Ole Miss scrimmaged for about an hour and a half Saturday inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. I'll get you Lane Kiffin's comments in a bit (he didn't say a lot) and Chase will add on to these observations.
These are really, really unofficial, but per my records, here are the QB stats:
Luke Altmyer: 12-for-18, 97 yards, 1 INT
Jaxson Dart 16-for-21, 244 yards, 2 TD
Kinkead Dent 7-for-7, 56 yards, 2 TDs, 1 2-point conversion pass
I have no doubt I missed something. Lane Kiffin said he wasn't particularly thrilled with Dart or Altmyer. He said they took too many sacks, etc. He was really happy with Dent. He did say he had to go watch the film before he could really evaluate things.
Jonathan Cruz had a very strong day kicking. Cruz, out of the hold of Dent, made field goals of 34, 42, 43, 45, 32, 29 and 41 yards. His backup, Christian Schanefelt, was 1-for-3 per my records, making a 32-yarder and missing attempts of 42 and 37 yards.
My overall thoughts:
-- Dart was clearly the better quarterback of the two competing for the job today. He was very poised in the pocket. When he's errant, it's on the move. He held the ball too long at times and he's got to clean that up. SEC defensive linemen and linebackers will make him pay for that in real games. Altmyer, I felt, was tentative and indecisive at times. He wasn't bad. He just has to be more decisive.
-- The running back room is just stacked. On a day when Zach Evans didn't do much, the Rebels showed that depth in that category. Ulysses Bentley IV had some really nice plays, as did Kentrell Bullock. The freshman, Quinshon Judkins had 26 yards on five carries. Bentley, per my records, had seven carries for 56 yards. Evans didn't play a ton. Neither did OG Nick Broeker. WR Jaylon Robinson did not play.
-- Speaking of wide receivers, there's time and Robinson will change this, but today, I wasn't blown away. Guys are having a hard time getting open against man coverage. In fairness to the QBs, there were not a lot of open targets downfield.
-- It wasn't Michael Trigg's best day. He did some good things, but he had to be aligned a time or two, once by Kiffin himself. He also got called for a holding call, negating a big play. Meanwhile, Kyirin Heath continues to shine. Kiffin had praise for him afterwards. The freshman is going to play early, I think.
-- OT Mason Brooks went down fairly early and did not return. He told me he just got his bell rung, but when he went out, Jeremy James moved from left tackle back to right tackle and Jayden Williams moved in on the left side at tackle. All in all, the OL was fine today. Depth is still a worry, and center snaps remain a work in progress, especially after Caleb Warren. There were also a couple of ineligible receiver downfield calls, likely a product of the quarterbacks holding the ball too long.
-- The defensive line isn't full of stars, at least not yet, but it's such a deep unit. Kiffin said as much, talking about how that group has been remade in two years. He also praised Randall Joyner's coaching.
-- Linebacker, at least to me, remains a concern. They're trying people there and there's time, but they need a couple of guys to step up.
-- The secondary was missing some guys. A.J. Finley was held out, for example. But I liked what I saw from Miles Battle and Davison Igbinosun at cornerback and from a slew of guys -- Tysheem Johnson, Trey Washington, Dashaun Jerkins -- at safety. Denature Prince also played well at cornerback, coming down with an interception and making some plays back there.
-- There were no punts. Kiffin made a joke about the punter's conditioning, but I'm not sure the joke wasn't based on reality.
-- I thought JJ Henry stood out again today. He's emerging as a reliable weapon for the offense. Qua Davis showed up some. So did Bralon Brown.
-- The high snaps were a real problem at times. They killed drives. Altmyer made a fantastic play just to come down with one of them.
-- Wide receiver Lex Boucvalt made some plays with the No. 3 offense.
-- The Rebels also relied on running backs out of the backfield in the passing game. They're all really solid there.
-- Even reserve running back Matt Jones had a good drive, getting 31 yards on three carries on a Dent-led touchdown drive. Tight end Trace Campbell made a really nice catch for the 2-point conversion on that drive.
-- JJ Pegues and Tavius Robinson had consecutive "sacks" of Dart to end a possession late in the scrimmage.
-- Kiffin said a lot of the guys held out would have played had it been a real game.
-- Our next media access is Monday morning.
Chase's notes adding to that
Neal covered most things, but here are a few additions that I jotted down during the scrimmage. There's no reason for me to repeat something he said.
It's noted above, but JJ Pegues had at least two sacks and was really active today. He held up well in run defense near the goal line and had penetration toward the quarterback as well. Chris Patridge is incredibly competitive and when it was 2s on 2s, he would run some 1s in there as the offense closed in on the goal line.
Caleb Warren did an OK job with snaps, but it was rough at times behind him. Reece McIntyre was high with a lot of snaps. Early on, I thought that disrupted Dart when he was with the 2s.
Jonathan Mingo was in a white no-contact jersey, as was Malik Heath, but was really active on his snaps. He caught the ball well and moved well in space. I still haven't noticed any issues with his foot during camp.
Judkins had the best running back drive of the day. He's popped off the page all camp because he does everything pretty well. They can use him in the run game and pass game and in and out. It was against the 2s, but his sequence was what I remembered most from the backs. But Bentley was good and Evans didn't play much. Bullock looks good, but you just wonder if there are carries for him, barring an injury.
Knox knocked the ball out of a defender's hands on a would-be interception from Altmyer. It was a deep throw into coverage and Knox did a nice job staying with the play and avoiding a turnover.
I thought Isheem Young played well and was active in the secondary. I hadn't noticed him much except for the one day at camp, but he flashed today.
Neal mentioned Trigg, but Lane got annoyed multiple times with lining up issues. He got on Dannis pretty hard once and there were a few others. Trigg is so damn impressive with his length and ability in the middle of the field. I know why everyone talks about him. The talent is clear. But he has to clean up all the other stuff.
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