The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss at Media Days 2016
7/14/2016 | Football, Blog
When Hugh Freeze took the podium at SEC Media Days just four years ago before the 2012 season, the expectations regarding the program were nearly as low as they could go. Freeze said during that press conference the goal of the season was competing for 60 minutes in each game and getting the program out of the "wilderness".
I grew up an Ole Miss fan during some pretty bleak years over the past decade. As a kid, the first whiff of football season every year was when the preseason magazines hit the shelves. Nearly every year was the same process to the point it was essentially a tradition for me. Look at the win-loss projection the magazine provided and figure out how Ole Miss was going to win six games and make a bowl. That would constitute a successful season, and I would be happy with it.Â
Flash forward four years, a "new normal" has been established in Oxford due to four straight bowl berths, back-to-back New Year's Six appearances, and back-to-back wins against the college football gold-standard Alabama. Â
Hugh Freeze has changed that mindset and upped the expectations each season. Ole Miss returns the best QB in the SEC and one of the best in the nation in Chad Kelly along with a the talented core that already checked off the Sugar Bowl from Freeze and nearly every Ole Miss fan's bucket lists.Â
Ole Miss' schedule is far from easy, as it includes the programs that have accounted for six of the last seven national championships in Alabama, Auburn and Florida State to go along already difficult SEC slate. Â
"I like to call it pretty much a gauntlet," Evan Engram said. "We want to be the team to take the cake this year, so we accept the challenge week in and week out."
All Eyes on Kelly
Part of life as a quarterback in the @SEC ... pic.twitter.com/4d2BaVVrXC
-- Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) July 14, 2016
While addressing the media, Hugh Freeze mentioned in particular Kelly's playing over the final seven games of the year. Over that span, Kelly tossed 17 TDs and averaged 311 yards per game in the air.
"I've been asked all morning about what he needs to do to improve," Freeze said. "I don't know that I can look at a lot of things and say, man, you're doing this really poorly, or -- he did everything for those last seven games pretty solidly."
Ole Miss has talent all over the field on both sides of the ball, but the 2016 season will go as No. 10 goes. He's every bit talented enough for Ole Miss to once again be in the championship picture again as the calendar turns to November.Â
It helps that most of the SEC is in a much less stable position at QB. Last season, Kelly threw 31 TDs. There are nine SEC West QBs still on rosters that played last season. They threw a combined 35 TDs.Â
Defensive Line Still a Strength
.@OleMissFB DT DJ Jones joins Full Ride LIVE from @SEC Media Days in Hoover! #SECMD16 pic.twitter.com/FHmSy6ddee
-- SXM College Sports (@SiriusXMCollege) July 14, 2016
Losing a first-round talent in Robert Nkemdiche and still feeling very optimistic about the ability of the defensive line gives a good indicator in the quality of the program. Â
"If you were to start to build a football team to compete in the Southeastern Conference, you would start with quarterbacks first and defensive line next," Freeze said. "We wish we had a little more depth (at defensive line), but we believe we're really, really talented there."
Jones along with Breeland Speaks, Marquis Haynes and Fadol Brown will no longer have the luxury of Nkemdiche being the focal point of offenses upfront and drawing so many double teams.Â
"I think we are a faster defensive line," Jones said. "We are a little more powerful. So I think as a unit we will get better."
Ole Miss also gets one more season of Issac Gross in opponent's backfields after he missed nearly all of last season with an injury. Adding in impact freshman Benito Jones, Ole Miss has nice depth upfront. Freeze said he would like to have more of it, but defensive line depth is a lot like money. You always want more of it.Â
"Bo kneeled. I blinked. And the field was flooded." @evanengram on @OleMissFB win over Bama in 2014. pic.twitter.com/ybpLTArrKZ
-- Adam Zucker (@AdamZuckerCBS) July 14, 2016
.@CoachHughFreeze speaking in the main media room here at #SECMD16 pic.twitter.com/RMJLBEd0cK
-- OleMissPix (@OleMissPix) July 14, 2016
When you finish up @SEC #Media Day and your parents show up! #Surprise pic.twitter.com/UVVJci6aE5
-- Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) July 14, 2016
Chad Kelly making his @SportsCenter appearance here at SEC Media Days pic.twitter.com/eED1kr8kdM
-- Jeff Barker (@JeffBarker_) July 14, 2016
#SECMD16 continues as @EvanEngram meets @LauraMRutledge pic.twitter.com/FdCzIiS9MO
-- Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) July 14, 2016
