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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Concentrate On Special Teams In Friday's Practice
8/22/2008 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. With the season opener against Memphis just about a week away, the Ole Miss football team concentrated on special teams at Friday's practice with several guys emerging as leaders.
"We had a full special teams day today; we really put a lot of emphasis on the kicking game, every phase of it," head coach Houston Nutt said. "You try to cover everything. The first play of the game could be an onside kick or you could have a fake punt (during the game). They may have a bunch of tricks up their sleeves.You have to cover all your bases go over everything, like what happens after a safety, what happens after we get a safety. Everybody in the stands can count to 11, so you want to have 11 guys on the field. That's what we tried to get done.
"Josh will be our kicker. He has done a very good job with field goals. Our punter Rob Park has been very consistent. Our kicker, Justin Sparks has done a good job up to this point. Deep Snapper, (Preston) Powers has been awesome, one of the best I've been around. He can snap that ball."
Nutt said that it was Park's consistency that won him the starting nod at punter, however nothing is set in stone. "We told him that it doesn't mean that Justin can't come in and punt if things don't go right."
Field position was a problem last year, which is why the Rebels have spent a lot of time working on that area this preseason.
"We've worked on getting a good kick, covering our lanes and doing what we are supposed to do to win the real estate on the kicking plays," Nutt said.
Next Saturday's game day atmosphere will get a little more exciting with the addition of the new video scoreboard featuring one of the largest true HD displays in the SEC. To prepare, the Rebels will part of Saturday's practice with the board on.
"We are going to practice Saturday night with the board on for at least a half. I am anxious for the guys to see it, so they won't be looking at it that much during the real game. We had the same thing at (Arkansas) where the first time it can be exciting watching yourself on the replay. But you have to get in the huddle and get ready for the next play. Hopefully we can get that out of our system tomorrow night."
The Rebels will go through a total rehearsal of what it will be like on game day during Saturday's practice.
"Saturday will be a total rehearsal without tackling to the ground. We'll go from the locker room up to where we rub Chucky Mullins' head. We will go through sideline procedures as to who sits where, headsets, substitutions, kicking. We'll play a game with an actual script for everything."
The Rebels and Tigers will kick off the season Saturday Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field.
