Rebels’ kickers not among coach’s worries
Campbell, Rose among SEC’S best
OXFORD, Miss. — First-year Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze is asked daily about his quarterbacks.
And he’s quizzed about injuries, the number of true freshman he’s going to play, his depth at tight end, his linebackers. The list goes on and on.
But until Tuesday morning, nobody had inquired about his starting punter and place-kicker.
“I don’t even have any questions about them,” Freeze said. “That’s one place I hope we’re pretty solid.” Solid? Try set in stone. Senior punter Tyler Campbell, the NCAA’s leading punter two years ago, and senior placekicker Bryson Rose, who has missed just four field goals in his career, have a combined 61 college starts. Campbell’s career punting average of 44.6 yards ranks second in school history. Rose’s 86.2 field goal percentage (25- of-29) is the best ever at Ole Miss.
But considering the Rebels’ offense doesn’t have the depth or talent yet to play Freeze’s no-huddle offense, the pressure is on Campbell to flip the field and Rose to cash in field goals.
“It’s pressure, but at the same time it motivates both of us,” Campbell said. “We want to help the team in any way we can.”
In 2010 as a sophomore, Campbell averaged a college football-leading 46.37 yards per kick, with 19 punts of more than 50 yards and five punts of more than 60 yards. Last year, Campbell’s average dropped to 43.6, because he was ordered by thenRebs assistant James Shibest to occasionally punt rugby-style with a running start.
“Rolling out and kicking
Ole Miss senior Bryson Rose has been the most automatic field goal kicker in Rebel history, hitting 25 of 29 attempts (82.2 percent) in three seasons. He and punter Tyler Campbell are among the few sure things Hugh Freeze has as he heads into his first season as the team’s head coach. by punting might be done. So far in preseason, he’s just been able to take the snap and let it rip.
“I expressed (to the coaches) I just want to conventional punt this year, and so far they’re on the same page as me,” Campbell said. “I’m up to 230 pounds and I’m just keeping my leg fresh.”
So is Rose, who said he’s kicking a maximum of 20 field goals every practice. He concentrates on the consistency and form that has made him almost automatic the last two seasons as a starter.
“My freshman year, I’d come out here and kick 50, 70 balls per day, because I thought I had to impress somebody,” Rose said. “All I did was wear out my leg. My body was really aching. The last couple of years, I don’t kick more than 20 balls. I just do it by feel.”
Rose’s biggest challenge has been patience. Last season, the Ole Miss offense was so bad that Rose attempted just 11 field goals (making nine). His two misses were against Louisiana Tech, snapping a streak of 17 consecutive made field goals dating back to 2010, a string that ended one short of the SEC record of 18 set by Tennessee’s Fuad Reveiz in 1984.
“The main thing is staying confident and it helps that I have a great holder and snapper,” said Rose, whose perfect tempo on his kicks mirrors his golf swing that produces scores in the mid-70s. “So when I go out there for a field goal, I just don’t think about anything but the consistent swing. You just let your body take over for you.”
It’s likely the kickoff duty will fall to Rose or true freshman Nathan Noble of Greenville, Miss. Freeze wants to redshirt senior Andrew Ritter, who has kicked off for the last three seasons, averaging 65.3 yards per kickoff with 36 touchbacks.
“Andrew is open to the idea and we’ll discuss it with his parents,” Freeze said. “I like having a senior placekicker and that’s what he’ll be for us next season.”
Given the deep rotation used by defensive line coach Sean Spencer last season, Azubike is almost certain to be in the mix.
“You guys see him,” said Franklin, who has made freshmen unavailable to the media. “I haven’t seen too many freshmen ... that look like that. Sometimes they look like that, but they don’t play like that. They look like Tarzan, play like Jane. He looks like Tarzan, plays like Tarzan.”
There are at least three freshman competing for playing time at linebacker, and Herring, who went through spring practice, could contend for a starting job with senior Tristan Strong leaving the team.
Jacob Sealand is pushing to be the backup to middle linebacker Chase Garnham, who has been nursing a bad ankle. And Ja’karri Thomas has captured Shoop’s attention by being involved in so many plays.
“(Thomas) has been probably, arguably, the surprise of camp,” Shoop said. “I mean there’s a guy who was a converted defensive lineman in high school going back to linebacker. And he shows explosiveness. For a true freshman ... you go, ‘Wow. Boy, that guy keeps showing up on film.’”
Cornerbacks Torren McGaster and Paris Head could work their way on the field in nickel or dime packages. Defensive tackle Ladarius Banks, who is up to 288 pounds from 275 last February, has shown promise. On the offensive line, assistant Herb Hand has freshmen sprinkled in his second-string unit and he likes Kevin McCoy (nearly 300 pounds), Blake Fromang (285) and Andrew Jelks (280).