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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Move Indoors For Thursday Practice Session
8/7/2008 | Football
“I’ve been saying it from day one, this is a great designed facility,” said first-year head coach Houston Nutt of the IPF. “To have a meeting room and coaches’ offices, and then walk 15 feet into what I think is one of the greatest indoor facilities in the country, is awesome. The grass (on the practice fields) is in great shape. There’s no reason to tear it up today when you can come inside. It’s a good environment, and we had a good practice today. We really got better.”
After the defense dominated workouts on Wednesday, Nutt was pleased with the improvement of the offense in Thursday’s two-and-a-half hour evening session.
“The offense really responded from yesterday,” Nutt said. “They picked up some things, some blitzes. I was really proud of how they responded. Jevan (Snead) threw the ball well today, the receivers ran good routes and the offensive line did a much better job.”
An Achilles injury to junior guard Reid Neely forced the Rebel staff to make some shifts in personnel along the offensive line, and Nutt was particularly happy with the ability of sixth-year senior Darryl Harris to step in and contribute.
“Thank goodness for Darryl Harris,” Nutt said. “What a story. He was about ready to graduate, but we applied for an extra year because of a medical situation. I’m really glad he’s on our team. He’s had a really good camp so far.”
Despite Neely’s absence, the offensive line appears to be taking form early in preseason practice.
“We’ve got John Jerry at right tackle, Michael Oher at left. Daverin (Geralds) at center. With Darryl at left guard and Maurice Miller at right guard, that’s a pretty good five. We’ve got to keep building some depth, though.”
The competition at running back continues to heat up, and Cordera Eason made some noise with a handful of big plays on Thursday. The junior tailback is battling with sophomore Derrick Davis and talented freshmen Brandon Bolden, Enrique Davis and Devin Thomas for depth chart positioning.
“It excites you to see (Eason) raise his level of play, and he has to do that when you have three talented freshmen like that,” Nutt said. “Derrick’s also getting better. Both of them are quicker. Don Decker has really helped those guys. They are much quicker and stronger right now than they were in the spring.”
Ole Miss will suit up in full pads for the first time this preseason on Friday. Practice begins at 5:20 p.m. on the fields adjacent to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. It is open to the public.
“Now here comes the grind,” Nutt said. “Here comes the physical part of it. We just have to keep working, keep getting better.”
Ole Miss will open the 2008 campaign Aug. 30 when the Memphis Tigers travel to
