Scrimmage Notes: Ole Miss football holds open practice in Vaught-Hemingway Saturday

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss hosted its first open practice of the season in Vaught-Hemingway Saturday morning. The Rebels are closing in on their Grove Bowl date of April 15th, as they finished up their second week of spring practices.

Here are some of our observations after today’s practice.

QB Competition

“To be honest, I just see myself as the starter,” Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart said after practice Tuesday. The Rebel returnee looked good in today’s scrimmage. He ran with the number one offense and his unofficial numbers are: 8-for-12 for 179 yards and one touchdown through the air and 31 yards rushing on three carries. He continues to look stronger and more in command than last season, his first year with the Rebs.

It’s worth noting this was a scrimmage where players were not tackled to the ground, so basically everything was stopped at contact, making it a little tougher to take too much from stats.

The team began with its normal practice routines before the offense and defense moved to separate sidelines for the scrimmage.

Oklahoma State transfer QB Spencer Sanders is recently recovering from a shoulder injury that had appeared to be slightly limiting his action in practice — up until Saturday. In today’s scrimmage, however, he seemed to sling the football around more often than in previous practices.  He finished 11-for-21 passing for 129 yards and one TD.

While, Dart took all his snaps with the No. 1 offense, Sanders also worked with that group and the backups. Dart and Sanders each led their respective groups down the field for multiple touchdown drives Saturday, with Sanders turning the ball over once during his reps.

LSU transfer Walker Howard continued to run mostly with the second and third offensive groups, seeing a lot of time in today’s scrimmage as well. He finished 11-for-17 for 120 yards, one touchdown and one interception. As we’ve said before, he’s got a strong arm with outstanding accuracy.

The Rest of the O

The big guys up front today consisted of (L to R): Victor Curne, Eli Acker, Caleb Warren, Quincy McGee, and Cedric Melton. Reece McIntyre, Brycen Sanders, Cam East and Cedrick Nicely were all down in the trenches as well. 

Last season’s starting right tackle Micah Pettus was seen conditioning off to the side with strength coach Nick Savage. Jayden Williams and Jeremy James, each starters from last year’s o-line, continue to sit out due to recovery from surgery in the offseason.

On another note, the receivers made their presence felt today. A ton of passing plays were called during the scrimmage, with JJ Henry, Jalen Knox and Chris Marshall seeing the majority of first team reps. Bralon Brown, Larry Simmons, and Brandon Buckhaulter were all in the rotation as well.

JJ Henry made some great catches, including this one from today:

Cheat code 🫣@jjxenry | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/KL6ABNbC0w

— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) April 1, 2023

Tight ends Michael Trigg and Caden Prieskorn were both starters for the first team offense today, running that new ‘12 Personnel’ implemented with the addition of Prieskorn. Trigg was definitely one of the most-targeted pass catchers during practice today.

JJ Henry finished as the top receiver Saturday, with three catches for 87 yards, one of which was a 25-yard TD. Trigg finished with three receptions for 67 yards. Bralon Brown notched four for 62 yards, followed by Chris Marshall who tallied 46 yards on four carries and Brandon Buckhaulter who caught for four 43 yards and a TD.

As expected, running backs Quinshon Judkins and Ulysses “Doo” Bentley saw all of the first team reps today with Matt Jones in that RB3 role. Quinshon was named Walter Camp First-Team Preseason All-America yesterday.

New Look D 

With the Pete Golding era upon us in Oxford, Rebel fans got a taste of what their new defensive scheme might look like today: a 4-2-5 , with the occasional third linebacker added.

As we have continued to report, Golding is very “hands on” with his defense, constantly instructing players on where to go, what to do and how to do it.

Four hands in the dirt seems to be the main change Golding is bringing to the Rebel defense, something we have not seen from Ole Miss teams recently. Those four down lineman mainly consisted of Jared Ivey, JJ Pegues, Zxavian Harris, and Jameer Lewis. Jamond Gordon, JJ Hawkins and transfer Joshua Harris saw a ton of reps as well.

As for Golding’s linebacker group, returnees Khari Coleman and Ashanti Cistrunk were the first two linebackers we saw today. Transfers Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste and Monty Montgomery saw plenty of action as well. 

The new defensive signal caller had his LBs out in coverage in the middle of the field as well, hoping to make many more plays like these:

No Fly Zone 🚫🙅‍♂️@MontyTBE1 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/hdFtlEhgIU

— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) March 31, 2023

The main cornerbacks during the course of today’s scrimmage were Zamari Walton and Richard O’Bryant, with John Saunders Jr. and Isheem Young in those Nickel positions. Trey Washington and Taylor Groves saw most of the safety action.

Special Teams

Returning from last year’s suspension, kicker Caden Costa kicked PATs and field goals during the scrimmage today. Transfer Caden Davis made a number of tries also, even booting a 41-yarder at one point.

Returning starting punter, Fraser Masin found himself back in the same role today. Backup punter Charlie Pollock was seen holding all of the snaps for field goals and PATs.

Black Jersey Update

Ole Miss players who are injured or coming off of injuries have been wearing the black, no-contact jerseys during certain periods of practice. All players in black jerseys were the same as we have seen in previous practices, with none of them taking reps in the scrimmage. Offensive players Jordan Watkins, Tre Harris, Jeremy James and Jayden Williams all wore the black jerseys today.

Cornerbacks Deantre Prince and Demarko Williams continue to wear black as do defensive ends Jakivuan Brown and Cedric Johnson. 

Wide receiver Dayton Wade and safety Ladarius Tennison were both at practice as well with their usual pads and colored jerseys on, but neither participated in the scrimmage.

Stay tuned to The Rebel Walk for more spring football coverage! 

(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)