Ole Miss Tries to Put NCAA Troubles Aside
The University of Mississipi, or Ole Miss as it prefers to be called, comes to Berkeley with a lot of baggage, and not just because the Rebels had to pack for a cross-country flight. They have a lot going on, some good, most not so.
On the plus side they have a 2-0 record and a top-flight quarterback, an exciting offense and improving defense.
On the other hand the football program and the athletic department in general have been in a state of turmoil for nearly two years and the worst could be yet to come.
In January, 2016, the NCAA notified the school that it was looking into alleged violations from the football, women's basketball and track and field programs.
Earlier this year the NCAA added some more charges, prompting the school to self-impose a one-year postseason ban, an obvious attempt to soften whatever penalties the NCAA might impose.
Then came the adventures of head coach Hugh Freeze, who until that point seemed a church-going, respectable family man. Calls to escort services during recruiting trips were found on his school issued cell phone. He resigned under pressure in July, and was replaced by offensive line coach Matt Luke, an Ole Miss alum.
It all seems to be coming to a head as the NCAA held two days of hearings on the allegations, 21 in all, this week in Covington, Ky. The organization demanded Luke's presence, even though he was not implicated in the charges, causing him to miss his weekly press conference and two days of practice.
That put a strain on the staff and players, but the Rebels say they're muddling through.
"This football team and this staff has been mentally tough from day one," defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff said, standing in for Luke at the press conference. "That’s been Coach Luke’s motto, and this is just another situation to show everyone how mentally tough we are and that we’re a family.
"Coach Luke has tremendous trust in myself and (offensive coordinator) Coach (Phil) Longo. We both operate each side of the football and there’s not going not going to be much changed. I stay focused on the defense and he’ll stay focused on the offense. We’ll communicate with Coach Luke as much as we can, but the roles aren’t going to change."
The coaches and players insist all the NCAA business is not a distraction and we will have to take them at their word on that. They certainly looked undistracted, especially on offense, in routing their first two overmatched foes, South Alabama, 47-27, and Tennessee-Martin, 45-23.
They take on Cal Saturday night.
A detailed look at Ole Miss
Offense
The team's pride and joy is sophomore quarterback Shea Patterson (pictured above), one of the top five QB recruits two years ago who is living up to the hype.
He started the last three games last season after starter Chad Kelly went down with a knee injury. He went 1-2 and gained valuable experience. In his first two games this year he pitched himself to upper reaches of most national passing stats inclduing throwing for a school record 489 yards and five touchdowns last week.
The 6-2, 230-pounder from Shreveport, La. is 60-for-78, a 76.9 percentage, (sixth best in the nation) for 918 yards (second), nine TDs (tied for first) and 11.8 yards per attempt (ninth).
"He is a very talented guy," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said. "He has completed a very high percentage of his passes...He can throw it from the pocket, he can throw it on the run. he can make plays with his feet. He is a very talented player."
Longo said he has seen Patterson getting better, and last week's game was an example. "Shea excited me Saturday because there were five plays where I think in January he might have told you he would not make the decisions that he made Saturday.
"But he progressed so much through the spring and camp. Instead of having to check a play and change it or scratch it from the playlist, we were able to carry it and execute it on Saturday because he made a really good decision at quarterback."
Much as Cal's Ross Bowers, Patterson has no shortage of capable receivers. Tops is sophomore A.J.Brown, who has 16 receptions for 389 yards and four touchdowns, the latter two numbers tops in the country.
He has begun to get increased attention from opposing defenses, and Longo expects opponents to double team him when they can.
"I think we all think that at some point we are going to see some bracket or trap or some sort of two-man coverage on A.J.," Longo said. "This is the design of the offense. We want that to be difficult to do, because if you’re going to invest two people in some way shape or form into defending A.J. Brown then you’re going to have to deal with D.K. Metcalf (13 catches, 121 yards), Van Jefferson (five for 54) and DaMarkus Lodge (11 for 184) one-on-one."
The offense is very much like the "Bear-Raid" that Sonny Dykes used at Cal the last four years. And like Dykes' version along with all those gaudy passing stats comes meager numbers in the running game.
In the two games the Rebels have run the ball just 47 times (ten by Patterson including three sacks) for 156 yards.
Perhaps just being diplomatic, Wilcox nevertheless said he thinks Ole Miss is capable of being productive on the ground.
"I think it is probably just the way the games played out," Wilcox said. "They're very capable obviously on offense. They have big running backs, have got a good o-line, tight end and H-back. They are more than capable of being a good running team."
Both Jordan Wilkins and Eric Swinney, who were expected to carry the rushing load last year, missed the season, Wilkins because of academics, Swinney with an injury. Wilkins has 17 carries this year for 69 yards, where Swinney is third on the team, behind D'Vaughn Pennamon, with just eight tries. Cal might see more of him this week.
"Swinney is a very sudden running back in terms of his changing direction," Longo said. "I think because he is coming back and he had a good camp, he is third on the depth chart right now. The plan this past weekend was to use him a little more than we did, but we didn't get to him.
"I thought D’Vaughn Pennamon and Jordan Wilkins were very productive in doing the things we wanted them to do. They actually enjoyed some success catching the football a little bit, and so we didn't quite get to him (Swinney), but he's not left out of the loop there, and he's part of the game plan for Cal as well. It is our intent again to get him on the field a little bit more."
The offensive line returns four starters from a year ago, including left tackle Greg Little, a preseason All-American according to many outlets. The 6-6, 325-pound Texan is on the watch list for the Outland Trophy, awarded to the nation's best linemen.
Tight ends don't figure much in Ole Miss' passing schemes. The position has a total of two receptions for six yards in two games.
Defense
In another similarity with Dykes' teams, the Ole Miss defense last year was pretty bad last year, ranking 100th or worse in most meaningful categories.
They should be improved this year, under McGriff in his first year on the job.
"They are a very talented, well-coached defense," Wilcox said. "They have a good scheme, they play some four down, some three down, they mix in pressure and coverage."
Senior defensive end Marquis Haynes, who considered leaving for the NFL draft, is the unit's leader.
"He's active," Cal offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin said. "He can do a lot of things. He can do things when he's rushing the passer, he can do things when they drop him into coverage. When you describe a defensive player as active that is usually a big compliment about what he does."
Junior Breeland Speaks can play either tackle or nose tackle, and he is trying to bounce back from a subpar year. At the nose he is competing with sophomore Benito Jones, who is catching McGriff's eye.
"He played some good snaps (last week). We were in zero technique, where he just comes off the ball over the center," McGriff said. "There were a lot of good snaps by No. 95. A lot of times with D-line play, their performance won’t show up in the production column, but are they striking the block? Are they fitting the right gaps? Benito is doing that, playing with tremendous effort."
Senior DeMarquis Gates is the best of a decent linebacking corps. McGriff indicated some shaking up of the depth chart might be in order. "Detrick Bing-Dukes came in the game and did an outstanding job once he got on the grass. He’s a guy you’ll see get more playing time. It’ll be between him and Donta Evans."
The Rebels have what has to be the shortest secondary in the FBS. They have nine defensive backs on the depth chart, two stand 6-0, the rest are 5-11 or shorter.
"They are not the tallest on the back end, but they're strong and they're stout within their secondary," Baldwin said. "They all can tackle, they can run."
McGriff liked the work of junior corner Ken Webster against Tennessee-Martin. "I thought Ken Webster was really good in press coverage. He didn’t get many targets because they ran the ball," McGriff said. "He did a great job of just erasing their receiver No. 11 (Caylon Weathers). That was one of our game plan notes — making sure we handled him. He won that line of scrimmage."
Junior safety Zedrick Woods, who began his career as an inside linebacker, had three interceptions last year and was third in tackles with 63. Myles Hartsfield, a safety last year, has moved to corner and done well, according to McGriff.
The most valuable man for the defense this week might be a coach on offense. Jacob Peeler, who for the last four years was a wide receivers coach at Cal, now has the same job at Ole Miss.
"We’ve already sent him a subpoena, to appear at the defensive nightly meeting," McGriff said Monday. "He’ll come in tonight and give us some strengths and weaknesses of the roster and the guys we’ll face. He probably won’t be able to give us much about their scheme, but certainly he can help us identify individuals who are capable of making explosive plays, tell us their strengths and weaknesses."
Special Teams
Place kicker Gary Wunderlich, a senior who has already won three letters, led the nation in field goal percentage last year by making 22 of 23, good for 95.7 per cent.
He won't be that good this year, already having missed twice, from 45 and 37 yards while hitting six other tries. He does give Ole Miss a chance for points every time they get inside the Cal 40.
The Rebels have punted only three times this year, twice by Will Gleeson, once by Mac Brown, so it is hard to evaluate them.
Gleeson, who was the primary punter last year, is from Australia, as is Cal's Steven Coutts.
Overall
While they wait for word from the NCAA, Ole Miss tries to carry on, hoping the penalties will not be too severe. Their attitude coming into every games seems to be, "We can't go to a bowl, so we want to make sure you can't, either."
The Rebels have not faced a team as strong as Cal yet, but the same could be said for the Bears on their side.
As good as Weber State's Stefan Cantwell is, Patterson is better. If he finds the Cal secondary as vulnerable as it was last week, the Bears are in trouble.