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And you people thought that little soap opera last summer was tough on Houston Nutt. "The problem here," Nutt says of his new job at Ole Miss, "is these guys have grown callous to losing." There you have it -- no more innuendo or double talk, no more overreaching boosters or overzealous fans. It's just plain football in Oxford. And it stinks. "It's not complicated," Nutt says. "It has to eat your guts out when you lose, and right now, it doesn't." Sportingnews.com 4/13/08

FOOTBALL: Nutt’s summary of spring drills Houston Nutt summarizes spring practice as the Rebels head into Saturday’s Red-Blue game: I’m proud of the way we’ve worked. The terminology changes, coaching changes … it’s not always easy. We’ve just got to keep getting better. There are some times at practice where things don’t go right, and there’s a defeated look that we want to correct. We harp on that. It goes back to that shut-off button, and a lot of little things that we have to correct, but it’s been a good spring. (Are the players better now than at the beginning of spring?) Anybody that has watched consistently would say they’re different, they’re better. Are we there? No, but I just love the start we’ve had. Now we want to turn the corner, be excellent students and finish strong, do all the little things right and have a great summer. We’re better. (The defense really threw a lot at you at the end of practice Wednesday …) There would have been some sacks, but I like sometimes playing good on good and letting them bring the house. I want to see how our guys react. If you come out here and choreograph success it doesn’t do you much good, but if you turn them loose, let them show you the speed of the game, let them see it, it just helps you. You can get back in the film room and really correct. We can be better teachers, and our guys can learn from it.

After the Spring: Talent pool still overflowing after departure of Hester in Tiger backfield With the book now closed on “The Legend of Jacob Hester” in Baton Rouge, what should fans expect to see from the LSU Tiger backfield in ’08? The answer is: much of the same. Don’t expect the backfield to look a…

SHOCKEY TO SAINTS STILL SIMMERING? Last month, there were rumors and reports of discussions between the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants regarding a possible trade that would send tight end Jeremy Shockey from Broadway to the Bayou. As we’d last heard it, the Giants wanted a second-round pick and safety Roman Harper, and…

Johnson, Hughes, Prince leave MSU The player who made the single-most important play of the 2007 football season has left Mississippi State, along with two others. Junior defensive back Anthony Johnson, who had a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown that helped the Bulldogs defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide 17-12 in Starkville, junior linebacker Jamon…

Nagging hamstring clouds Turner’s future Brandon Turner entered this season as the leading returning hitter to Mississippi State’s 2008 offense, a surprising redshirt freshman from a year ago who was a hit shy of a .400 average. He’ll exit this promising season, perhaps, with just 23 at-bats and only enough hits for the fingers on…

SEC suspension could be ahead for Polk Thanks to three ejections against Kentucky this past weekend in Lexington, MSU coach Ron Polk was around for just 10 of the Bulldogs’ 27 innings. And he could miss a few more. Monday, MSU athletics director Larry Templeton said Polk, who is retiring at the end of the…

Williams’ wild Wednesday Logan Williams had no idea how much his world was going to change when he woke up Wednesday morning. The true freshman from Demascus, Ark., looked to be destined for a redshirt after having not seen any playing time at third base in the first 32 games of the season. However, injuries…

Walkoff home run dooms Jags in 10th Sean Stuyverson blasted a walkoff homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Ole Miss a 6-5 win over South Alabama Tuesday night. It was the second time this season the Jags had lost a game in extra innings on a walkoff homer. USA fell at…

Rebels rip South Alabama 10-2 Michael Guerrero drove in four runs, including three with a homer, to lead Ole Miss to a 10-2 non-conference baseball victory Wednesday night over South Alabama. It was the seventh straight win for the Rebels (22-11), who host LSU this weekend in a three-game Southeastern Conference series. Brett Bukvich (1-1)…