Patterson new face of Ole Miss Rebels
OXFORD, Miss. — Shea Patterson had a three-game, crash course as Mississippi’s quarterback in November after senior starter Chad Kelly went down with a knee injury.
Now, the Rebels belong to him.
Ready or not, the 6-foot2, 203-pound sophomore is the new face of the Ole Miss football program. The former five-star recruit was the main attraction during Saturday’s intrasquad spring game and for the most part delivered, completing 21 of 30 passes for 341 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“He’s settled in and everybody knows that,” Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze said. “So he gives us a confidence.”
Patterson’s bright future is one reason for optimism in an otherwise uncertain time for the Ole Miss football program. The Rebels are coming off a disappointing 5-7 season and in the midst of an NCAA investigation for rules violations that already caused the program to self-impose a postseason ban for the upcoming season.
“We still have 12 games against the best teams in the country and play every day in the best conference,” Patterson said. “The vision doesn’t change.”
Patterson — at times — lived up to his considerable five-star hype during his three games last season. He threw for 880 yards and six touchdowns and led Ole Miss on a stunning fourth-quarter comeback in a win over Texas A&M.
But there were also some negatives. He completed just 54.5 percent of his passes, which was considerably lower than Kelly’s 62.5 percent mark. Freeze said Patterson also had a tendency to scramble when a little patience could have led to a big passing gain downfield.
Patterson has some talented playmakers around him. A.J. Brown, Van Jefferson and D.K. Metcalf will likely be the top three options at receiver after promising freshmen seasons.
They were productive during Saturday’s spring game: Brown caught 5 passes for 133 yards, Metcalf caught 4 for 98 yards and Jefferson caught 6 for 126 yards. All of them caught a touchdown pass.
AUBURN Good day for Stidham
AUBURN, Ala. — One telltale sign that it was a good day for Jarrett Stidham: A tailback’s fumble near the goal line bounced into the Auburn quarterback’s arms for a touchdown.
The one-time Baylor starter supplied fans at Saturday’s spring game with hope that a passing game that’s frequently sputtered the past few seasons is due for some improvement, deep balls and all. Stidham, who arrived in January after sitting out last season at a Texas junior college, made a good impression after three months of hype.
Playing only in the first half in front of 46,331 fans, Stidham completed 16 of 20 passes for 267 yards in leading the first-team offense. He also scored on that 1-yard run after collecting the fumble — which he called “offense by accident” — and had four completions topping 30 yards.
“It was a blast,” Stidham said. “It’s been a while for me, so I had a lot of fun. A ton of fun.”
Coach Gus Malzahn said Stidham managed the offense well. “I thought that he protected the football; that’s really where it starts,” Malzahn said. “It was good for him to get out there in front of a crowd. He hadn’t been out in front of a crowd playing football in a long time.”
Teammates say Stidham has fit in well since his arrival. First-year offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey praised the 6-foot-2, 210-pound sophomore for his frequent visits to the football building to study film on his own time.
“That’s the characteristic of a really good quarterback,” Lindsey said.
MISSISSIPPI STATE Change on the way