.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Football Holds Third Scrimmage Of Preseason Wednesday
8/21/2002 | Football
Aug. 21, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss football season begins in a little over a week when the Rebels host Louisiana-Monroe Aug. 31, and according to head coach David Cutcliffe, the focus of Wednesday's intra-squad scrimmage was on the Indians.
"That's what this scrimmage was about," Cutcliffe said. "We worked on their kicking and their offensive and defensive sets exclusively today. This was a good start and puts us pretty far along with our gameplan."
While the defense received most of the headlines in first two scrimmages, the Rebel offense took over Wednesday. Junior quarterback Eli Manning connected on 9 of his 11 pass attempts for 206 yards and a score. Manning's TD toss was a 97-yard strike to redshirt freshman Mike Espy, who finished the scrimmage with 3 catches for 143 yards. Kerry Johnson also had 2 receptions for 32 yards. Robert Williams led all rushers with 18 yards on 6 carries.
Sophomore Jonathan Nichols paced the Ole Miss kicking game, hitting on all three field goal attempts of 40, 46 and 36 yards. Cody Ridgeway recorded 2 punts for an average of 48.5 yards, while Shae Orrell had two punts for a 40.5 average. Cutcliffe liked what he saw from the kicking game's strong performance.
"I was pleased with our kicking game, and what we got done there today," Cutcliffe said. "I'm anxious to look at the tape to see if we were in the right positions on both sides of the ball."
Wednesday's scrimmage did not involve tackling to the ground due to the team's injury situation, but Cutcliffe said the scrimmage was productive.
"I made the decision not to tackle to the ground because I thought we'd be pushing our luck with injuries," Cutcliffe said. "I think we were still able to get the game-type situations out of today's scrimmage.
"We'll see in the next couple of days about getting some of our players back (from injuries) out here and practicing full speed. We'll know a lot more Monday."
The Rebels continue preparations for the Aug. 31 season opener Thursday.
Statistical Leaders
Rushing - Williams 6-18; Jacobs 2-11; Vaughan 6-11
Passing - Manning 11-9-0, 206 yards, 1 TD; Morris 3-1-0, 16 yards; Flatt 4-3-0, 15 yards
Receiving - Espy 3-143, 1 TD; K. Johnson 2-32; Flowers 2-29
Tackles - White 6 (6-0); Hamilton 5 (4-1); Pierce 4 (2-2)
