Speaks says Rebels are motivated despite ban
SEC SERIES PART 8: OLE MISS
When he’s not terrorizing Southeastern Conference quarterbacks and running backs, Ole Miss defensive tackle Breeland Speaks is taking criminal justice courses with an emphasis in corrections.
“I want to be a prison program designer who helps guys get back into the reality of being in the real world and not a closed environment,” Speaks said at SEC media days. “I also want to make sure that those guys in prison are doing things to better themselves every single day. I’ve always wanted to help people, and there obviously are a lot of guys who have gotten into trouble and didn’t hear enough voices.
“I feel like I can help guys out.” In a sense, this season could serve as a trial run for the 6-foot-3, 285-pound junior from Jackson, Miss.
Ole Miss will play this season
in confinement, having self-imposed a bowl ban after the NCAA’s notice of allegations arrived in February and cited four Level I violations against former Rebels assistant coach Barney Farrar. The Rebels won 10 games during the 2015 season, including a 48-20 rout of Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl, but they went into a late-season tailspin last year and finished 5-7.
“Not too many teams have been through this, where they know that they will not be playing in a bowl game,” Speaks said. “Our guys want to make sure that if we’re not going, you’re not either. That’s been the mantra going into this season, and the best thing is that you’ve always got something to play for in the SEC.
“It’s the greatest conference in the world, so we’ll always have a reason to be ready to play.”
Ole Miss also will compete this season without Hugh Freeze, who resigned as head coach Thursday after university officials discovered a troubling “pattern of conduct,” Rebels athletic director Ross Bjork said. Freeze’s departure, Bjork added, was not related to what has been a never-ending NCAA investigation.
The Rebels had their moments last season, steamrolling Georgia 45-14 in September and prevailing 29-28 at Texas A&M in November, but they were few and far between. They let a 28-6 lead get away in a 45-34 opening loss to Florida State in Orlando, and their 24-3 advantage over Alabama during the third week of the season wasn’t enough in a 48-43 setback.
Ole Miss was the only team to play the Crimson Tide within single digits during the regular season, but that didn’t carry much weight when the Rebels faltered down the stretch with lopsided losses to Vanderbilt, 38-17, and Mississippi State, 55-20.
“It was very difficult to go through,” Speaks said. “We lost (cornerback) Ken Webster in the first game, and that was a huge blow. He was the leader of our back end. By the time we lost (quarterback) Chad Kelly, it pretty much seemed like the end. It was a downfall, but the guys this offseason didn’t talk. We just worked.
“There has been a bad taste in our mouths, and we want to make sure that it never happens again.”
Freeze said at media days that the front line headed by Speaks and senior end Marquis Haynes is the unquestioned strength of the defense, while the offense will have to rally around sophomore quarterback Shea Patterson. On track to redshirt last season, Patterson became the starter in the last three games — after Kelly tore his ACL — and completed 72 of 132 passes (54.5 percent) for 880 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions.
The Rebels are loaded at receiver with the return of Van Jefferson, A.J. Brown and DaMarkus Lodge, so there is the potential for points, but Freeze admitted Patterson will have to hold the offense and potentially the team together.
“It has to happen, and I think the great thing is that his ceiling can be really high,” Freeze said.
Ole Miss is now under the guidance of interim coach Matt Luke, with the defense coordinated by associate head coach Wesley McGriff, who was Auburn’s secondary coach last year. The Rebels gave up 27 or more points in each of their final eight games last season, including the combined 93 points in their final two.
Speaks insists the Rebels will come out of the gate vastly improved under McGriff.
“He just wants us to play ball,” Speaks said. “I feel like we’ll be pretty nasty.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.