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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Football Holds One Practice Thursday
8/14/2003 | Football
Aug. 14, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. - A day after its first scrimmage, the Ole Miss football squad was looking to improve in some areas during its one practice Thursday afternoon. The Rebels worked out in shoulder pads and shorts. Head coach David Cutcliffe said there were positives and some areas that needed work after looking at the tape of Wednesday's 130-play scrimmage.
"Offensively, we've thrown a lot at them," Cutcliffe said. "They are blocking a lot of looks. We went back to the basics. Assignment errors and things like that had as much to do with stopping us as anything. Chris Spencer did a really good job his first time at center yesterday. We worked on ball security again today. We had a fumbled snap and a couple of other turnovers that hurt us during the scrimmage.
"Defensively, we've had a continued emphasis on tackling better and limiting the number of big plays. That's something we worked on today. We were pretty consistent defensively for the most part, and then we would give up a big play. That was something that was a nemesis for us a year ago, and we've got to get the corrected."
Another area where the Rebels are looking for improvement is the running game. According to Cutcliffe, the evaluation process is still in progress.
"There's still competition (at running back)," said Cutcliffe. "Our running game at times yesterday was inconsistent. We did some good things in the scrimmage, but we're still in the evaluation process there. We're going to wait until after Saturday's scrimmage before we start looking at the running back depth situation.
"As far as Jamal (Pittman) being back, he's really only had one day of good live work, and he was a little sore from that. We will see how he feels tomorrow and Saturday."
Cutcliffe also announced that junior redshirt linebacker Ken Bournes was seeing some time on the Rebel defensive front during Thursday's workout.
"One of the changes today is that we worked Ken Bournes at defensive end," Cutcliffe said. "We did that to give him a look there. He is a big, versatile athlete. It's just an experiment right now, and we'll have to see where that goes."
The Rebels continue preseason drills with two practices Friday. Ole Miss will hold "Meet The Rebels Day" Saturday, Aug. 16 in The Grove at 1:00 p.m. (CT). The Rebels open their 2003 campaign Aug. 30 at Vanderbilt. Jefferson Pilot Sports will televise the contest, which will kick off at 11:30 a.m. (CT).
