Mississippi - 2006: 4-8 Overall, 2-6 SEC
Offense
Brent Schaeffer was once the future of the Rebels at quarterback, but the once highly touted signal caller is still battling it out with Seth Adams to become coach Ed Orgeron's starter.
Schaeffer was rumored to be contemplating a switch to receiver just a few weeks ago, but it seems as if the former Tennessee starter could sneak in and potentially steal it away from Adams, who was considered the favorite heading into fall camp. Everyone's waiting on an announcement as to who gets the nod for the opener against Memphis, but don't be surprised if we see a little of both during the season.
"I would like to not have a two-quarterback system," Orgeron said. "I'm not going to rule it out. I would like one guy to be our quarterback. I think the longer it goes, the better for our team."
Whoever it is must improve on the woeful numbers the Ole Miss offense put up last season. You can chalk that up in part to Schaeffer's unfamiliarity with his new teammates, but they put up some ugly numbers last year (15.7 points per game, 136 yards passing per game).
Whoever is finally tabbed as the starter will figure to hand the ball off plenty to BenJarvus Green-Ellis, the SEC's third leading rusher last season. The Rebels' running attack figures to be stout yet again with an offensive line that returns several starters and will feature significantly more experience in 2007.
"I am very grateful for my offensive line," Green-Ellis said. "I pat them on the back every time they do something well. Last year, they were considered a makeshift offensive line before the season started and look at them now."
Size is one thing the receiving corps will not feature, but the Rebels have plenty of guys who caught balls last season back. It all depends on whether the quarterback, whoever he is, can get them the ball on a consistent basis.
Defense
In comes a new defensive coordinator in John Thompson, but out goes Patrick Willis, one of the top linebackers in the nation and far and away the Rebels' best defensive player.
"Patrick Willis was a great player and our leader on defense," defensive end Marcus Tillman said. "We will miss him on and off the field, but we have some guys who have been working hard to fill his shoes."
The only problem is that those guys will never come close to replacing one of the best middle linebackers Ole Miss has ever seen.
Tillman is the one known commodity on the defensive line, while the rest of his teammates up front have all battled injuries. Jamarca Sanford figures to be one of the team's top tacklers this season as he moves to strong safety. But he's only one of four starters who are back from a unit that let up a lot of yards on the ground last season.
"The thing I like about John Thompson is his expertise at the back end, and my expertise is the front end," Orgeron said. "I think it's going to be a great marriage. We want to have a great defensive team and I expect to have that."
The Skinny
Orgeron was forced to play a lot of freshmen last year - 17 to be exact - and actually only suited up 64 scholarship players at one point in the season and the results showed.
But he really feels like he's building some depth this year, which should be crucial in their fight to gain some respectability.
"I really feel that we're building depth," Orgeron said. "We actually have two offensive lines, which is new for us. We have three defensive lines across the board. "We're building depth, but it's going to take a while."
Orgeron just hopes he's around to see it. He hasn't produced much in the way of wins and with little hope of competing for the SEC West title anytime soon, his 7-16 record heading into the season only will loom larger and larger as speculation about his job security echoes louder and louder around Oxford.
The Rebels have three easy non-conference games, but other than their annual meeting with Mississippi State, they'll be hard pressed to crack the four win plateau. Their toughest games, against the conference's best, all come at home, but Ole Miss doesn't have the fire power to stick with Florida, LSU and Auburn.
Regular Season Prediction: 4-8 Overall, 1-7 SEC
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South Carolina reinstates Cook
August 28th, 2007
Columbia, SC (Sports Network) - South Carolina sophomore safety Emanuel Cook, who was suspended by the university as the result of an arrest involving a weapon, was reinstated on Tuesday.
Additional details were not provided, but The State newspaper reported last Friday that Cook was charged with unlawful possession of a pistol.
"I appreciate the fair and expeditious handling of this matter by the University and the Office of Judicial Affairs," Cook said in a statement through his attorney. "I understand the seriousness of the charges made against me and believe the actions taken by the University were reasonable and appropriate in this situation. I want to apologize to the entire University community, the football team and staff, and my family and friends for the negative attention which my actions may have brought."
Cook played in 10 games, starting five, for the Gamecocks last season and earned Freshman All-SEC honors after tying for third on the team with 47 tackles.
Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said Cook will likely be out two weeks due to appendicitis. That means he won't play in the season opener on Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette, and may be held out of the game at Georgia the following Saturday.
"We all learned a lot in the Emanuel Cook incident with the gun," Spurrier said. "I think our players all know now that if you see a pistol, you need to go the other direction as fast as you can. Don't touch it. It's a good rule. Hopefully we all learned from what happened last week."