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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Spring Practice Report 04.13
4/14/2009 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. The Ole Miss defense continued its strong spring Monday, as the Rebels entered the final week of training with a two-hour practice in the Indoor Practice Facility.
After a 75-play scrimmage on Saturday, the team jumped quickly into more game-like situations on Monday to fix the mistakes from the film.
"We wanted to get another 50 plays especially for our younger guys," said head coach Houston Nutt. "You hit to a point when you're doing fundamentals and more fundamentals. They can go through bags and do the form tackling, but when it gets live, they miss. So it's just better to do it live. We got everybody about 30 to 40 plays."
Throughout the spring, Nutt has praised the improvement of the defense as a whole, and he was again pleased with the unit's intensity on Monday.
"I thought our defense had a lot of energy today," he said. "They're moving around. That front does a good job. Patrick Trahan was at a different level Saturday. When you watch that film, he was at a different speed."
Joining Trahan in the linebacking corps is rising junior Allen Walker. The Olive Branch, Miss., native started nine games in 2008 and totaled 41 tackles, including 4.0 TFLs and three passes defended.
"Allen Walker has gotten much better," Nutt said. "He understands things better. He's moving better. He's getting physical.
"Jonathan Cornell, Allen Walker and Patrick Trahan, those are three really good backers, and Lamar Brumfield is the fourth one and can go to any spot. Hopefully with Jason Jones and Lekenwic Haynes coming, you can bring in two more linebackers and be even better."
In the offensive backfield, Nutt reiterated the strong, consistent play of Brandon Bolden at running back and Andy Hartmann at fullback. However, he remains frustrated with the other backs.
"They're inconsistent," said Nutt. "They get a hole and they stumble. They miss a protection block. But today, then came out and had a very good day. We needed this day Saturday."
On the injury front, while Jacarious Lucas and Andrew Harris returned to action, Shay Hodge sat out with knee and heel issues. Nutt also said that Marcus Temple will miss the remainder of the spring with a dislocated shoulder but will not require surgery.
Ole Miss made a late adjustment to its practice schedule and added a workout for Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m. at the IPF. The Rebels will also train Wednesday and Friday afternoons.
The Rebels will compete in the annual Grove Bowl Saturday at 1 p.m., and Ole Miss will honor Michael Oher, Peria Jerry and a trio of former Rebels at "Path to the Draft: Ole Miss to the NFL" at 11 a.m. on The Grove Stage. FOX News anchor Shepard Smith will emcee the panel discussion.
On Thursday, Ole Miss will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award with the annual awards banquet at 6:30 p.m. in the IPF. The three finalists are Marshay Green, Kendrick Lewis and Marcus Tillman.
