Eckwood43
05-11-2004, 10:58 AM
Ole Miss closing in on record-setting pre-season ticket sales after Cutcliffe and co. won seven games for the fifth-straight year......of course four of those were with Eli. Enter Michael Spurlock, who is much more athletic and the Rebs are going to emphasize the ground attack more and are even throwing in a little option for Spurlock. The guy also has a gun but i'm not sure if he ever really knows where it's going or what he's gunning for. Three solid returning wideouts to try for anyway......and Razanno will have to block the way he fights outside The Library to clear open some holes.
Ole Miss spring game report.......Spurlock definitely will get the nod as the starter. He's athletic and has a riflearm but seems to really pick up the offense. They'll need a good bruising back to take some pressure off him and Vashon Pearson had a great spring.
OLE MISS SPRING GAME
Not many backups would be as eager to replace a Heisman Trophy finalist who set 47 school passing records and is likely to be the NFL's top draft pick.
But not many backups with Micheal Spurlock's ability have had to spend three years patiently waiting behind Eli Manning.
Spurlock, who said he could barely sleep Friday night, arrived an hour earlier than his teammates for Saturday's Red-Blue game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
But he was one of the last players to walk off the field after leaving 23,175 Ole Miss fans with evidence that the position just might be in good shape next season.
After displaying his blazing speed and elusive scrambling ability throughout the spring, Spurlock showed Saturday he could get the job done with his arm, too. He completed 11 of 18 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown to lead the Blue team to a 31-6 win over the Red team.
"I've waited a long time for this opportunity," Spurlock said. "Finally, the time is here. For those fans who were saying that Ole Miss football was gone, I just wanted to show them what I had. I wanted to give them a little taste of what they'll see in the fall."
There were no 70-yard breakaway scoring runs from the 5-foot-11 junior this time. But he did provide yet another scrimmage highlight.
Spurlock took a snap in the third quarter, scrambled across the field to his left, faked a defender and launched a dart to Taye Biddle that resulted in a 64-yard touchdown.
Spurlock only rushed for three yards on three carries, but he spent plenty of time on the move buying time for receivers to get open. The quarterback's lone noticeable blunder came on his second drive when he fumbled a goal-line snap.
"Micheal's a very dedicated young man, and we all know what he's faced with coming in (replacing Manning)," said Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe, who put his team through four 12-minute quarters. "As I've said before, he's in a tough position. But all he has to do is be a good Micheal Spurlock, and that'll certainly be good enough."
Spurlock appears to have a potentially dominant first-team line and a much-improved tailback to help ease his transition into a starting role. Vashon Pearson, a junior who just might be the team's spring MVP, rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. The 6-1, 205-pound Pearson averaged six yards a carry this spring.
Pearson had 398 yards and four TDs last year while sharing snaps with departed seniors Ronald McClendon and Tremaine Turner.
Pearson, worn from an afternoon of physical inside running, met reporters with a limp and bags of ice on his arm and shoulder. He even welcomed the added bumps and bruises that come with getting the bulk of the carries.
"I hope to God that I can hold up and stay healthy," said Pearson, whose backups — Brandon Jacobs, Alan Abrams and Dawan Woods — combined for 87 yards in Saturday's scrimmage. "I think I've come out and made myself better this spring, which is what you want to do. But I also know I don't have to do it alone. I have some capable guys playing behind me."
And, in front of him, too.
Many of the running plays were directed up the middle between third-year starting guards Marcus Johnson and Doug Buckles and behind center Chris Spencer.
The line also has another third-year starter returning in Tre Stallings, who moved from left to right tackle this spring. Depth along the offense line continues to be a concern, but Buckles believes the Rebels just might have the best set of starters in the SEC.
Ole Miss opens the season Sept. 4 at home against Memphis.
"We should be pretty good when you look at us on paper," Buckles said of a running game that was the SEC's most improved last season. "But games aren't won on paper. We have to feed off each other and make it keep happening in games.
Ole Miss spring game report.......Spurlock definitely will get the nod as the starter. He's athletic and has a riflearm but seems to really pick up the offense. They'll need a good bruising back to take some pressure off him and Vashon Pearson had a great spring.
OLE MISS SPRING GAME
Not many backups would be as eager to replace a Heisman Trophy finalist who set 47 school passing records and is likely to be the NFL's top draft pick.
But not many backups with Micheal Spurlock's ability have had to spend three years patiently waiting behind Eli Manning.
Spurlock, who said he could barely sleep Friday night, arrived an hour earlier than his teammates for Saturday's Red-Blue game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
But he was one of the last players to walk off the field after leaving 23,175 Ole Miss fans with evidence that the position just might be in good shape next season.
After displaying his blazing speed and elusive scrambling ability throughout the spring, Spurlock showed Saturday he could get the job done with his arm, too. He completed 11 of 18 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown to lead the Blue team to a 31-6 win over the Red team.
"I've waited a long time for this opportunity," Spurlock said. "Finally, the time is here. For those fans who were saying that Ole Miss football was gone, I just wanted to show them what I had. I wanted to give them a little taste of what they'll see in the fall."
There were no 70-yard breakaway scoring runs from the 5-foot-11 junior this time. But he did provide yet another scrimmage highlight.
Spurlock took a snap in the third quarter, scrambled across the field to his left, faked a defender and launched a dart to Taye Biddle that resulted in a 64-yard touchdown.
Spurlock only rushed for three yards on three carries, but he spent plenty of time on the move buying time for receivers to get open. The quarterback's lone noticeable blunder came on his second drive when he fumbled a goal-line snap.
"Micheal's a very dedicated young man, and we all know what he's faced with coming in (replacing Manning)," said Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe, who put his team through four 12-minute quarters. "As I've said before, he's in a tough position. But all he has to do is be a good Micheal Spurlock, and that'll certainly be good enough."
Spurlock appears to have a potentially dominant first-team line and a much-improved tailback to help ease his transition into a starting role. Vashon Pearson, a junior who just might be the team's spring MVP, rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. The 6-1, 205-pound Pearson averaged six yards a carry this spring.
Pearson had 398 yards and four TDs last year while sharing snaps with departed seniors Ronald McClendon and Tremaine Turner.
Pearson, worn from an afternoon of physical inside running, met reporters with a limp and bags of ice on his arm and shoulder. He even welcomed the added bumps and bruises that come with getting the bulk of the carries.
"I hope to God that I can hold up and stay healthy," said Pearson, whose backups — Brandon Jacobs, Alan Abrams and Dawan Woods — combined for 87 yards in Saturday's scrimmage. "I think I've come out and made myself better this spring, which is what you want to do. But I also know I don't have to do it alone. I have some capable guys playing behind me."
And, in front of him, too.
Many of the running plays were directed up the middle between third-year starting guards Marcus Johnson and Doug Buckles and behind center Chris Spencer.
The line also has another third-year starter returning in Tre Stallings, who moved from left to right tackle this spring. Depth along the offense line continues to be a concern, but Buckles believes the Rebels just might have the best set of starters in the SEC.
Ole Miss opens the season Sept. 4 at home against Memphis.
"We should be pretty good when you look at us on paper," Buckles said of a running game that was the SEC's most improved last season. "But games aren't won on paper. We have to feed off each other and make it keep happening in games.