The Weekend Is Here

Well the weekend many fans circled on their calendar when the schedule came out is finally here. The Georgia Bulldogs will come into town this weekend with everyone excited. The sad thing is most people are excited not about the football game that will be going on, but because of all the people that will be in town this weekend. I expect the Square will be packed on Friday and the Grove will be packed on Saturday. Many Rebel fans from Mobile to Memphis and Washington DC to Waveland will be making their yearly trip to Oxford. Expect to see several Ole Miss celebs in attendance including New York Giants QB Eli Manning and Fox News Anchor Sheppard Smith. The Grove is a known nationwide as one of the top tailgating atmospheres in America. It is weekends like this that put us on the map.

As far as the game, kick off will be at 8:15. Ole Miss alum Ron Franklin will broadcast the game on ESPN2. I think Ron Franklin is a very good announcer and I feel it is a shame they have moved him to ESPN2 to broadcast games. He is one of the last great broadcasters around. Now it is all these young guys even women that are broadcasting games. I hope Ron stays in the game for many more years and they eventually move him back to ESPN.

All I can ask is for the Rebels to stay in the game for a little while. Give the thousands of fans in the stands something to cheer about at least until half time. This is yet another game on national television which all the recruits will watch. As stated earlier on this blog the coaches have expressed all week about the new tempo of this team. Well it is time to walk the talk.

See you all in Oxford.

Revived Rebels????

The reports from practice all this week have shown that the Rebels are a new team. There is more emotion being showed this week than the previous four combined. I am not buying this for one moment as a chance that we will win, because I do not think we will. We are just out matched on both sides of the ball. This is Georgia we are talking about, a program that is constantly in the top 15 each year.

Coach O also stated two things in his press conference today.

1) Traxler is back on the injured list and will not play. That means that Wicker will have to move from his normal spot on the line and another back up will start for the Rebels.

2) His Quote: "Our plan was to have Peria and the player I can't mention who didn't qualify and Patrick as the centerpiece of our defense, but it didn't work out that way. We are doing the best we can and will continue to."

My response to the above:
We have known for the past 2 weeks that Peria was hurt and the Powe was not going to get into school. Surely we have been working on something else since before this week as to how our defense is going to adjust without the above names. But based on the Wake Forrest game, I am not so sure that we have been adjusting our defense.

Also why has it taken 4 weeks into the season for the team to step up and show some emotion. I believe they picked the wrong week to do it.

Bitter Man

Billy Brewer is ridiculous. Take a look at the below comments he made to a Chattanooga newspaper and it will make you mad. I do not know why people continue to listen to what this old man has to say. I see him at every football game. Hands down every game he is wearing the colors of the other team. This is only a portion of the article, click below to read the rest.
http://www.tfponline.com/absolutenm/templates/college.aspx?articleid=5175&zoneid=140
(Chattanooga Free Press)
Hotty toddy, gosh almighty, what has happened to Ole Miss?After winning with regularity under Billy Brewer, Tommy Tuberville and David Cutcliffe, the Rebels are floundering in their second season under Ed Orgeron. Ole Miss has won just four of 15 games under Orgeron entering Saturday's game against Georgia, including lopsided losses the last three weeks to Missouri (34-7), Kentucky (31-14) and Wake Forest (27-3).Last Saturday's loss to the Demon Deacons was the worst nonconference setback in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium history."If you see the facilities and things and what they've done to this campus and the money they've spent, there should be no way that anybody -- I don't care if he's out of kindergarten -- shouldn't win at least five or six ballgames here," Brewer said Monday. "You're playing seven home ballgames, so you need to win five out of the seven you play at home. We only played two games at home when I was here, and we didn't have lights until 1990."

Basketball Talk Has Begun

(UMAA) - OXFORD, Miss. – As college basketball previews hit the newsstands, Ole Miss’ Dwayne Curtis has earned some notoriety, picking up preseason All-SEC third team accolades from Lindy’s.

The junior center was an honorable mention all-conference pick a year ago, when he ranked among the league leaders in nine categories. A Team Captain in 2005-06, Curtis averaged 13.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game with seven double-doubles in his first season in the Red and Blue.

Also garnering preseason honors is sophomore guard Justin Cerasoli, who is listed among the nation’s top 25 transfers by Athlon. The 6-foot-5 Chicago native sat out last year after transferring from Seton Hall, where he averaged 6.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists and started 10 games as a true freshman in 2004-05.

Big Mike

If you have not taken the time to read the article about Michael Oher in the New York Times you are missing out. It is an incredible article that I highly recommend. The article is pretty long so be sure you have some time before you start reading. It tells the story of how Michael was taken in under a caring families wing and he was transformed from a kid who could not read and write to one who is now an All American at Ole Miss.

The article tells the story of Michael's first football game. Oher blocks a kid 25 yards down the field, over the opposing team's bench, over the track, and into the fence surrounding the field. Oher had full intentions of putting this kid on the bus, for talking smack to him the whole game.

It is a great read, check it out here http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/magazine/24football.html

Rebels Reach an All Time Low

The Ole Miss loss to Wake Forest has led me to believe the Ole Miss football program has reached an all time low(thanks Trey). What I suffered through for four quarters last night in Oxford was absolutely pathetic. If I did not realize it before, I realize it now, we have maybe 3 or 4 players that belong on the field in the SEC. There was not a single positive thing that this team was able to carry away from the game yesterday.

I have hinted the past couple of weeks that I am not a believer in Brent Schaeffer based on his play thus far. Coming into this year we were all led to believe that Schaeffer would be an all star player for the Rebels. This guy has not showed me one reason as to why all the hype was made over him. He does not know how to manage the offense and most of his throws are off. Coach O hinted in his post game press conference that if we have to play Seth Adams we will, and that they are looking into it. O has also commented the past two weeks about how bad Schaeffer has played.

"On defense we made a little bit of improvement today" These were the words expressed by Coach O in the post game press conferenced. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What type of an improvement did we make yesterday. Wake Forest threw less than 8 passes all game. The Deamon Deacon's back up running back ran all over the Rebels. I am not a defensive coordinator, but can we not make adjustments and put more people in the box to stop the run. Someone with more experience on strategy please explain why we could not stop the run. It was the worst defensive effort I have seen in quite sometime.

1st and goal from the 2 and we can not score. We take a time out and we still can not score. This pretty much sums up the game.

Going into this game I never saw us losing to Wake Forest. Maybe I am crazy for believing that, but I did not believe we would look as bad as we did. It was the worst excuse for an Ole Miss football team that I have ever seen. You will hear alot of people call for us to get rid of Coach Ogeron. But for the time being, you will not hear that from me. I am standing by him. If there are people out there that believe we would be in better shape if Cutcliffe was still here they are nuts. We might have a couple of more wins, but our overall program would be nowhere near where it needs to be.

Rebels Get Big Time Commit

The Ole Miss recruiting class continues to grow as the Rebels picked up five star wide receiver AJ Jackson yesterday. Jackson comes from Schaeffer's old school the College of Sequioas. He led the nation last year with 19 TD receptions. Besides Ole Miss he was offered by USC as well as many other schools. This puts the Rebels in the top ten Rivals recruiting class as they are ranked 4th in the nation at this point.

Some Notes From ESPN

These two topics written by Pat Forde were published on ESPN.com today.
The national media is beginning to but Ogeron on the hot seat. To be honest, I do not believe he is on the seat at all. Yeah, I am mad about the current situation, but I am not calling for him to be fired by any means. And I know of no one that wonders why we fired Cut. That statement is ludicrous. What fans he is talking to I have no idea.

Unusually Undefeated
Last time the Demon Deacons were 3-0: 1987, when they ran it to 5-0 and finished 7-4.
Rankings: Not receiving votes in either the AP or USA Today Top 25s. Ranked 36th in the Sagarin Ratings.
Key ingredient: Mental toughness. Wake lost its starting quarterback, Ben Mauk (7), to a broken arm in the opener, but hasn't been deterred. Wake also has won the fourth quarter of every game, outscoring its three opponents 24-0 in the final 15 minutes.
When will reality hit? With their next two games against reeling Mississippi and lightweight Liberty, the Deacs have a chance to go 5-0. Then comes a home game against Clemson -- a team Wake has beaten two of the past three years, with the lone loss coming in overtime. A victory over the Tigers could be the school's first 6-0 start since World War II -- but don't count on it.

Coaching Heat Index
Just beginning to smolder: Ed Orgeron (27), Mississippi. Much as Rebels fans would like to delight in the travails in Starkville, they can't afford to with their own debacle unfolding in Oxford. Ole Miserable has been on the road twice and lost by the combined count of 65-21 -- and that's to Missouri and Kentucky, not Texas and Florida. Strong recruiting should buy Orgeron time, but fans have to wonder every day why it was imperative to get rid of David Cutcliffe in 2004.

Dogs Rebels in Primetime

Well it could get UGALY in a couple of weeks in front of a national audience. ESPN announced today that the Ole Miss-Georgia game will be aired live on ESPN2 with an 8:00 kickoff. The atmosphere in Oxford will be great as these two schools have a great tradition of tailgating and partying. Many fans from both schools have been looking forward to this game for quite sometime. Oxford will be packed that weekend, I just wish we had better talent to make a game out of it.

Rumors

I am hearing rumors that Memphis State defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn was fired by Tommy West. I have not heard or read it from a credible source yet though. Dunn was the former interim head coach and defensive coordinator at Ole Miss. After leaving Ole Miss he was then hired by the Jackal at Mississippi State where he also served as defensive coordinator. Wonder if Joe Lee will be required to wear socks wherever he ends up next?

Update: Dunn has been fired per C-L:

Joe Lee Dunn, a former popular assistant coach at Mississippi State and Ole Miss and former interim head coach of the Rebels, was fired today as defensive coordinator at the University of Memphis, according to a news release on the school’s Web site.
Dunn came to Memphis in the spring of 2003 after being fired as defensive coordinator at Mississippi State.
Memphis coach Tommy West announced Dunn’s firing during a news conference this afternoon.
“I want to thank Coach Dunn for the contributions he made in the three years that he was here," West said in a statement on the Memphis Web site. “I think he was a big part of our success but I have a responsibility to my boss (athletic director R.C. Johnson) and our team to do what I feel is the right thing. I like Joe Lee as a person. This is a business decision by me. I didn't feel that at this time we were moving forward on the defensive side of the ball. When I feel that way and I can't be positive about what we are doing, then I've got to make changes. Again, I appreciate what Joe Lee did while he was here. This decision was based on a confidence issue about our system.”
West said he will serve as defensive coordinator for the rest of the season

Cats Tame Rebels

Ole Miss football continues to struggle as they were defeated by Kentucky 31-14 this Saturday in Lexington. The Rebels got on the scoreboard first, but were not able to keep the lead. The story of the day for the Rebels was the mistakes they made. Multiple times the Rebels were killed by costly penalties they made that were bad mistakes. They even started the game with an offsides call. Mistakes are something that this team can not afford to make if they are going to win another game this year.

For the offense, Brent Schaeffer had a better game with his completion rate and rushing, but he is still not all there. Schaeffer made some awful mistakes that were crucial in the outcome of the game. I did not expect Schaeffer to come in here and take over the entire season, but I expected him to be a little better than I have seen in the last two games. Costly fumbles and interceptions in this game lead to the Cats having more points on the scoreboard.

The defense continues to struggle. The Wildcats managed to get most of their yards in the first half. To the coaches credit, they did make some adjustments at half time and went to three down lineman for alot of the second half. This helped slow down the Wildcats rushing attack in the third quarter. The biggest eyesore on the team is the play of the defensive backs. I am not a defensive genious, but I know we are not playing the position the way it is supposed to be played. Hopefully some of the backups can improve over the next couple of weeks and replace some of the current starters.

So where does the season go from here? I do not know. At the beginning of the year I picked the Rebels to go 6-6 on the year. However I also thought we would win 3 of the first 4 games. We obviously have not done that and I really doubt there is any chance we can go 6-6 at this point. So I pose the question now? How many wins will the Rebels have this year or will they win again?

The Deamon Deacons of Wake Forest come to town this week. They are shall we say, a weak football team, however they are 3-0 on the season. Which includes a 7-6 win over powerhouse Duke. I will estimate the crowd this week at 42,000. The game in Oxford this weekend should be very uneventful. I honestly do not know what to think of this team anymore.

Is The Case Closed?

Star football recruit Jerrell Powe intends to withdraw from the University of Mississippi next week and drop his lawsuit against the school and the NCAA.
"Although my attorneys are convinced I have met NCAA requirements, and that we would win the lawsuit, I do not want to enter and attend Ole Miss under a cloud of controversy," Powe said in a statement read by his attorney, Jim Carroll, on Saturday.

In his statement, Powe said he has improved his reading and writing skills. "By the way, I can read and I can write," Powe said. "My writing may not be perfect, but I am told most medical doctors' writing is hard to read, too. I have read all the articles written about me. The assertions that I cannot read or write are false."
(Clarion Ledger)

State of Ole Miss Football

Along the lines of the President' s State of the Union Address, I will give my State of Ole Miss Football Address as we currently stand.

Last week's loss to Missouri could not have come at a more awful time. While it is not necessarily the loss that hurts, it is the way we lost that has started this snowball. Ole Miss was pretty much run over last week by a good Missouri team. I would say the fan base was spilt as to whether we would win or not going into the game. However I would say very few people thought we would have gotten blown out the way we did.

The Missouri loss sent all these wackos on message boards into motion. 85% of message boards are made up of fans that I believe are absolutely crazy. They worship a player or team one day and the next they are ready to fire and cut the same people they worshiped the week before. Going into the season, I said the Rebels would be 6-6, so I kindof expect a Missouri loss to be thrown in there.

The Jerrell Powe ruling has increased the amount of ridiculous posts on the internet. These people are blaming everyone from the NCAA to Robert Khayat to Sidney Allen as to why Jerrell is not in school. They will blame anyone and everyone given the opportunity. While I do think that it is wrong the way the NCAA handled the situation, I do not place the blame on them as to why he is not in school. I do place blame on them in the way they handled the situation. This should have been all taken care of back in July or early August.

If you want to place a finger on someone, place it on the Wayne County School System. Jerrell has been a member of this school system since he was a kid. They knew he was this way the entire time he was in grade school and high school. Did they try and correct this? No, not until he was a Senior, maybe even a Junior. This just shows how screwed up the public school system in the State of Mississippi is. I think the Dept of Education should go after the administrators at Wayne County and investigate as to why he was able to advance. And upon their findings fire the idiots for not doing their jobs. Would I love for Jerrell to be playing for Ole Miss right now, you better believe it. But all these people that are pointing fingers at our administration saying it is their problem, are way off base.

Bottom line: the disappointment of Powe not being ruled eligible and the miserable loss to Missouri have sent the Rebel nation into turmoil. We still have a football season left. We still play Kentucky this weekend, so lets drop what happened and look towards what is left and quit complaining. It is very possible we will loose to Kentucky this weekend. The season is not over by a long means. I feel like a win at Kentucky this weekend could help the morale of the fanbase and team drastically. If we don't win, who knows what all the wackos on message boards will be complaining about next week....Now if I can only figure out Pay Per View.

The Last Blow

OXFORD, Miss. -- The NCAA reaffirmed its earlier ruling that Jerrell Powe failed to meet academic requirements and may not play football for the University of Mississippi at this time, university officials announced Thursday. Because university admissions standards track NCAA eligibility requirements, the NCAA’s ruling also means Powe does not meet university admissions standards.Initially declared ineligible by the NCAA on August 25, the university appealed the NCAA staff’s decision. In the meantime, Powe was temporarily admitted as a part-time student after he filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and the university.In his suit, Powe has asked the court to order the university to admit him as a full-time student and to allow him to join the football team. A hearing had been scheduled for Sept. 18 in Lafayette County Chancery Court. On Wednesday, Sept. 13, however, the NCAA removed the case to federal court. The hearing has not been rescheduled.Although the university supported Powe’s eligibility before the NCAA, University Attorney Lee Tyner said the university hopes Powe will drop his lawsuit.“Academic decisions should be left to the university,” said Tyner. “For a court to tell the university whom to admit would be extraordinary.”“Ole Miss did its best to put as much information as possible in front of the NCAA in hopes of a positive ruling,” said Athletics Director Pete Boone. “We wish the best for Jerrell Powe. But now that the NCAA has ruled, we all need to move on.”

The Grove Report

If you are reading this in the next couple of hours, click on over to www.thegrovereport.com. They are supposed to be talking to Powes lawyer and tutor. This is always a pretty good show, I think it is the best Ole Miss sports show on radio. Plus each week you get to hear former Pillow Academy and Ole Miss star Stewart Patridge in a small segment on each show. They normally archive the show if you can not catch it tonight.

The Official Release

OXFORD — Star recruit Jerrell Powe was denied academic eligibility by the NCAA again Tuesday, leaving the defensive tackle to wait on a decision from an NCAA review committee this week.

The NCAA declared the defensive tackle ineligible two weeks ago, citing "irregularities" in his high school transcripts. It looked at Powe's case again in the past few days after more information was supplied by his lawyers, but didn't change its initial decision to rule the former Wayne County High standout ineligible.

"There's really been no change," university attorney Lee Tyner said. "We expect to hear from the NCAA review group by Friday."

The NCAA review committee is scheduled to meet Thursday at 1 p.m. and make a decision on Powe, who is currently enrolled as a part-time student at Ole Miss.

If the NCAA review board accepts the university's appeal and rules Powe academically eligible, he will be eligible to practice and play with the football team. If the review group denies the appeal, Powe's case will move to the Chancery Court of Lafayette County on Monday.

POWE DENIED

Jerrell Powe was denied admission to Ole Miss by the NCAA today. It appears there is one more appeal that will take place later this week. I give him a 10% chance he dresses out for the Rebels this year. From reports I have read things could get ugly with law suits. I hope the Powe camp does not decide to do this. I have a feeling if the NCAA digs deep enough into the situation, they might find out some stuff that could hurt alot of people including our football team.

ESPN Speaks Out on MSU

A little note from ESPN on the current state of the MSU football program. We are not far behind.

It's no secret that Mississippi State has had a rough go of it the last few years, but you might be surprised just how rough it's been.
There's bad. There's worse. And then there's being the first SEC team to do something since Tulane. That's right. Tulane!
For those who aren't college football historians, the Green Wave were a charter member of the SEC in 1933 but eventually became such a doormat in football that they opted for independent status in the mid '60s. Their final season in the conference was 1965, in which they were shut out five times, including the first two games of the year. That brings us to Mississippi State, which, after losing 15-0 to South Carolina and 34-0 to Auburn to open the 2006 campaign, became the first SEC team since that Tulane squad to be held without a point in its first two games of the season.
We're not aware of any discussion about giving the Bulldogs the boot from the conference, but their current level of futility is similar to what Tulane experienced in its final years. The MSU seniors have won just four of their 26 conference games and have been outscored 826-296 in SEC play. That's a scoring margin of -20.4 per game. Saturday's loss to Auburn was the seventh time they've been shut out in conference play and the fifth time they've failed to score in a home SEC game.
The Bulldogs will now step out of conference to attempt an end to this historical scoreless stretch. The team trying to keep Mississippi State off the scoreboard this Saturday? Naturally, it will be Tulane.

A Beating

How the score was only 34-7 I am still not sure. Missouri should have beaten the Rebels worse than that but they did not. This game proved something alot of Rebels fans were hoping it would not. The program is not there yet. We are still a ways away from being able to compete on a week to week basis with good teams. I felt like Missouri was a pretty good team. Are the Auburn, no, but they are a good team.

That were not alot of positives if any to take away from the game in Columbia on Saturday. I am not going to jump the gun like others are and say we need a true DC or HC. Because I do not believe that is the problem. I went into the game thinking the Rebels would not win, but I at least thought we would make a game out of it. From the get go it was obvious the Rebels were not ready to play. Everything that I read starting on Thursday from Coach O, it sounded like he knew we would not be prepared.

Now we move on to Kentucky. Alot of teams face MUST win games throughout their seasons. I think this is a MUST win for the Rebels for this season. For many reasons: team attitude, fan attitude, and bowl chances. Many will say it is too early in the season to have MUST win games, but I disagree on this one.

The Rebels will go into Kentucky more than likely an underdog. The Wildcats have circled this game on the calendar as one they can win. Let's hope the Rebels have also. They will have an extra day of rest and preparation this week as compared to last week, I hope they take advantage of it. Also if Jerrell Powe can qualify this week I feel like it will help the morale of fans and the team.

To wrap up this post I will have to agree with Coach O on his analysis of the game:

"We got whupped," Orgeron said. "Overall, they just whupped us."

Top Ten Sport Experience

For your Friday afternoon viewing pleasure check out the link below. Sports Illustrated recently ranked the Grove experience as number 8 all time on things sports fans should experience.

http://siviagra.secondthought.com/08.html

Kennedy Gets A Commitment

Forgot to post this earlier this week, but things are already looking good for Andy Kennedy and this years recruiting class. Here is the article from the Commercial Appeal:

OXFORD, Miss. -- It didn't take Zach Graham long to be won over by new Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy and the Ole Miss campus.

Graham, a 6-5, 215-pound small forward from Lawrenceville, Ga. has announced his commitment to the Rebels after visiting the campus two weekends ago. He is Kennedy's first commitment for the 2007-08 season.

'No. 1, when I went down there, the people were really cool,'' Graham said. ''I really like the people there. Coach Kennedy and coach White, it really felt good being them. I could tell all of the coaches were real and that I could trust them.''Graham is ranked No. 81 by Hoop Scoop Magazine, and 113th on the Rivals150. He is known as an exception mid-range scorer that excels at coming off of screens. He has a strong showing at the Reebok ABCD this summer, where he was selected to play in the all-star game.

As a junior at Peachtree Ridge High School, Graham averaged 22 points a game and was an all-state performer. Graham is also playing quarterback for Peachtree Ridge this fall.Graham said the chance to play right away was also enticing to him. He chose Ole Miss over Charlotte and Virginia Tech.

Rebs Cats on PPV

OXFORD, Miss. ­ The Sept. 16 Southeastern Conference matchup between Ole Miss and Kentucky will be shown on a pay-per-view basis, it was announced Thursday by Ole Miss officials and TeleSouth Communications. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m. (CT) from Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Ky.
The pay-per-view telecast will be offered throughout Mississippi and in the Memphis, Tenn., market and also on DIRECTV. Fans wishing to purchase the telecast should contact their local cable outlet or DIRECTV.
Richard Cross will provide play-by-play of the telecast, while former Ole Miss player Walker Jones will serve as analyst.

All I Ask Is That They HURRY!!

OXFORD, Miss. – Additional information regarding the eligibility of Jerrell Powe to play football at the University of Mississippi was presented to the NCAA today (Thursday), but neither university officials nor attorneys representing Powe expect a decision today.
“In light of the volume of new documents that must be thoroughly reviewed, we don’t expect to receive a final ruling on his eligibility today,” said university attorney Lee Tyner. “We are hopeful to have a decision by September 15.”
An official for the NCAA said the organization intends to move quickly.
“The NCAA is in the process of evaluating the additional information provided by Jerrell Powe and the University of Mississippi. It is the NCAA’s intention to come to a decision as quickly as possible,” said Bob Williams, NCAA spokesperson.
Even if Powe is declared eligible by the NCAA next week, it is not yet clear when the 18-year-old Wayne County athlete would be able to play. Tyner said that would be a matter for university administrators to decide.
Powe’s attorney James Carroll of Jackson said he is confident of the outcome of the dispute.
“Jerrell Powe has provided full documentation addressing all the issues,” said Carroll, “and is optimistic that an objective evaluation will confirm that he meets NCAA eligibility standards.”

Rebel Hoops on the Tube

The Ole Miss Rebels are now scheduled to make at least 10 television appearances this season, marking the ninth straight year that Ole Miss has played on TV 10 or more times.Fox Sports Net will carry the Rebels' SEC opener against Kentucky in a Jan. 6, Saturday night 7:30 p.m. CT showdown at Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford.Also among the slated FSN telecasts are home encounters with Arkansas (Jan. 13, 4 p.m.) and Alabama (Feb. 10, 4 p.m.) and road meetings with the Razorbacks (Feb. 17, 4 p.m.) and South Carolina (Feb. 24, 7 p.m. ET).The games will appear on various Fox Sports Net channels (FSN South, FSN Midwest, etc.) in addition to the Sun Sports Network.The Rebels also have four games on Lincoln Financial Sports and an ESPN "Super Tuesday" faceoff with Mississippi State in Oxford, Jan. 30 at 6 p.m.

A Question I Do Not Have an Answer To

Is the NCAA supposed to rule on Powe Thursday or Friday? Can anyone help me out here.

Former Rebel Assistant News

Joe Cullen as many of you remember was one Ogeron's early hires. However he was fired in the first several months due to an alcohol incident. Well it appears Coach Cullen is still having problems:


Detroit Lions assistant coach Joe Cullen has encountered legal trouble for, among other things, allegedly driving without clothes.
According to a report in Wednesday's Detroit Free Press, Cullen, who was hired by first-year head coach Rod Marinelli to coach the team's defensive line, has been arrested twice in the past two weeks.
The first arrest, on Aug. 24, was for alleged indecent and obscene conduct. The second, on Sept. 1, was for alleged drunk driving. Both occurred in Dearborn, MI.

Mizzou Outlook

Below is a partial write up from the Missouri/Murray State game. Missouri is going to be a tough match up for the Rebels. Alot of Ole Miss fans are looking past this game, but by no means should they be. Take a look at some of the stats from the Tigers QB. He had a pretty impressive game. Based on last weeks performance he would tear our secondary apart. I have a feeling the Ole Miss defensive coaches are working hard on that right now. I wish we had another day to prepare for the game, this is one of the reasons I did not want to play on Sunday. But we can not correct that now. The Tigers are projected to finish as high as second in their division of the Big XII. I hope Rebel fans are prepared for the difficulty of this game.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Chase Daniel set a Missouri record with five touchdown passes, helping the Tigers beat Murray State 47-7 on Saturday.
Daniel, making his first career start, was 23-of-32 for 320 yards with a passer rating of 207.44. He broke the school mark that was held by six others, including Brad Smith, who had four in last season's opening 44-17 win over Arkansas State.
It was first game since 2001 that featured someone other than Smith starting at quarterback for the Tigers. Smith, Missouri's all-time leading passer and rusher, was a four-year starter and holds 69 school, Big 12 and NCAA records.
Daniel showed he also is pretty good, dominating the overmatched Racers, a Division I-AA team that was 2-9 last season and 0-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The Tigers needed just six plays to take the lead for good. Daniel's quick toss to Will Franklin became a 60-yard scoring pass when Franklin spun past the cornerback and ran untouched into the end zone.

Press Release on Wade

The Redskins have signed veteran offensive lineman Todd Wade, the team announced on Tuesday. To make room for Wade, the team released lineman Ndukwe Ikuchuku.
Wade, 6-8 and 319 pounds, has mostly played right tackle in seven NFL seasons. He began his pro career as a second-round draft pick by the Miami Dolphins, where he played four seasons and started 63 games. Wade played for the Houston Texans the last two years, starting 23 games at right tackle. His 2005 season was cut short due to a knee injury.
Wade was released by the Texans last July. "I was looking for the right situation, and when it came down to signing with a team, I knew this was a good one," Wade said on Tuesday. "It was a nice fit." It's expected that Wade will serve as a backup at offensive tackle, joining third-year player Jim Molinaro and versatile lineman Tyson Walter. The Redskins are set with Pro Bowler Chris Samuels and seven-year veteran Jon Jansen starting at the positions. The addition of Wade gives the Redskins some insurance at tackle. Molinaro is coming off of arthroscopic knee surgery during training camp, forcing him to miss three preseason games. "Todd has been a starter in this league," head coach Joe Gibbs said. "You get someone with experience and we think he is real talented. When we worked him out, we were impressed. He fits with us." Wade played his college ball at Ole Miss, where he was a three-year starter.

Wade A Redskin

Received a memo this morning from Worldclassglass Washington Bureau correspondant SAL. Sal says he has received word that Todd Wade has signed with the Washington Redskins. I have not seen terms of the contract, they should be released soon. Wade a former Greenwoodian and Jackson Prep graduate was in Oxford over the weekend. I figured he would be picked up around this time as teams have evaluated their talent from fall camp and have been making cuts. More to follow on Todd soon.

Bad Choice of Words

Someone that represents our university as its spokesmanshould never have used the words he did below to describe the Grove. While I understand the Grove has gotten a little more out of hand the past couple of years, he whould have never explained it the way he did. And you wander why the Colonel Reb PR disaster played out the way it did. Well when the you read the words below you will understand. Just plain stupid in my opinion.



An afternoon intended for families has devolved into a day of excessive alcohol consumption and debauchery, said Jeffrey Alford, associate vice chancellor at Ole Miss."A long-standing evolutionary change has occurred in The Grove," Alford said. "What started out a pleasant family-style picnic experience has gradually evolved to the point where there is now far too much unacceptable behavior."Drunkenness, disorderly conduct, public indecency, vandalism and public intoxication were a few of the problems faced by university officials last football season.And students were only part of the problem, Alford said."Last year I witnessed middle-aged men urinating in public," Alford said. "In one case I even saw one defecating in public. It's an outrage."Alcohol is the main culprit, Alfred said. Though alcohol is prohibited on state property, students and families routinely lug coolers of concealed beverages to The Grove. In response to last year's disorderly conduct, school officials have stepped up security."We have a 'no tolerance' policy this year," Alford said. "We're going to arrest people."

Quick Note

A quick note from practice today. On my way back to Birmingham tonight I was listening to the Rebel Yell Hotline and a few position changes were made today.

Markeith Summers will be moved from wide receiver to cornerback

Daverin Geralds is moving from guard to defensive tackle.

McCluster Gains Recognition

Ole Miss wide receiver Dexter McCluster was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday, a day after collecting 268 all-purpose yards in the Rebels’ season-opening 28-25 victory over Memphis.
McCluster scored Ole Miss’ first touchdown of the game on a 31-yard rush in the second quarter and finished with 60 yards rushing and 86 yards receiving, as well as another 122 yards on five kick-off returns. The total was the fourth-most in Rebel history and is believed to be a school record for freshman. Deuce McAllister holds the all-time record, a 317-yard performance against Arkansas in 1999. Ole Miss travels to Missouri on Saturday for an 11:40 a.m. kickoff.

Notes and Quotes From The Game

For the first game of the year, many Rebel fans walked away from Vaught Hemingway excited and looking forward to the next game. While the game ended a little closer than many would have hoped for, it was a good outing for the Rebels. I feel like the offense played very well and the defense still needs a little work. The Schaeffer-McCluster combo could lead to some big wins for the Rebels this season.

The offensive line seemed better than I expected for the Rebels. Andrew Wicker played one of the better games I have seen him play. When Wicker was used to pull and block he gained at least 6 yards a play on alot of plays it was more than that. I was glad to see this unit play without any penalities. The play calling was outstanding. I thought the calls Werner made were great and all came at excellent times in the games. Probably the biggest and most effective change for Ole Miss football over the past 2 years.

Newcomers that are going to make a huge difference on this team aside from the obvious McCluster and Schaeffer. Ben Jarvus Green Ellis had a great game and he made some excellent blocks in the backfield also. BJGE is a big asset in the backfield. John Jerry is HUGE he is going to be a very good offensive lineman by the time he leaves Oxford.

Defense needs some work. I was dissapointed in the play of the secondary. It had been reported they were improved, but I did not see much improvement this weekend. The defensive line play had its ups and downs, but they need to get healthy. Seemed to be a litte late of the ball sometimes. But this does not bother me at all. I know Coach O was not satisfied with the play from this unit. If I had to guess I would say he was mad. I know he will work tirelesly this week to correct defensive problems.

I was very glad to see the Mullins bust at the players entrance. I think this is an awesome idea. You have all read about my disagreement in the retiring of the jersey, but this is a great thing they started. The video and presentation before the game were good and there were quite a bit of tears in the stands.

I was also impressed with our crowd. They seemed to be into the game more. They announced the crowd at 55,000, but I felt like there were more than that there. Not sure why, but it looked like alot more. I did not expect that many people to be there, but no complaining here.

I leave you with a quote from Geoff Calkins of the Commercial Appeal concerning the two meeting again:

"Say, Dec. 29, at 3:30 p.m., at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. "

My take: Maybe us, but not Memphis

In Oxford

Made it to Oxford yesterday in time to make it to the Coach O show. Nothing different this year, its the same crowd as last year, always a good time even though you can not hear a word he says. They just do not have enough speakers set up for everyone at the University Club to hear.

However Coach O seemed to be in a great mood yesterday. It was one of the more impressive appearances I had seen him make. He gave a short speech before the show and gave the ups and downs of the team. During the breaks he was having a good time signing autographs and throwing balls to people. Why some of the older people in the Oxford and Ole Miss community still do not like this guy, I do not know. He is more involved and more fan friendly than Cutcliffe ever was. It is time for these people to quit judging him and buy into O being our coach. Now wins and losses is a different story for another day.

Slater Suspended

A couple of days late on this, but here it is:

STARKVILLE - Mississippi State basketball coach Rick Stansbury said Thursday that Dietric Slater has been suspended for the first half of the 2006-07 season for a violation of team rules.Stansbury would not disclose the nature of the violation, but said it will sideline the senior small forward for the entire fall semester.Slater, a 6-foot-3 player from Waynesboro, will miss 50 percent of MSU's games under the suspension, or 15 regular-season games. Slater will not return until MSU's third Southeastern Conference game on Jan. 13 at Kentucky.Slater will not travel with the Bulldogs when they leave today for a three-game exhibition trip to western Canada over Labor Day weekend, Stansbury said.Mississippi State will play two games on Saturday and one game on Sunday against Canadian university teams.Stansbury said Slater has not practiced with the team for the Canada trip but that he will be able to practice when State resumes preseason workouts in October.Slater was set to be one of four returning starters for the Bulldogs after averaging 10.1 points and 4.9 rebounds last season. He made 19 starts in 24 games but missed the final week of the regular season and the SEC Tournament after partially tearing a knee ligament in a March 1 game at Arkansas.