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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebs Hold Second Major Scrimmage of Spring
6/21/1999 | Football
April 4, 1998
OXFORD, Miss. -- Big plays on both offense and defense highlighted a 151-play scrimmage here Saturday in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium as Coach Tommy Tuberville's Ole Miss Rebels reached the halfway point of spring football drills.
"We are a lot better than we were at this time last week," Tuberville said after the scrimmage which lasted more than two hours. "We're still missing some players due to injury, but our offensive and defensive lines have gotten better."
Sophomore quarterback Romaro Miller completed 32 of 60 passes for 434 yards and three touchdowns, while Jake Hill completed eight of 10 for 125 yards and one TD, and Jeff Smith five of nine for 37 yards.
Miller had TD strikes of 40 and nine yards to Ken Lucas and 27 yards to Grant Heard, while Hill had a four yard TD pass to John Williamson. Tony Cannion rushed for 121 yards on 10 carries and Joe Gunn added 97 yards rushing on 17 carries as he scored from one yard out. Deuce McAllister had 65 yards on 11 carries. Tight end Rufus French led all receivers with nine catches for 75 yards. Lucas had seven receptions for 115 yards and two TDs, and Cory Peterson had four catches for 106 yards.
Defensively, cornerback Gary Thigpen picked off a Miller pass and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. The defense also had several sacks while Correy Gex and Justin Coleman recovered fumbles.
"We've moved Antionne Scott inside to defense tackle and that should give us more speed on defense," Tuberville said. "We're still a little concerned about linebacker, because Armegis Spearman isn't able to practice and we're still practicing a lot of young guys. "We didn't catch the ball as well today (Saturday) as we needed to. We had seven dropped passes. Overall, you're looking for the competition. You're looking at guys playing when they are tired and bumped and bruised."
As for as the kicking game is concerned, Tuberville said the Rebels are still working on that area.
"We're trying to find the number one guy coming out of spring," he said. "Just looking the way they've kicked over the last few weeks, Don Juneau has probably moved out front, but we won't make a decision until the end as to who is going to be our top guy. He's probably kicking the best right now." Juneau had a 41-yard field goal during the scrimmage.
Ole Miss will continue spring drills with a Sunday practice. The annual Red-Blue game -- which is being called "Grove Bowl '98" -- is set for April 18.
