NOTES AND QUOTES

11 days until Ole Miss. Here are some interesting quotes. Also, the tentative travel squad was released yesterday.


Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt on what game he is looking forward to:


"Jacksonville State is the one. I worked with Jack Crowe. He's a really good football coach. He had Florida State beat. This guy can coach. He's going to run option every which way. It's going to be 2:30 in the afternoon, probably 100 degrees out here. You have to be ready to go. Our guys have been hearing a lot about the schedule and the first conference game, etc. Our first game is that first one in September. You have to be ready to go."

Crowe on Ole Miss transfer Darius Barksdale:

"We hope to get him in rotation with Calvin (Middleton), Jamal (Young) and Richard (Freelon) . . . That will give us four really good backs that we hope will help us develop a really good punch. . . . He is a big back, a powerful back, who will certainly help this ball team,"

Crowe on QB Marques Ivory and his performance last year in the opener against Georgia Tech:

"What he did in that football game would be credible for anybody in the ACC against that defense." “We recruited him with high expectations. He’s proven that he can take a tough game and perform. He’s a player. We’re good there."

Crowe on the cornerbacks, AJ Davis and TJ Heath:

“We’ve got the best two corners we’ve ever had, maybe the best four corners we’ve ever had." “We’ve got to make sure we can rush the passer, that we really have a bigtime pass rush.”

Crowe on Bandit Monte Lewis:

"He’s maybe the main guy in our football program . . . All our players talk about him. . . . On a team of pretty good players, he’s probably the most respected player we’ve got. He could be playing football for a long time.”

Other Notes:

*Reports are that the Ole Miss faithful are excited about hearing the Southerners play Dixie.

*The Anniston Star reports that the Gamecocks are awaiting NCAA clearance for transfers Mike Whittier and Ronald Johnson. Also, there is apparently some issue relating to Erik Russell. Russell is a big time linebacker so lets hope this is resolved.

*The banged up offensive line continues to be the story of pre-season camp, but the good news is that it looks like Curt Porter, Justin Kay, Tyler Ogletree and Tylor Chambers will all be healthy for the opener against Ole Miss. As best an outsider can tell from looking at the depth chart, it appears that Tori Mobley and Devon Hayes are most likely to complete the line.

*Based on the depth chart released by JSU yesterday, the Second Team offensive line consists entirely of players who have never played a down for the Gamecocks: Odie Rush (JUCO transfer from Mississippi; Ricky Clemons (a former 3* recruit from Michigan that redshirted last year); Max Holcombe (a true freshman from Tuscaloosa); Colt Kennedy (a redshirt from Douglas, Georgia with great size- 6-5, 300 lbs; and Taylor Johnstone (a transfer from Georgia Southern).

*Rod Byrd is listed as second team linebacker. GI had previously heard that Byrd was moved to tight end;

*Brent Tolson from Anniston continues to make waves. The redshirt freshman from Anniston is listed as second team linebacker.

*Armani Williams, a Defensive Lineman from Navarre, Florida, is one of a very few number of true freshmen on the 2 deep;

*Other notables on the 2 deep: Marquis George, a 3 Star Juco player is listed as the second string defensive end. Marquis attended the same Juco as Kevin Dix. Tim McGee, a tranfer from Memphis previously rated as the #3 Juco Defensive Tackle in the Country is listed as 2nd team defensive line. JUCO linebacker Brannon Byrd was also listed high on another depth chart. It appears that all of our transfer players will contribute.

*Nick Johnson, from Fort Payne, is listed as 2nd Team safety. Nick has primarily contributed on special teams to date. It also looks like Brooks Robinson, the former QB, will get some playing time at Safety. Brooks has shown that he is a great athlete.