Javon Patterson confident in Ole Miss O-line, regardless of who plays at QB
OXFORD, Miss. – Against Georgia Southern, the Ole Miss offensive line gave quarterbacks Chad Kelly and Jason Pellerin more than enough time to make plays, and left guard Javon Patterson believes the unit can continue to get better with three games left in the 2016 season.
Javon Patterson (shown here vs. LSU) believes the Rebels’ o-line will be effective, regardless of who is at QB. (Photo credit: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)
On Monday, Patterson discussed the offensive line’s preparation now that quarterback Kelly is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and torn lateral meniscus in his knee.
“It’s the same thing,” Patterson said as to whether the preparation will change. “They all come in and do reps with us during the week with Jason and Chad going on.”
Despite injuries to the unit, the offensive line was able to hold off the Eagles’ defensive front on Saturday.
Kelly completed 16 of 23 passes for 226 yards and one touchdown, including running for two scores before suffering his season-ending injury. The Buffalo, New York native helped Ole Miss (4-5, 1-4 Southeastern Conference) take a 31-21 lead into halftime.
Pellerin, a redshirt freshman, led the Rebels to their two final scoring drives in the second half – field goals of 29 and 38 yards by Gary Wunderlich – to finish off Georgia Southern 37-27.
The offensive line also played a key factor in opening up gaps for senior running back Akeem Judd, who rushed for 139 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. Even with injuries to Sean Rawlings, Robert Conyers and Rod Taylor, Patterson says the offensive line is still upbeat.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=qxguLb8u4YY%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D0
VIDEO: Javon Patterson discusses the Ole Miss offensive line following the season-ending injury to quarterback Chad Kelly. (Video Credit: Andy Hodges, GameDayMiss.com)
“Everybody feels like we have great guys in that room and we have great talent; we can make some plays and make people comfortable,” said Patterson, who played center against the Eagles due to the absence of both Rawlings and Conyers.
“With Chad being out, we have to make Jason comfortable back there and I feel like our guys are doing a great job keeping everybody together. That’s one of the things we saw from the beginning of the season, making sure everybody is together.”
Javon Patterson
Patterson and the rest of the guys on the offensive line will have to make sure everyone is bonding and working on the same page this Saturday night against No. 10 Texas A&M (6:30 p.m., SEC Network). The Aggies allowed Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald to rush for 182 yards and two TDs in the Bulldogs’ 35-28 upset win over Kevin Sumlin’s team.
Aggie defense to test Rebels’ offense
Texas A&M’s defense has forced a conference-leading 21 turnovers, which also ranks fifth in the nation. The Aggies’ defense is led by Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall, both of whom have recorded 9.5 tackles for losses. Garrett leads the team in sacks (four), while Hall has 3.5 sacks of his own.
“They’re a great team, they give other people problems,” Patterson said about Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2).
“They have two good pass rushers on the outside and they have a great defense. We’re moving day-by-day to get better with things and help our offense go 1-0 this week.”
Javon Patterson
Offense confident with Pellerin at QB
For the season, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Pellerin has completed 5 of 13 passes for 53 yards and two touchdowns. If Pellerin is forced to throw 30 to 40 times, his teammates have complete confidence in the signal-caller’s ability to complete a high percentage of his passes.
“Jason is a strong kid, strong arm and has great, tremendous character about himself,” Patterson said of Pellerin, who has rushed for three touchdowns this season. “So I feel very confident in him.”
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.
