REBELS:Secondary’s effort a primary concern
OXFORD – It wasn’t Stephen King or Tom Clancy, but it might just as well have been as far as Kendrick Lewis was concerned.
Lewis locked his eyes, turned his hips and ran.
He knew where the football was going, because he’d read Memphis quarterback Will Hudgens like a paperback novel.
“It was a three-step drop, and when he got to his third step, his eyes were on the receiver, and his shoulder was up,” Lewis said. “I just broke on the ball and made a play on it.”
It was late in the second quarter. Memphis faced a first down from its 21, and Lewis’ end zone pick kept the Tigers from making it a seven-point game.
The Rebels cashed in with a field goal, and it was a 10-point swing and a 24-7 advantage.
It was a highlight video, but there weren’t enough of them to satisfy the Ole Miss defensive coaches.
The Rebels won 41-24 but gave up 453 yards, and Memphis ran 84 plays.
“We got a little soft at the end, but that’s what the spread does to you,” Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said. “We’ve got to do a better job of playing the ball with our eyes in the secondary.”
djournal.com
9/4/08
Magnolia Tribune
