What To Watch For At This Saturday's Grove Bowl

Rebel fans can rejoice. Ole Miss Football returns to the gridiron for the annual Grove Bowl this Saturday at 11 a.m.

With the loss of the high-caliber offensive weapons such as Chad Kelly, Evan Engram and Damore’ea Stringfellow, Ole Miss has made a plan to bounce back from the disappointing 5-7 2016 season.
The Rebels hired four new coaches during the offseason. Phil Longo, who was hired as offensive coordinator, was recognized for creating Sam Houston State’s football program into an unstoppable scoring machine. So, be prepared to see a ton of passes on Saturday.
Wesley McGriff makes his return to Oxford by taking the reins as defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Prior to coming to Ole Miss, McGriff coached at Auburn and contributed to the Tigers’ turnaround season from 2015 to 2016.
The Rebels also added Jacob Peeler as WR coach, Bradley Dale Peveto to lead the front seven and Tray Scott to fulfill the vacant DL coach position left by Chris Kiffin, who departed to Florida Atlantic University to coach with his brother, Lane.

---

Some Players To Watch This Saturday:

Quarterback, Shea Patterson

We hope he can fill the big shoes Chad Kelly left behind. So far, it has been good. The soon-to-be sophomore already saw playing time last year after Kelly’s injury and got his first win as a starter at Texas A&M. Nonetheless, he is prepared to lead the Rebels onward to victory.
Running Back, Jordan Wilkins

Wilkins was signed with the glorious 2013 class that featured Robert Nkemdiche but did not see the field last year due to academic reasons. However, Wilkins was ranked as a four-star recruit and had significant SEC playing experience before 2016.
Wide Receiver, D.K. Metcalf

Metcalf, an Oxford native, was a MaxPreps and U.S. Army All-American during high school. Unfortunately, Metcalf broke his foot on a touchdown catch last season against Wofford. I know I’m looking forward to see what a healthy Metcalf can do during this spring game.
Quarterback/Tight End, Jason Pellerin

Pellerin is a versatile player who saw action last year in the pocket, but Hugh Freeze has toyed with him as tight end at practice and remarked him as one of the better 22 players.
Wide Receiver, Damarkus Lodge

Be prepared to see ball passed to this guy often. He can catch, he can run, he’s all in one. Lodge only had 15 receptions last year for 203 yards and two touchdowns, but the 2017 season is promising for this young man.
Defensive End, Marquis Haynes
Haynes will be the leader of the Rebels in 2017. He has three years under his belt with this being his senior season. Haynes was honored last year as all-SEC third team in 2016 and led the team with tackles for loss (11.0) and sacks (7.0).

---

By Wes Cooper, an intern for HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at jwcooper@go.olemiss.edu.
For questions or comments, email hottytoddynews@gmail.com.