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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Spring Practice Report 04.01
4/1/2010 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss Rebels continued springs drills on Thursday afternoon under warm, sunny skies on the practice fields adjacent to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
In his third spring as Ole Miss head coach, Houston Nutt said he was pleased with the progress of some of Rebels' younger players.
"I feel good about the way our young guys are responding. We are putting a lot on them. Z. Mason made a lot of good catches today. Michael Brown came in at guard and made some good plays. Josh Tatum and A.J. Hawkins both came in and did a good job of competing."
The Rebels return several play makers on the defensive side of the ball and added a pair of impact transfers to an already stout defense.
"You feel good on defense when you have guys like Kentrell Lockett, Jerrell Powe, Ted Laurent and Lawon Scott, who have made plays in this league," Nutt said. "The two junior college guys we signed - Wayne Dorsey and Damien Jackson - have really come in and been outstanding."
Redshirt-freshman wide receiver Ja-Mes Logan has impressed Nutt this spring with production this spring.
"He made some plays today. He is getting better. He is very smooth running routes. I've been really proud of him. As thin as we are at wide receiver, he and Jared Mitchell have come in a made some plays for us."
Nutt announced after practice that freshman S Darius Barksdale has been suspended for the remainder of spring drills for violation of team rules.
Ole Miss will continue practice Friday at 9:55 a.m. when the Rebels hold their first scrimmage of the spring inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
"We will have about ten minutes of kicking and ten minutes of individual work to get warmed up and then we will go ones-versus-ones, twos-versus-twos in sets of ten plays. We are going to try to get about a 75-to-100 play scrimmage in."
Fans attending Friday's practice are asked to enter on the west side of the stadium.Earlier on Thursday, finalists for the 2010 Chucky Mullins Courage Award were announced and include safety Johnny Brown, linebacker Jonathan Cornell, tackle Ted Laurent, end Kentrell Lockett, tackle Jerrell Powe and linebacker Allen Walker. The award banquet will be Thursday, April 15 at 7 p.m. in the Indoor Practice Facility, and former winner and current Duke assistant coach Derek Jones will serve as speaker.
On Wednesday, the Rebel coaches and players used their off day to stop by the Special Olympics on campus to visit with the competitors, cheer them on and provide helpful pointers.
"Those athletes give their all and compete to the fullest, and I wanted our players to see that," Nutt said. "It's such an amazing event every year, and I'm glad our team could be a part of it. So many of them provide support to us, and it's the least we can do to go out and cheer them on."
