By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
Sept. 12, 2004
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Have you ever found yourself sitting around the house in your underwear on a Sunday morning?
After a couple of muffins, a cup of coffee and a glance at the newspaper, 10 a.m. rolls around. And you know church starts at 10:30.
It's not too late to get your act together, but if you're going to make something of yourself, you'd better get started right away.
Such is the case today with Ole Miss. If the Rebels' offense is going to make something of itself in 2004, it had better stop sitting around in its underwear and eating muffins.
Or something like that. You get the idea.
Expectations in Oxford were reasonable coming into the season. The Rebels lost superstar quarterback Eli Manning, record-breaking wide receiver Chris Collins and starting tailback Tremaine Turner. But a wealth of talent on the offensive line gave Ole Miss fans legitimate reason to hope for at least seven or eight wins.
Those hopes assumed, of course, that the offensive line would live up to its billing. Doug Buckles, Tre' Stallings, Chris Spencer and Marcus Johnson were each potential All-Southeastern Conference honorees and have more than 100 career starts among them.
But the offensive line has been the most disappointing group on the entire team. In the Rebels' season-opening loss to Memphis on Sept. 4, the offensive line was swallowed up by the Memphis defense on nearly every play. New quarterback Micheal Spurlock spent the entire night running for his life. Tailback Vashon Pearson didn't fare much better.
At the time, I gave Spurlock, Pearson and the Rebels' offensive line the benefit of the doubt. After all, there are easier assignments to have than to face a Joe Lee Dunn defense in your first game.
But the Ole Miss offense met the same fate on Saturday against Alabama. Spurlock was erratic and inaccurate. Pearson moved with the agility and speed of a tricycle. And for the second week in a row, the Rebels' offensive linemen were knocked off the ball all night long.
Granted, Ole Miss has faced two tough, physical defenses in Memphis and Alabama. The going won't get any easier in the SEC, though. And it shouldn't have to. Back during spring practices, some Ole Miss players boasted that they would have the top offensive line in the conference. In their first two games, the Rebels haven't even had the best offensive line in the building.
Fans are quick to point the finger at Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe, but the blame doesn't belong to him. I'll give you an example. Late in the first quarter, the Rebels stalled in their own territory when Pearson was stopped short on third and one. The call was a halfback draw right up the middle. It's the most basic play in football.
But the Rebels' offensive line got no push, created no hole, and Pearson was smothered at the line of scrimmage.
That wasn't Cutcliffe's fault. What was he supposed to call? A Hail Mary? Not with the way Spurlock was throwing the ball.
In fairness to Spurlock, he seldom got help from his receivers. I counted at least four dropped passes on Saturday. Sure, Spurlock throws as hard as Manning ever did, and his accuracy leaves a lot to be desired, but receivers were putting both hands on his passes.
A year ago, those passes were caught. So far in 2004, they haven't been.
As a result, Ole Miss possessions have looked like an office full of toddlers short and utterly unproductive.
When Alabama went up 21-0 with 8:15 left in the third quarter, I turned to a friend in the press box and said, "Ball game." The game was effectively over. The Ole Miss offense was nowhere near capable of scoring three touchdowns in the final quarter and a half.
And that shouldn't be the case with any offense in the SEC, regardless of whether you just lost the top quarterback in school history.
The Rebels were slightly more impressive under the direction of Ethan Flatt, who relieved Spurlock in the second half. But Spurlock is the one who was groomed as Manning's heir, not Flatt. Flatt spent 2003 on the practice squad. And even as recently as last week, Cutcliffe admitted Flatt was nowhere near ready for action.
It's too early to call this a rebuilding year, but at the least, Ole Miss is staring at a quarterback controversy, and that creates several questions. Should the Rebels gamble that Spurlock will come out of his shell, or should Cutcliffe start looking to the future and stick with Flatt? And either way, what will it take to get the Rebels' offensive line, wide receivers and running game to live up to potential?
As of Saturday night, none of those questions had answers. And the longer those answers elude the Rebels, the more they'll find themselves on the losing end.