On Monday the Ole Miss football team had their first scrimmage as they continue to gear up for their season opener against Florida State. Head Coach Hugh Freeze dissected his team’s performance in the practice.
“It was a bit odd, really, because the offense, I thought, really controlled the scrimmage, which is not normal for this early in camp,” Freeze said. “So I was real pleased with (the offensive) side. Defensively we have a lot of things to clean up. That was a bit discouraging.”
“We’ve got a lot of improving to do on both sides, but I did think there was some neat things offensively yesterday,” Freeze continued. “Not sure with how much that had to do with the offense’s execution, tempo or the defense’s lack of execution on their side. It’s hard for me to ever feel great when you’re trying to look at the big picture.”
While Freeze felt improvements were needed on offense and defense, he was pleased with the special teams’ performance, noting that Gary Wunderlich, Nathan Noble and Will Gleason played well.
Freeze also gave an injury update, as junior C.J. Moore was previously second string at the rover safety position.
“C.J. had surgery this week to repair a torn pec muscle. We’ll see how that rehab comes,” Freeze said. “I’m not ready to say how long that is; I don’t really know. He does have a redshirt year, so that will play into it, too, depending on what point of the season we’re in. We’ll do what’s best for the program and the kid once that time comes.”
Freshman Jarrion Street was moved to safety in an effort to offset the loss of Moore.
“Very athletic kid. Hasn’t been here this summer, so he’s a little behind, but we think he has the potential to be good,” Freeze said. “But we really haven’t juggled a whole lot of things around, it just hurts us on our depth. (Moore) was definitely in the two-deep, so that’s something that you never want to happen.
“It’s the constant struggle of how do you prepare your team for an opening game like we have? Be physical, get things done and try to keep as many healthy as you can,” Freeze continued. “We’ve got some good young talent back there, but we haven’t really had to mess with the rotation too much yet. We’ll see how that goes.
Freeze also gave updates on freshman safety Greg Eisworth, junior receiver Markell Pack and tackle Jeremy Liggins.
“Eisworth has not been released to go yet,” Freeze said. “He’s still dealing with a hamstring. Pack’s had a really good camp. He has to have a pin put in his thumb (Wednesday), which will keep him out a little while. I’m always hesitant to say when they’re going to be back, but I’m told he should be back in a 10-day period.”
“Everything looks good,” Freeze said of Liggins, who is currently not participating in camp due to a violation of team standards. “I think everything’s proceeding nicely there.”
Additionally, a few freshman have stood out to Freeze in practices.
“D’Vaughn Pennamon keeps showing up at running back,” Freeze said. “Very physical, runs downhill, hits the hole well, has good vision. I thought Deontay Anderson showed up. He had a couple of picks, actually, in the red zone. I think he’s getting more of a feel for things.
D.K. Metcalf continues to show up in one-on-one situations,” Freeze continued. “He’s so big and strong for a freshman. He doesn’t have to win the route by a large margin to have a chance to have success.”
