Leave it to an offensive line coach to get to the bottom line.
Ole Miss offensive line coach Mike Markuson did just that earlier this week. Markuson and the Rebels open Southeastern Conference play Saturday at 6 p.m. at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium against unbeaten Vanderbilt, and no, it’s not just another game.
“We need a big win,” Markuson said. “We need an SEC win. We need something where they can say, ‘By gosh, they’re right.’ That’s what you need. You know, Memphis was good and Samford was good and we put a good showing at Wake (Forest) but we didn’t win at Wake. We didn’t win the game. Winning a big game is going to do more good for our whole mindset than anything and that’s what this football team needs. We need to win an SEC game and go from there.”
Ole Miss (2-1 overall, 0-0 in the SEC) hasn’t won a league game since a November 2006 win over Mississippi State in Oxford. Over the past three seasons, the Rebels have won just three SEC games — Kentucky in 2005 and Vanderbilt and Mississippi State in 2006.
First-year Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt has not backed away from his publicly-stated goal of taking the Rebels back to the postseason for the first time since Eli Manning was under center. To be playing football in December or January, it figures, the Rebels probably must beat Vanderbilt (3-0, 1-0) on Saturday.
rebelsports.net
9/19/08
