Last week marked the first big weekend of college football for the 2014 season: The first group of major conference Spring Games. Teams like LSU, Oklahoma State and Michigan finished off their spring practices with their annual games. Another team that capped off their spring practices was Ole Miss. The Rebels had an inconsistent season in 2013, which was to be expected with a young, inexperienced roster. Their highly ranked recruiting class flashed a lot of potential, as players like Laquon Treadwell, Tony Connor, Laremy Tunsil, and the top-ranked recruit from the 2013 class, Robert Nkemdiche, all earned starting roles and made huge impacts.
The offseason has been up and down for the Rebels. On a high note, the Rebels finished with another Top-20 recruiting class, reeling in 15 four-star recruits, including guard, Ron Taylor, and safety, C.J. Hampton. However, the down time has not gone without incident. The Nkemdiche brothers, Robert and linebacker, Denzel, are currently being sued by a student who claimed the brothers, along with other Ole Miss players beat him up at a Fraternity party.
However, despite what happened prior to this past weekend, all that mattered was giving a world a preview of what the 2014 Rebels would look like. Ole Miss did not participate in a traditional-style spring game, opting to run a series of different drills and situational plays instead. However, there were many things to take away from the game. Here are some highlights and notes from the “Grove Bowl.”
1. Marquis Hayes
Hayes is a true freshman edge rusher from Jacksonville, Florida. Though he is still has a lot of work to do in the weight room (listed at 225), he was consistently in the backfield in drills. He has great speed and uses his length well for a true freshman. Once he has some time to fill out his physical frame and develop a diverse pass rush repertoire, he is going to be a dominating force in the SEC.
2. Secondary
The secondary was all over the field making plays all day during drills. Players like Connor, Trae Elston, Cody Prewitt and many others were able to lock down receivers and broke up a plethora of passes. They are all very fast, play physical and understand their roles in the scheme. It will be a challenge to pass on the Rebels in 2014.
3. Laquon Treadwell
Stating the obvious here, but Treadwell looked very good. The SEC Freshman of the Year caught 72 passes in 2013 and will see more targets coming his way with Donte Moncrief leaving for the NFL. Treadwell showed ability to get separation, including on one pass, where he shook the corner on a post route, freeing him up in space over the middle of the field, caught the ball away from his body, and turned upfield for a touchdown.
4. Quarterback Situation
It’s no secret that Bo Wallace will be the starting quarterback for Ole Miss in 2014, but he ultimately may not be the best quarterback on the roster. He is still spotty with his accuracy and may have the weakest arm among the Rebel quarterbacks.
Redshirt freshman DaVante Kinkade put on a show. He is incredibly athletic and is primarily a scrambler, but flashed a strong arm, fitting the ball in tight windows on multiple occasions, and likely earned the role as primary backup over fellow redshirt freshman, Ryan Buchanan. Buchanan did not see the field very often in the spring game, but was efficient from the pocket in his limited opportunities.
Another quarterback who saw a lot of action was 296-pound Jeremy Liggins. He was primarily just used to run the ball, but the plays when he was on the field were the most exciting. There’s something about watching a 300-pound man playing quarterback that just makes life seem more fun. The broadcast mentioned coach Hugh Freeze plans to use Liggins in a variety of packages, and with good reason. A player of Liggins’ size and athletic ability offers a lot of versatility to the offense.