Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze and selected players held a media opportunity following Wednesday's practice. Here are the relevant notes from that media gathering.
*** CJ Johnson was the only underclassman Freeze knew of who filed for an NFL Draft evaluation. "I'm confident he'll be back with us." Johnson said the same this week.
*** On the response of Ryan Buchanan and Devante Kincade since Ole Miss picked up a commitment from junior college quarterback Chad Kelly: "They've been wonderful and had great practices the last few weeks. Both of those guys have bright futures. At this level, if you want to be great you have to create competition and both have responded really well. They aren't concerned about the competition, and Chad isn't either. We'll get them all in the spring and figure out what the best is for our team."
*** Ole Miss compares TCU offensively to Texas A&M with Johnny Manziel. "You can have everything covered, and there's a 20-yard gain because of the ability of Trevone Boykin," Freeze said. "It makes them difficult to defend. Schematically it isn't something you are just wowed by, but they have really good players. Then the quarterback that's difficult to contain, and they do it at tempo."
*** Freeze on going into the offseason with a win instead of a loss: "Any time you end on a good note it helps yourself. You know me and what I'm going to say because I don't make too much or too little out of a one-game deal, particularly when you've been able to rise this year to one of the elite games.
"You're playing an elite team and when two elite teams play someone is going to lose, and you just hope you play really well and play your best. Let the chips fall where they may. If so, we'll feel OK about it. There's no question there will be momentum going into the offseason because of the year we have playing in a New Year's bowl against an elite team. It would even give us more momentum with a win."
*** Tee Shephard has started running this week. The injured area remains tender, but he'll increase the rehab significantly after Christmas. Denzel Nkemdiche and Laquon Treadwell are off the scooters. Nkemdiche is walking with a boot, and Treadwell is on one crutch. Shepard and Nkemdiche will practice in the spring. Treadwell is questionable but should go through some of spring practice.
*** Golson on his unanimous All-America season: "It's a blessing with the individual honors, but it helps when you have the D-line that I have and the great coaching staff that put a plan together every week. A lot of things came together for us as a whole for me to achieve that."
*** Golson said TCU has more great athletes on one side of the ball than any other team Ole Miss has played this season.
*** Golson said he's "50-50" on playing baseball at Ole Miss in the spring or focusing 100 percent on the NFL Draft. That percentage was higher for baseball during the season, but due to his football success the NFL preparation has become more of an appealing option. He's yet to sit down with Mike Bianco.
*** CJ Johnson was the only underclassman Freeze knew of who filed for an NFL Draft evaluation. "I'm confident he'll be back with us." Johnson said the same this week.
*** On the response of Ryan Buchanan and Devante Kincade since Ole Miss picked up a commitment from junior college quarterback Chad Kelly: "They've been wonderful and had great practices the last few weeks. Both of those guys have bright futures. At this level, if you want to be great you have to create competition and both have responded really well. They aren't concerned about the competition, and Chad isn't either. We'll get them all in the spring and figure out what the best is for our team."
*** Ole Miss compares TCU offensively to Texas A&M with Johnny Manziel. "You can have everything covered, and there's a 20-yard gain because of the ability of Trevone Boykin," Freeze said. "It makes them difficult to defend. Schematically it isn't something you are just wowed by, but they have really good players. Then the quarterback that's difficult to contain, and they do it at tempo."
*** Freeze on going into the offseason with a win instead of a loss: "Any time you end on a good note it helps yourself. You know me and what I'm going to say because I don't make too much or too little out of a one-game deal, particularly when you've been able to rise this year to one of the elite games.
"You're playing an elite team and when two elite teams play someone is going to lose, and you just hope you play really well and play your best. Let the chips fall where they may. If so, we'll feel OK about it. There's no question there will be momentum going into the offseason because of the year we have playing in a New Year's bowl against an elite team. It would even give us more momentum with a win."
*** Tee Shephard has started running this week. The injured area remains tender, but he'll increase the rehab significantly after Christmas. Denzel Nkemdiche and Laquon Treadwell are off the scooters. Nkemdiche is walking with a boot, and Treadwell is on one crutch. Shepard and Nkemdiche will practice in the spring. Treadwell is questionable but should go through some of spring practice.
*** Golson on his unanimous All-America season: "It's a blessing with the individual honors, but it helps when you have the D-line that I have and the great coaching staff that put a plan together every week. A lot of things came together for us as a whole for me to achieve that."
*** Golson said TCU has more great athletes on one side of the ball than any other team Ole Miss has played this season.
*** Golson said he's "50-50" on playing baseball at Ole Miss in the spring or focusing 100 percent on the NFL Draft. That percentage was higher for baseball during the season, but due to his football success the NFL preparation has become more of an appealing option. He's yet to sit down with Mike Bianco.
