Something That Is Positive

Since the football is no good right now. Let's take a look at something that is positive in the Ole Miss Athletic Department. Below is a piece of the artical from SEBaseball.com. Go to the website to read full article.


After just missing a trip to Omaha after a tough Super Regional loss to the eventual CWS champions, Ole Miss is program that took a step forward. But after suffering heavy personnel losses, many are concerned the Rebels could come back to the pack.
Do not count head coach Mike Bianco among the doubters.
"We signed maybe the best recruiting class since I have been here," said the sixth year head coach.
Nineteen newcomers joined the team including some impact pitchers. The only casualty for the Rebels off the signing class for the 2006 season was Scott Van Slyke, son of former Pittsburgh Pirate and Major League Baseball star Andy Van Slyke. The younger Van Slyke, who was drafted in the 14th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers, signed a contract in July to play for the major league team.
Top pitching prospects Lance Lynn and Cody Satterwhite have the potential to be freshman phenoms in Oxford.
"Lance Lynn was a high profile guy," Bianco said. "He was drafted in the sixth round and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Indiana. He is someone we feel can contribute right away.
"Cody Satterwhite is another pitcher from Jackson Hillcrest - the same school that sent us Seth Smith and Stephen Head. If he had wanted to go pro, he would have been a late first to second round pick. Before the draft he told all the scouts he was going to Ole Miss. He is just a tremendous athlete - the Gatorade Player of the Year in Mississippi. In the first intrasquad game he did not throw a fastball under 91 mph. He is a real high ceiling guy who could be really special.

Embarressed

I will not break down this game, I refused to but I do have a few comment.

It is official, we are on the same level as Mississippi State.

I would love to see the fan I sat by at Vanderbilt who praised Robert Lane and dog cussed Spurlock. I would once again tell him Lane is not as good as people think he is.

The Ole Miss faithful are once again playing the blame game. While I think we could make a few changes, I am not ready to up and fire the entire coaching staff including Pete Boone and Robert Khayat. Ole Miss fans always do this after a loss, but give this guy a little time.


A stat for you: Robert Lane was just 7-of-15 for 37 yards with two interceptions and a fumble for Ole Miss (1-2) before making way for Michael Spurlock, who was 5-of-14 for 83 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

WE ARE BAD.

Here it is.

The Chopper that will be revealed

this Saturday at the game.

A University Effort

From this morning's Commercial Appeal...

"It's a team effort at Ole Miss. In the midst of Saturday's 31-23 loss at Vanderbilt, the Rebels received a sideline warning from an official. Apparently, Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone, standing on the sideline within earshot of an official, told him exactly what he thought of a ruling unfavorable to the Rebels. Also, Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat correctly had stadium security remove a Vanderbilt student who was viciously heckling Patrick Willis as he was being taken to the locker room with an injury."

Times They Are A Changing........

At last nights practice, DE Chris Bowers was moved around the field a little bit before ending up at middle linebacker. With Bowers' size, I think he fits in well at middle linebacker. The only thing I am concerned about is his speed. It looks like Willis will be out this weekend, so this might not be that bad of a move by the coaching staff.

Pull It Together

OXFORD, MS - Ole Miss head football coach Ed Orgeron stopped the Rebels Tuesday afternoon practice an hour and thirty-five minutes into the workout. He was not pleased with their intensity, so he called the team together on field two for some comments, then sent them to the IPF to be back on the field at 7:00 P.M. to resume or start practice over.

Is There Anybody Out There??

Rumor is there were a few more players at practice on Monday. Evidently there were a few extra kickers out there competing for the field goal/PAT position. I think this is a great move, if we are allowing people to try out. Cause we clearly do not have a solid kicker on our team.

Jefferson Pilot Strikes Again

It appears that the Ole Miss vs. Tennessee game will be picked up by Jefferson Pilot sports. The game will be on t.v. at 11:30 in the morning. Once again I hate Jefferson Pilot and wish the SEC would do away with their contract. Their is no reason a football game should be played at 11:30 in the morning, and their is no reason I should have to listen to a terrible broadcast by the three Dave's.

This Pretty Much Sums It Up

We Got a Long Way to Go.....................

Where to start I have no idea, so this will be alot of rambling. Losing to Vandy is something no one wants to experience. In my opinion it is embarrassing. It was a game we should have and could have won. If we do not want this season to be a bust, WYOMING IS A MUST WIN. Wyoming is a good team and very capable of beating us.

Thoughts on Vandy
This is not your parent's Vanderbilt football team. They are a good team and I believe they will be in a bowl game. However, we could have easily beaten them. Coulter is a great quarterback, he can beat you on the run or with the pass. Credit needs to be given to the offensive and defensive line for dominating our line all day long. Vanderbilt has a very good offensive coordinator in my opinion. The shuffle pass call he made on third down late in the game was outstanding.

Thoughts on the Rebs
Not really any improvement from the Memphis game.

Our defensive line was probably the biggest disappointment for me on Saturday. Absolutely no penetration on our part for the entire game. McKinley Boykin still no where to be seen on that D-Line. Travis Johnson continues to be miserable. We really suffered when Patrick Willis got hurt and was not able to come back into the game. Willis runs the defense when he is in the game, and we really needed him down the stretch.

The offense was once again inconsistent. I felt like Spurlock looked real good at times. I liked the patience he has in the backfield waiting for routes to develop. Although he still made several bad passes, which has come to be expected. Mico McSwain has got to do more than run the sweep to the outside. Any coach in the country is going to be able to predict the play when he is in the backfield. Spurlocks block on Mico's run was outstanding. The receivers had an average day. However, they did drop some passes at clutch times which could have really helped.

Is there anyone out there that can kick field goals. This really hurt us with the outcome of the game. Had Moseley's extra point not gotten blocked, the mood would have been different on both of the sidelines. Play calls would have been different and the outcome would have been very different. It is really depressing not to have a kicker.

Other Thoughts

Spurlock getting hurt could not have come at a worse time. Lane was nowhere near ready to go in the game. We had a chance to come back in the end, but I never believed Lane could do this, not because he is not talented. But one could tell he just was not ready to play. I feel like Spurlock was really starting to look good, this is a major blow.

Some Ole Miss fans really make me mad. While I will question the coaches and players alot. Some fans are just never happy. It is to the point where some fans just come to the game to question and gripe every decision the coaches make rather than pull for the Rebs. One guy in our section never complimented on our good plays, rather he griped about every decision we made. I really dislike people that act like that and do not understand why they come to the game.

The injuries we suffered of Spurlock and Willis are going to affect us in a big way. It looks like Spurlock will be out till possibly as long as the Alabama game. Willis will likely be back this week, but not 100%.

Wymoing is a must win if we want to salvage the season. My hope is that Rebel fans will not be down because we lost to Vandy and will pack the Vaught and be loud. With a 6:00 game it should be pretty loud and rowdy.

I have not lost confidence in this team. There are alot of things I like, but there are plenty that need to be corrected. It is my hope they feel the same way. Hopefully we can correct more things mistakes this week and light some fire into some guys that have not been contributing as they should be. We have a long way to go.

Hot Head Razzano

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Today, Tampa Bay rookie fullback Rick Razzano has been suspended four games for violating the league's policy on anabolic steroids. The seventh-round draft pick from Mississippi says that he tested positive for a substance he used in training before joining the Buccaneers. But he hasn't identified the substance. Razzano is a third stringer who plays behind Mike Alstott and Jameel Cook. He was inactive for last Sunday's season opener at Minnesota. He will be eligible to return to the active roster on October tenth, a day after Tampa Bay plays the New York Jets. The suspension follows the arrests this week of reserve cornerback Torrie Cox and offensive assistant Jay Gruden, younger brother of Bucs coach Jon Gruden, on drunken driving charges.

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nov. 11 Spring Hill College (Exhibition) Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Nov. 18 at New Mexico^ Albuquerque, N.M. 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 19 vs. Southern Utah^ Albuquerque, N.M. 8 p.m.
Nov. 20 vs. South Carolina State^ Albuquerque, N.M. 2 p.m.
Nov. 26 Centenary Oxford, Miss. TBA
Nov. 29 Louisiana-Monroe Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Dec. 10 at UIC Chicago, Ill. 3 p.m.
Dec. 13 Saint Louis Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Dec. 15 Nicholls State Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Dec. 17 Memphis (FSN/SUN) Oxford, Miss. 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 19 Arkansas State Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Dec. 21 Southeastern Louisiana Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Dec. 30 Alcorn State Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Jan. 3 Western Carolina Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Jan. 7 at Alabama* (FSN/SUN) Tuscaloosa, Ala. 5 p.m.
Jan. 11 South Carolina* Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Jan. 14 Mississippi State* (JP) Oxford, Miss. Noon
Jan. 21 at Georgia* (FSN/SUN) Athens, Ga. 5 p.m.
Jan. 25 at Arkansas* Fayetteville, Ark. 7 p.m.
Jan. 28 LSU* Oxford, Miss. 2 p.m.
Jan. 31 Florida* (ESPN2) Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Feb. 4 at Tennessee* (JP) Knoxville, Tenn. 3 p.m.
Feb. 8 at Auburn* Auburn, Ala. 7 p.m.
Feb. 11 Alabama* Oxford, Miss. 2 p.m.
Feb. 15 Arkansas* Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Feb. 18 at Mississippi State*# Starkville, Miss. 2 p.m.
Feb. 22 at Kentucky* (JP) Lexington, Ky. 8 p.m.
Feb. 25 Auburn* (FSN/SUN) Oxford, Miss. 7:30 p.m.
Mar. 1 Vanderbilt* Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.
Mar. 4 at LSU* Baton Rouge, La. 7 p.m.
Mar. 9-12 SEC Tournament (CBS/JP) Nashville, Tenn.

Roll Call

Whos going to Vandy??

ZEEBRAS!!!!!!!

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Southeastern Conference official who received death threats after a controversial penalty in last year's Florida-Tennessee game has been removed from Saturday's rematch, Florida Today reported.SEC supervisor of officials Bobby Gaston tells the paper he reassigned side judge Bobby Moreau for safety reasons.Moreau made the personal foul call on Florida receiver Dallas Baker in the closing moments of Tennessee's 30-28 win in Knoxville last year.Officials also mistakenly stopped the clock after the penalty with 55 seconds remaining. The miscue gave the Volunteers more time to set up James Wilhoit's game-winning, 50-yard field goal with six seconds to play.Moreau's crew was assigned to officiate Saturday's game in Gainesville. MOREAU, HOWEVER, WILL BE IN NASHVILLE, WORKING THE VANDERBILT-MISSISSIPPI GAME

F.Y.I.

Couple of Notes:

Coach O spent this weekend in California recruiting and visitng with Pete Carroll going over game film. Here is the quote from the press conference today:

"We need to get back to the basic offense I brought in from USC and get back to fundamentals. I had a chance to spend some time with Coach (Pete) Carroll in California over the weekend and work out some of the kinks we have on offense. I feel good about the direction we are going."

Few changes on the line. Michael Oher looks to be number one at right guard, and Tony Bonds at center.

Also it appears Brandon Jacobs is in the hospital. They are not sure of his illness, hopefully we will no more about it tomorrow.

Ramblings

This week is going to be tough. Vanderbilt under the leadership of Jay Coulter will be a tough matchup for the Rebels. Why I have not seen the lines for this weekend's game I would suspect Vandy would be a five point favorite. The Rebels are going to need to make some big changes if they want to win this game. The offensive line has to find five lineman that can block for the entire game. Although the Vandy defense is not very powerful, their offense is. We are really going to see how good our defense is, because Coulter is the real deal at QB.

McKinley Boykin is going to have to pull it together and work hard in practice and get his head in the right place. He has the talent to dominate the Vandy offensive line if he puts his mind to it. It appears Mico McSwain is learning more of the offense daily and knows about 75% of the plays so far. Also look for Alan Abrams to be back in the mix this weekend. As for the kickers who knows, but we can only get better.

Rebels--Tide on CBS

It appears the Ole Miss vs. Alabama game has been picked up by CBS. Unfortunately the game will be broadcast at 11:00. I was hoping this would be the 2:30 time slot, instead of this early morning game. Although I have not seen anything official about this, I have read it on several different web sites.

Tired

Dr. Khayat after the game on Monday. I think we all felt like this after the game.

For the Hoops Fans Out There

It appears the Ole Miss basketball schedule is still incomplete for the upcoming year. This is evidently the latest a schedule will be released in recent history. Although it appears we are not the only school that are facing a problem. As always Memphis is a problem because Coach Cal loves to have his way, and it is always a problem finding a date to please them. Our other problem is the scheduling with the Louisiana sectional schools, as to whether or not they will be playing basketball this year. It appears the schedule will be released some time next week, with fall practice starting around the first of October.

Former Reb Transfers to Memphis

Defensive lineman Jada Brown, who signed with Ole Miss last spring but left the team in August, has enrolled at Memphis State and practiced with the team Thursday. Brown (6-2, 270) was an all-city and all-metro player at Banneker High in College Park, Ga., and was recruited by, among others, Memphis, Clemson, Illinois, Indiana and Southern Miss.
''His high school coach called us and said he was interested in coming here,'' West said. ''We had recruited him so we said 'Yeah, if he wants to come here, we want him.' ''
Brown will have to sit out this season per NCAA guidelines regarding transfers.

Pack Man

Click on the link to watch the interception.

www.ebicom.net/~mbraz/packommem.wmv

The "Runt" Is Fired

ESPN fired Trev Alberts on Sunday after the college football analyst failed to show up for work at ESPN's studios in Bristol, Conn.
"He phoned and said that he wasn't going to show up," Mark Shapiro, ESPN's Vice President of Programming and Production, told SI.com on Tuesday night, "and when he didn't, he was in breach of his contract and we terminated him."
Alberts, a former All-American defensive end at Nebraska and member of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, was embarking on his fourth season as part of ESPN's popular College Football Scoreboard and College Football Gameday team. But on Sunday morning, in the midst of college football's first big weekend of the season, Alberts phoned ESPN's coordinating producer of college football, Ed Placey, and voiced his discontent.
"He phoned us and told us that he was unhappy with his role on College GameDay," said Shapiro. "He felt that he was playing second fiddle."
As the day wore on, according to both Shapiro and Alberts, there were several conversations between Alberts and ESPN senior vice presidents Jed Drake and Norby Williamson. Finally, Alberts announced that he would not be reporting for work that afternoon (ESPN and ESPN2 aired three college football games between 3:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.). Once Alberts failed to appear for his studio show assignment with host Rece Davis and fellow analyst Mark May, he was fired.
"They first wanted me to resign," Alberts said on Tuesday night from his Atlanta home. "Then they fired me. I obviously have a serious problem with the word 'breach', but that's something my attorney will work out."
Alberts joined ESPN's studio show in 2002 after five years of working in a similar capacity at CNN/SI. Cantankerous, passionate and opinionated, Alberts often feuded with May about issues relating to the sport, but the feud never turned (or even appeared to seem) personal. Davis played the role of genial arbitrator to a tee.
"We were just trying to be three guys in a frat house talking football," said Alberts.

OXFORD, Miss. - After helping lead Ole Miss to a season-opening win at Memphis, linebacker Patrick Willis was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday, as announced by the league office.
Making his first career start, Willis posted a career-high 15 total tackles, including 10 solos, and two tackles for a loss in the Rebels' 10-6 victory over the Tigers. The junior from Bruceton, Tenn., also forced a fumble inside the game's final three minutes to help preserve the win.
Willis directed an Ole Miss defense that held All-America running back DeAngelo Williams under 100 yards rushing for only the third time in his last 23 games (85 yards on 24 carries). The Rebel defense also forced Memphis into three-downs-and-out on six of 12 possessions and surrendered just 268 total offensive yards on 67 attempts.

Coach 1 and "O"

A Win Is A Win

It was not pretty, but we got it done. Ole Miss defeated Memphis State tonight 10-6, in a game that was very tense. First year head coach Ed Orgeron, who looked really nervous at times, picked up his first win as a head collegiate football coach. Neither team had the game locked up as a win for the entire game.

Thoughts on Memphis:

Tried too much to not focus on De'Angelo Williams, and swing the game a different way by running a majority of plays, in which De'Angelo was not a real factor.

Made a bad play call on their last possession by throwing into a crowd instead of giving it to one of the best running backs in the nation.

Are an o.k. team will be lucky if make it to a bowl, but then again they are in Conference USA.

Thoughts on the Rebels:

We have a ways to go.

Defense looked real good at some times, especially in the second half. Gary Pack had an excellent game as well as Patrick Willis. The secondary is the same old secondary I have watched Ole Miss play for many years, which is bad thing. The D-Line played well but I honestly expected more. I feel like McKinley Boykin did not play as much as he should, not sure if there was some health problems there or not. Pack is my Defensive Player of the Game, although it was a toss up between a couple of players.

The offense is still not in groove. If Spurlock was on key, the receivers were off key and vice versa. Espy and Hill missed several key passes that hit them square in the hands. Spurlock is definitely the QB for now. It is my believe the staff had pre-determined to play Robert Lane at least two series in the game, so that is the reason he came in. The running game is miserable, with the exception of several sweeps to Mico McSwain. Jamal Pittman did not impress me. A big reason he did not look good is because of the offensive line. The O-Line has some major problems, and some holes that need to be filled extremely fast. I will give the Offensive Player of the game to Michael Spurlock, who scored the only touchdown of the night.

Other Thoughts

THE KICKING GAME IS ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE. No one can make a field goal, nor can we punt. The only thing we can do is kickoff.

We definitely have a problem with clock management, several times tonight we had delay of games that should be uncalled for.

One of the most shocking moments of the night came at half time when the Ole Miss team did not come back on the field until the clock had expired. The Rebels preceded to get a delay of game penalty. I guess Coach O was giving a pretty fired up speech at half time.

Thumbs up to half time adjustments the new coaching staff made at half time. I believe they tweaked a few things that helped us come away with a win.

For the game, I am not disappointed. I feel like we played o.k. Yes we made mistakes, but that has to be expected in the first game, especially with a new coaching staff. It is satisfying to know, we have two weeks off until our next game. It is two weeks we really need to watch film and correct mistakes. Overall, a good win that the Ole Miss family really needed.