When Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze met with the media Monday, most of the talk was about the difficulty of the Rebels’ showdown at No. 1 Alabama Saturday. However, the Ole Miss offense is adding a weapon, as junior wide receiver Vince Sanders will see the field for the first time this season.
Sanders, who was the Rebels’ second most productive wideout last year with 504 yards and four touchdowns, has been rehabbing a broken collarbone he sustained in fall camp.
“Vince will play. He went through a full practice yesterday,” Freeze said. “We’ll incorporate him in just like we would anybody. He’ll be ready to go. You’ll see him, Laquon (Treadwell), Ja-Mes (Logan) and Donte (Moncrief) all out there at the same time.
“We’ll just rotate them and keep him fresh. We love having him back. It gives us another threat for sure.”
The addition of Sanders could be big going against a talented defense that has surprisingly already given up a lot of yards through the air this season.
Alabama ranks 11th in the SEC and 81st in the country in pass defense, giving up 250.3 passing yards per game. Those aren’t the numbers that are usually associated with the Crimson Tide.
“I think we can put points on them,” junior quarterback Bo Wallace said. “I think we can put points on anybody. We just got to show up and play. And it’s the same thing every week; let’s stay on schedule and control the tempo and don’t have any turnovers.”
Other injury notes
Freeze said sophomore linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche still says he’s playing, but a decision will not come until Friday.
“We’ll evaluate him in practice (Tuesday),” Freeze said. “I will not play him if I don’t feel like he’s ready. It’s a long season. We’re going to need all of the capable bodies to make it through. If he’s ready to go, certainly we’ll play him. It will probably be Friday before we know for sure.”
Freeze also said senior offensive tackles Pierce Burton and Emmanuel McCray look “very, very good” after sitting out last week due to lingering injuries.
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