By John Luke McCord
mccordjohnluke@yahoo.com
Ole Miss had to take their preparation for next week’s season opener inside Wednesday afternoon, as rain forced the Rebels into the Indoor Practice Facility.
It was a “good day,” according to head coach Hugh Freeze who has been pleased with his squad over the past week or so.
“I look forward to watching the film,” Freeze said. “I kind of traveled around. I thought our two-minute drill was good. It was good for (the defense) to get that work. We went a little longer than I anticipated, but it was good work.”
Freeze has been able to move around a good bit during fall camp and get a look at each unit on the team.
“I sit in the daily meetings with the offense probably 80 percent of the time,” Freeze said. “With the extra time we have, I feel pretty good about it. I don’t feel too cramped.”
He also mentioned that when he is able to see the team in a game that he will know if he is seeing enough or not.
Freeze also addressed the depth at the receiver position this fall, after saying it was a position he felt his team was thin at in the spring.
“I felt like we had good depth if the young kids were able to pick up things,” Freeze said. “Quincy(Adeboyejo) and Laquon(Treadwell) have had good camps. (Senior) Jordan (Holder) has helped. (Sophomore) Cody Core has had a good week and getting better.”
However, senior receiver Korvic Neat will be sidelined with a knee injury for four weeks. He had surgery on the injury yesterday. Freeze was unsure of details on the injury.
Freeze said that while Korvic Neat is out, you will see freshman tight end Evan Engram used in the slot a bit, as well as some running backs. Mostly, however, Neat will be replaced by Holder, who has emerged as a viable option at receiver this fall.
On the injury front, Freeze said that he still is limiting senior safety Brishen Matthews and junior cornerback Senquez Golson. Senior corner Charles Sawyer, however, is doing everything according to Freeze, except tackling, at this point.
With Golson, Freeze joked that he wished he would have been ready to go three weeks ago, but that he is hoping he will be able to take live reps on Monday.
The 2014 SEC schedule was announced today and Freeze was definitely pleased with the balance that it will provide with certain opponents at home and on the road.
“There’s still a few things that we hope we can move around that would make it really a nice schedule with some of our nonconference games,” Freeze said. “I like the way it set up. We have two tough openers again. Those will be two tough games away from home (Boise State on a neutral field and at Vanderbilt). Hopefully, we’ll continue to recruit well and welcome those games early on.”
Random Notes:
While some players were limited today, as mentioned previously, Neat and junior wide receiver Vincent Sanders were the only two players to miss practice today.
Some recent number changes: Nick Parker from #4 to #34. Jordan Holder from #7 to #21. Channing Ward from #11 to #90. Terrell Grant from #8 to #80.
When asked how many running backs would be used today, Freeze said four.
“You have to have four ready,” he said.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss football, follow @JLgrindin and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
