http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=282214&pub=1&div=Sports
OXFORD – It’s a plus that both of Jevan Snead’s coaches were college quarterbacks.
They understand you can’t make all the throws all the time.
But Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt, who played the position at Arkansas and Oklahoma State, and offensive coordinator Kent Austin, who played it at Ole Miss and in the CFL, would like to see Snead – the Rebels’ Texas transfer and sophomore starter – make more throws more of the time.
Nutt has said he’d like to see Snead’s 53.5 completion rate, which ranks ninth among SEC starters, much closer to 60 percent.
Snead was 50 percent Saturday, throwing 5-for-10 in the Rebels’ 59-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe.
Three of those throws were for touchdowns, and he ran for two more.
“The No. 1 thing a quarterback has to do is move the ball, manage the offense and put the football in the end zone,” Austin said. “We’d been disappointed the last couple of weeks in our lack of scoring, at least from where we think we should be.”
The Rebels scored 17 in a 10-point win against Auburn and didn’t finish as many drives with touchdowns as Austin would have liked in a 23-21 win at Arkansas.
The passing game wasn’t needed much against ULM as the Rebels amassed 350 rushing yards. It figures to be more necessary against LSU this week. The Tigers are giving up only 104.8 yards a game on the ground, a little more in the air at 206.3. In his first season as a starter what Snead has been able to do the last three games is protect the football and make big throws after he’s missed some earlier ones.
Since the second qua
rter of the Alabama game he’s thrown just one interception over his last 91 pass attempts, that one coming at Arkansas.
He’s quicker to ditch the ball under pressure now, thus avoiding the sack-and-fumble that resulted in a South Carolina touchdown in October.
“In the position I play you have to have a short memory, and you need to be able to forget the mistakes you’ve made in order to play the next play,” Snead said.
That mindset has allowed his touchdown passes (17) to rise above his interceptions (11). With a rating of 132.5, Snead is third in the SEC in pass efficiency, behind only such household names as Florida’s Tim Tebow and Georgia’s Matt Stafford.
Northeast MS Daily Journal
11/20/08
