SEC Notes and News

chrisrushing@collegesportsmatchups.com

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Last week, we examined the Ole Miss Rebels and their key players heading into the 2010 season. One of those, Raymond Cotton, decided to up and leave the program late last week and left a huge void on the depth chart at quarterback in the process.

After going through spring practice as the main backup to Nathan Stanley, Cotton would have played a vital role in the Rebels’ offense this fall and had all the potential to take over the starting job mid-season if not a little later. Stanley is a big arm and smart kid, but his athleticism doesn’t match the former four-star recruit Cotton’s.

Suddenly, Stanley is the only quarterback on Houston Nutt’s roster with any game experience (albeit very limited) and junior college transfer Randall Mackey now moves to No. 2 by process of elimination in the two-deep at the team’s most important position.

Welcome back to the Southeastern Conference, Dave Rader.

Mackey is a ferocious athlete and was a JUCO All-American at East Mississippi Community College in 2009. The Bastrop, La., native provides an element to the play calling that could help ease the burden left behind when National Football League first-round pick Dexter McCluster graduated after a record-breaking ’09 season in Oxford. Now, as the team’s primary backup, that role could get severely limited over the course of fall camp so that Mackey is ready to go should Stanley get injured or prove to be ineffective.

So, now Nutt is faced with a huge dilemma: Does he abandon all previous thinking and allow former Oregon signal caller Jeremiah Masoli onto the team?

It’s not often you can get an all-conference player to transfer in and play immediately, but Masoli provides that option after racking up All-Pac 10 honors a year ago in leading the Ducks to the conference title. Some not-so-friendly headlines followed the Rose Bowl and Masoli found himself in a bit of legal trouble, leading both he and Nutt to their common ground today.

There is no question that Masoli will make Ole Miss a better offense, and he can allow Mackey to remain in his playmaker role for another few weeks as he gets a handle on the complete offense for next season. Masoli is a hired gun and would be looked to learn the 20-or-so plays that were designed for Cotton immediately upon arrival in Oxford and to expand his knowledge of the playbook from there.

But, the negative press haunting Masoli isn’t going away, no matter where the senior with degree in hand ends up. This could be a pivotal season laced with transition from former coach Ed Orgeron’s recruits to Nutt’s and a sub-.500 finish is not something the Ole Miss coaching staff want to experience after back-to-back 9-4 campaigns.

So, the big question on everyone’s minds: is this risk worth the reward? For the Rebels, at this critical juncture, I think it is. One slip up and Masoli is gone, but in the meantime, he could give a valuable weapon to an offense in serious need of one.

We’ll have to wait and see if the Ole Miss administration agrees with me and countless others.