Javon Patterson says Rebels’ spirits are high as team looks forward to playing at home
Javon Patterson has started all seven games at left guard this season. (Photo credit: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)
OXFORD, Miss. – The last time the Rebels lost back-to-back games, they finished the regular season 9-3 and went on to play in one of the New Year’s Six Bowls. Now, Ole Miss needs to recapture some of the magic it had back during that 2014-15 season in order to avoid a third straight loss.
The Rebels’ backs are against the wall after dropping two straight Southeastern Conference road games to Arkansas and LSU—two opponents the Rebels were tied with at halftime, before watching their lead evaporate in the third quarter.
Despite the two losses, however, left guard Javon Patterson says there are still a lot of positive attitudes in the locker room as each player who suits up for Ole Miss on game day realizes they must play with a sense of urgency.
Just keep positive vibes. It hurts, but we have a great group of guys with great mindset and character. They do a great job of keeping everybody up. We do a great job of putting that (loss) in the trash, and then we go out this week and prepare. That’s the thing about losing–you can go out there and prepare and that gets the taste out; go out and have another opportunity to win a game against Auburn.
Javon Patterson, Ole Miss left guard
Home again, home again
Playing inside Vaught Hemingway-Stadium on Saturday night (6:15 p.m., SEC Network) against the Tigers should help the Rebels stay motivated.
Ole Miss (3-4, 1-3 SEC) is 3-1 in Oxford this season, and Patterson its eager to be back inside the friendly confines of the Vaught for the first time since the Rebels’ 48-28 Homecoming victory over Memphis on October 1.
It’s going to feel great. Vaught-Hemingway is going to be electric and ready to go. I think our fan base is very good; they do a good job of showing up at games and making it loud for other teams in our stadium. We’ve got to take that and feed off that.
Patterson on playing at the Vaught
No. 15 Auburn (5-2, 3-1) is 1-0 in road games this season, having defeated Mississippi State (2-5) in Starkville.
Injuries to the offensive line
Starting left tackle Rod Taylor (73), shown here with Patterson (79) at this year’s Arkansas game, is suffering from a high ankle sprain that may keep him out of the Auburn game. (Photo credit: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)
The Ole Miss starting offensive line may look a little different come game day as right guard Jordan Sims and left tackle Rod Taylor are both dealing with high-ankle sprains. Head coach Hugh Freeze listed both offensive linemen as questionable earlier this week at his weekly press conference.
Without Sims and Taylor, Ole Miss will go with junior Daronte Bouldin at right guard and freshman Greg Little at left tackle, two players who went in for Sims and Taylor against the LSU Tigers.
Little hasn’t played as many reps as the 6-foot-5, 318-pound Bouldin, who saw action in nine games in 2014 as a backup offensive tackle and every game in 2015 as a backup offensive guard.
Patterson is familiar with the role the 6-foot 6, 332-pound Little is having to play as a true freshman, saying “I was a young guy last year. But with older guys like me, Jordan, Sean (Rawlings) and Robert (Conyers), we help him doing some things.” Patterson was the first Ole Miss true freshman offensive lineman to start his college debut since John Jerry in 2006.
As for Bouldin, Patterson is confident in the Canton, Mississippi native’s ability to anchor the right guard position thanks, in part, to his game reps.
Daronte’s always that guys that comes in and does his job when things go wrong–like Jordan going down. Daronte does a great job. He’s a big athletic guy. He does a great job with things.
Patterson on Daronte Bouldin
(Feature image credit: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)
Courtney Smith
Courtney is from Memphis and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Memphis in May of 2014. He began his journalism career covering the Memphis Tigers Men’s basketball team, which landed him an intern position on 730 Yahoo Sports Radio and a position with Rivals.com. A freelance writer for the Associated Press, Courtney is also a member of The Rebel Walk team and reports regularly on Ole Miss football and basketball. Courtney, the father of a six-year old girl named Soniyah, prefers to cover NCAA basketball and football, but is happy to report on any other sport that comes his way.
