Ole Miss offensive lineman Quincy McGee visits with media as Rebels prepare to face Auburn
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss offensive lineman Quincy McGee, a transfer from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), visited with media after practice Tuesday ahead of the Rebels’ road game at Auburn Saturday.
In his 2022 season with UAB, the then-redshirt junior appeared in all 13 games and started in 12 of them at right guard. With the help of Quincy, UAB rushed for over 215 yards in 10 of its 13 games. Fortunately for Ole Miss, McGee entered the transfer portal and followed in the footsteps of his cousin, former Ole Miss star receiver Donte Moncrief, choosing to play for the Rebels.
In January of 2023, McGee made it official and Ole Miss received the commitment of the Hattiesburg, Miss. native. Since his arrival in Oxford, McGee has proven his talents and as a result has earned himself a starting job on an offensive line that was already filled with experience as well as skill.
When Quincy talked about some of the unfamiliar challenges he has faced in 2023, he mentioned a recent tactic that defenses have used in an attempt to confuse the offensive line, and that is clapping as if they are the quarterback in hopes of drawing a false-start penalty.
The NCAA coordinator of officials, Steve Shaw, has condemned every sort of defensive simulation towards an offense’s snap count. McGee offered his thoughts on the situation.
“It happens a lot. The past two games it really hasn’t happened a lot because we have been at home, and I guess away teams don’t try and do it when they come away, so they don’t get a flag. But if you lock in and listen to your quarterback, everything is going to be alright,” McGee said.
Another obstacle that could potentially create a miscommunication up front this weekend is the obvious effect of crowd noise. Playing a night game in Jordan-Hare Stadium with approximately 87,000 people isn’t an ideal environment for the Ole Miss offense, but it’s one that they’ve experienced this season.
During week four in Tuscaloosa, the Rebs faced a stadium of over 100,000 screaming fans and despite ending with a loss, the matchup provided McGee with experience in arguably the most difficult place to play in the country.
“If you can play in Alabama’s stadium with 106,000 people, you can play anywhere. It was kind of rocking then. I feel like Alabama did set me up for the rest of the year.“
Quincy McGee
To see if Ole Miss’ preparation will pay off, tune in at 6 pm this Saturday on ESPN as the Rebs look to take down the Tigers for the first time in back-to-back seasons since 1952.
(Feature image: Michael Johnson, The Advocate)
