the experience last year, we’re starting to get molded into that leadership role.”
Redshirt freshman Alex Givens got a lot of playing time against the Bulldogs, and Rawlings said he performed great in the SEC matchup.
“He’s going to be a heck of a player,” Rawlings said. “In the rotation you saw Saturday, Alex got a lot of snaps. He even got more snaps than me at right tackle, and he played great. He’s going to be really good and he’ll be here another three years after this one.”
The Rebels take on Memphis this Saturday, and Rawlings was eager for the chance to battle the Tigers again after last year’s upset.
“That one hurt us, and it kind of affected our season, but we’ve moved on from that,” Rawlings said. “We’re just ready to go out there and play another game Saturday and do the same thing we did this past Saturday. That’s give great effort and great energy.”
