When Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze entered the team meeting room of the Manning Center Monday afternoon for his weekly press conference, he, as always, had a smile on his face.
However, this time it wasn’t a smile of a guy happy to be moving forward after a tough defeat. Instead, it was the smile of a guy who is still thrilled about the biggest win in his young coaching career by knocking off No. 6 LSU, 27-24.
“Extremely proud of kids and our staff,” Freeze said. “After watching the film, I think it’s probably one of the most complete games that we’ve played since we’ve been here.”
Now, the Rebels (4-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) move forward to the next team on the schedule: Idaho. The Vandals (1-6) will give Ole Miss a little breathing room after the Rebels are out of the gauntlet stretch of their schedule, but Freeze is looking for his team to remained focused as it moves ahead to Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
“We’ve got to put it away and move forward,” Freeze said. “That gauntlet that we’ve gone through, it’s taken a toll on us physically and mentally. We certainly need to continue moving in the right direction in all areas.
“We’ve got a team coming in that will surely feel they have nothing to lose coming into an SEC home and have a chance to make some noise just like many teams did last weekend. We don’t want to be on the other end of that, so we have to regain our kids’ focus and elevate our concentration to do the little things right.”
Engram out for the year
The injury bug continues to bite the Rebels.
Ole Miss announced Sunday that freshman tight end Evan Engram will miss the remainder of the season after having surgery Monday to repair a high ankle sprain he suffered against LSU this past Saturday.
“That’s a difficult loss,” Freeze said. “It’s even worse because you know what these kids put in preparing and working. He’s such a great kid and will be a tremendous leader for this program in the years to come.”
Engram, who is the third Ole Miss starter to have a season-ending injury, had started in five of seven games this season and had set the record for the best freshman season for a tight end in program history. The Powder Springs, Ga., native has racked up 265 yards on 20 receptions to go along with three touchdowns this season.
“I think he was on track to be a freshman All-American,” Freeze said.
“He’s a tremendous kid and was very important to our scheme. We don’t have another one that’s like him, that can win some one-on-ones in space and do the blocking that we were asking him to do.”
Without Engram’s presence, the Rebels will rely on junior Nick Parker, who was moved to tight end this season. Parker had the first touchdown of his career this past weekend in the win over LSU on a 3-yard reception.
Other injuries
Like last week, Ole Miss is still dealing with multiple injuries on both sides of the ball.
On Monday, Freeze said other than the guys who are out for the rest of the season, only freshman defensive end Robert Nkemdiche and junior defensive end Carlos Thompson are definitely out for Saturday’s game versus Idaho.
Sophomore cornerback Mike Hilton and senior defensive end Cameron Whigham are questionable, while sophomore linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche, junior linebacker Keith Lewis and senior cornerback Charles Sawyer are all probable. Senior running back Jeff Scott could play, according to Freeze, but he said he may limit him due to the depth at running back.
Junior linebacker Serderius Bryant could also be back in action Saturday if he clears the concussion protocol tests this week.
Whigham honored
Whigham was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Lineman of the Week Monday after helping Ole Miss upset No. 6 LSU 27-24.
In the contest, Whigham accounted for just two tackles, but he had a sack, quarterback hurry and a pass breakup. It is the first SEC weekly award he’s received in his career.
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