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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Defense Strong in Saturday's Scrimmage
4/2/2005 | Football
April 2, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss running back Vashon Pearson rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown, but the Rebel defense forced four turnovers in Saturday's full-squad, 93-play scrimmage.
Dressed in full pads, the Rebels scrimmaged for 90 minutes, spending the final 30 focusing on goal line and overtime situations. Despite offensive miscues, Ole Miss head football coach Ed Orgeron saw some improvement in his unit's 11th practice of the spring.
"I thought we played pretty well today," Orgeron said. "We still have some areas we need to work on on both sides of the ball. I thought our linebackers were excellent. We had a few too many mistakes on offense with four turnovers. But that is what we want on defense. We want to go after the ball and force turnovers."
In addition to the turnovers, the defense also totaled three sacks and a touchdown - an 85-yard fumble-recovery and score by Keith Houston. Redshirt freshman LB Brandon Thomas recorded a team-high 8 tackles, including 6 solos with a forced fumble. Jamarca Sanford registered 5 solo stops and an interception, while Jeremy Garrett had 4 solos, including 2 for loss with a sack.
Offensively, quarterback Ethan Flatt took 45 snaps and completed 7-of-13 attempts for 83 yards. Micheal Spurlock was under center on 38 plays and was 7-of-9 for 78 yards with one TD and an interception, which came on the first play of the scrimmage.
Flatt was the signal caller for the Rebels' most productive drive of the day, an 8-play, 65-yard sequence that saw Pearson carry the load. The senior turned in runs of 24 and 25 yards and capped it with a 3-yard scoring trot. The lone pass of the drive was a 15-yard hookup from Flatt to Carlos Suggs.
A sophomore from Memphis, Suggs led the receiving corp with 6 catches for 81 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Mike Espy hauled in 5 passes for 51 yards, and three others collected one reception.
Jamal Pittman garnered the most carries of the day with 18 rushes for 69 yards, including a 21-yard run. He scored one touchown on the goal line, but also fumbled twice. Hiram White carried 10 times for 44 yards with two TDs in short-yardage situations, and Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis had 8 rushes for 27 yards.
"Our offense is still making mistakes, but this is a new system and they will get it turned around," Orgeron said. "We have a way to go, but we'll get there."
Ole Miss is entering the final week of spring practice and concludes it with the annual Red-Blue Grove Bowl on Saturday, April 9. The scrimmage kicks off at 1 p.m. CT at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field.
