NCAAF 2023 - Week 1 || FCS - FBS Matchup || (#22) Ole Miss Rebels vs Mercer Bears || 9/2/23

college football is back week one of the college football season and we are at Old Miss for Mercer against TW number 22 the Old Miss Rebels as they take the field here on a white out that's right at VA Hemingway stadium in Oxford Mississippi and with that we're going to welcome you to the broadcast Booth Justin Kutcher alongside former defensive coordinator at Missouri Dave de St great to be with you here for another season of college football it's great to be here Justin man sorry to interrup you but I'm fired up the fans playing you should be fired up for good reason because this Old Miss team has a running back that kind of snuck up on people last year and he had a record setting season for Miss and that kid of course is quin Sean junkins you're absolutely right he's not going to sneak up on anybody this year though Quin Sean is the whole total package you see he's got burst he's got toughness when he has to stick in the hole he's a very elusive ball player he can swing cut he has great home run speed all right and then the other thing that's so crazy his vision his patience and then you see a burst there out of the back field everybody's going to know about quinan junkins too this kid last year almost broke Hershel Walker's freshman rushing record in the SEC 49 yds shy if you're onew with hersel Walker you're doing something really well on the flip side for this only Miss team defense was an issue so lane kein hit the transfer portal really hard on the defensive side of the ball he also got a new defensive coordinator he did he's called the transfer King the transfer portal King but let me tell you something his best transfer portal guy is that guy right there Pete golden he came from Alabama he was one of the top defensive coins in the country he learned from Nick Sabin over the last five years they were seventh in all of FBS in in uh defensive scoring which is the most important stat Pete golden he's the transfer guy he needed okay so Pete Golding and his defense will have to contend with a very good wide receiver for this Mercer Bears team in Tai James Tai James electrifying electrifying he started off as a walk- on in Georgia and he came over here to to merer the guy's got size he's got length he's got speed he's a heck of a football player well Mercer they won the toss they have elected to defer so they will kick off and a short Ki kick to the 28 yd line and that's where Miss will take the ball and this has been the biggest question for Old Miss is who would be the starting quarterback here in week one well the answer is going to be the guy who was the quarterback last year Jackson D who beat out the transfer from Oklahoma State Spencer Sanders for this you see the numbers of Dart from last season and his coach and offensive coordinator have both said he is much improved so let's see what he can do as he has junkins in the back field with him on first down drops back to pass his first pass is completed to Jordan Watkins Watkins the first down up to the 44 yd line of Mercer a 27 yd completion Here Comes ER Temple play action you see how they pack the box everybody's looking for qu trying to get the ball they run a little out pattern over there and here they go fast and the toss to quinon jins his first Carry of the Season he had 274 carries last year which St you ready for this what's Happ same number of carries that Hershel Walker had as a freshman at Georgia and he almost got him on the yardage too you get your name mentioned with hersel Walker you're special Pass open receiver and this is going to go to the house a touchdown for Trey Harris hoty tody already boom boom I'll go the lights man I'll tell you what Justin Trey Harris I got to watch that young man play last year when I did the L Tech game you talk about explosive and quickness for a guy his size the other thing is it's been doing a little rainy and Misty here on a grass field the DB didn't get his footing correctly and didn't keep him on his inside shoulder there makes a nice spin move in first into the end zone a 38 yd touchdown catch for Trey Harris good start for ol Miss as Kaden Davis is on for the extra point well that didn't take very long we know about Lane kein and what he can do offensively that happened fast it did it was a play action it's an RPO they ran the split Zone to bring the linebacker in hit the slant route over top of the linebacker the corner got out leveraged and you see him taken to the end zone here Trey Harris with his first touchdown as a member of the ol Miss Rebels Trey started off where left off there at the LC Lane kein now in his fourth year with ol [Music] Miss kein 23 and 13 in his four years signed a contract extension in November and this is one of those big years for him they got off to a great start last year did not finish strong so they want to kind of get off to that great start and show that they can sustain that throughout the year Kaden Davis will kick off devron Harper a dangerous return man is back deep and he will not get a chance to return this one that'll be a Touchback that's a good remedy to kick it out that young man ran back like a 42 y to open the game for m last week you talked about Tai James Devon Harper the other player in that wide receiver tandem his coach Drew kronic said he is the most dynamic player in our league that League of course the soan Mercer let out by their quarterback Carter peave big kid 63 220 got a special arm says his coach Drew kronic he predicts he will be the school's all time leading passer when it's all said and done on first down it's Harper in motion and it's kept up the middle peave can he take it to the house Carter pey what an answer here by Mercer 75 yards I got to tell you JK my neck's hurting I'm looking to the left by the time I get it over to the left I got to look to the right unbelievable unbelievable unbelievable answer tell you what they did they came out into an empty back field on this thing and what they did was they ran a fly sweep here faked it pulled the linebacker out of the box and he ran a counter right up the middle of the gut what a response by the Bears of Mercer in FCS School ree Griffith on for the extra point and that is good the last time that Mercer scored a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage was Devon Harper 66 yd TD run last year so what happens they fake it to him and Carter PE goes up the middle 75 yds we're barely a minute in it's [Applause] 77 this is actually the second alltime meeting between Mercer and ol miss the first time came back in 1911 just a here after St was born and in that game Old Miss beat Mercer well 34 to nothing already 77 here it's amazing but just for the record that was a third year after I was [Laughter] born Jaylen Knox will take the short kick and Knox able to return this one up to the 33 yd line let's go back to that touchdown run by Carter Peavey took it 75 yards how' it happen what happened there they went fly sweep out of an empty set the Right Guard pulled and trapped the linebacker ran out of the boxing man and Peavey with his 465 speed just outran everybody to the end zone you talk about Katy by the door Carter Peavey last year his season high for rushing yards in a game was 58 he just ran for 75 Dayton Wade In Motion on first down it's kept here by Jackson Dart and dart is able to fall forward get up to the 37 yard line both both teams are using this fly motion to their advantage to get linebackers out of the box to help the running game Dart to pass dumps it off to his running back Judkins and that's an area that a lot of people don't realize how good quinon junkins is is as a receiver out of the back field winon has really really good hands there they're coming fast Here Comes our Tempo third and one it's junkins look at that move that he just made he gets the first down to the 49 yd line and here comes their Tempo again pop it quick they going to Quick kanes junkins gets in the hole you see his quickness here bounce little power and toughness I love this kid play action taking the shot down the sideline back shoulder throw Dayton Wade able to bring it in that was what beautiful pass and a great catch right that was another RPO which stands for run pass option I got to tell the viewers that for my wife out there so she can learn football when we talk you know great pass little outcut first down but they're bringing it back now they're going to say I believe they said it's an incomplete never came down with it in bounds is the receiver was out of bounds prior to making the catch the previous play is under further review so a replay official is Mitchell Wilkins the referee Ted pits let's take a look did he get oh it looked like a toe may have come down before the ball was out let's see looks like a toe and an elbow Justin here's a good view right here there's the elbow down here comes a tow that's a catch and now the fans just saw it on the big screen and they agree with stack St also known as Jimmy Jimmy's getting fired up hey Telly you know the great thing about college football way back from coaching but being being a part of all this it's unbelievable if you love college football when that band first plays oh yeah Goosebumps go up your spine it's just an electric atmosphere they got a white out for here I don't see how they cannot reverse this call and put on there because got the elbow and the toe in there at the same time well if they do reverse the call that'll be another big play for this Old Miss offense and Charlie Weiss Jr he said his goal is was to have 12 big plays a game 12 explosive plays a game which by him it means 16 yds on a pass play 12 yds on a carry after further review the receiver's elbow touch down inbounds now are the touching out of bounds so it's a completed pass it'll be first down from the 28 yd [Applause] line one more look watch that left elbow that's a 24y completion and that's one of Charlie Weiss's explosives right there he got the elbow in the to already three explosive plays for this Miss offense again just not even three minutes into this game Dart again to try Harris and Harris with a second touchdown of the game another explosive play this time 28 yds Trey Harris welcome to the SEC two catches two touchdowns again another RPO run pass option you see the Run fake there Dart throws it on the money back shoulder fade beautiful hands and catch runs it into the end zone Sims made a nice tackle there but he drug him on in [Applause] Kaden Costa on for the extra [Applause] point we've had three possessions we've had three touchdowns so far in this one ol Miss and Trey Harris has two of them 14-7 Old Miss leading an awesome job by our production team to go back in the archives find all these covers for old misss throughout their history for their programs and this one in 2023 the guide and what will happen with this Old Miss team this year you looked at their history first season back in 18 93 capacity here at Vault Hemingway Stadium just over 64,000 six SEC titles they won a national championship back in 1960 as Kaden Davis will kick off Devon Harper is back and of course if you're Davis you're hoping you don't give him a chance to return it but this one is returnable here's Harper from the four Harper he gets it stripped loses it and it looks like Old Miss has recovered [Applause] no sign yet and it is Old Miss with a [Applause] recovery Tyler Banks Monty Montgomery strip the ball from devron Harper Mon and then Tyler Banks able to recover the fumble it's really a good club over Tomahawk getting that ball out turn I feel bad for that young man last week he fumbled a punt return now he fumbles a kickoff return and he's a really good football player he's got to lock that ball away better one of those lessons that Devon Harper is going to have to learn watch Old Miss taking a shot for the end zone right here Jackson Dart five for five 120 yards two TDS already and the handoff is to junkins and he'll get back to the line of scrimmage maybe pick up a yard Solomon zubu the guy they call zoo with the tackle I like Zoo he's a good football player well his hands zoo we got to come back to that later I'll tell you a funny one about that one Dart pump fake plenty of time over the middle another completion and another touchdown for Trey Harris are you kidding [Applause] me three catches three touchdowns in his old Miss debut I guess that's why they call him Trey touche [Applause] turnovers turnovers lead to [Music] touchdowns another explosive play that pass was 19 [Music] yds now Kaden Davis on for the extra point 21-7 the turnover leads to a quick score again Watch Monty Montgomery able to strip that ball from devron Harper ol Miss recovers it and then Jackson Dart looking for his new favorite Target Trey Harris and Harris couple of broken tackles and Harris has three touchdown receptions already ties the school record unbelievable his first three catches and he's tied a School record we've had 11 plays in the football game on offense and we got 28 points this is going to be fun we're not yet 5 minutes in holy moly Kaden Davis will kick off again and now let's see if Harper can redeem himself Harper excuse me Aiden Williams no it is Harper back there yeah he's too good Justin they're not going to go away from him he's going to take this one out of the endzone and he gets tackled across the 15 did you notice on that return there maybe from the last time he had a little hesitation whether he was going to stay in or come out it was a little indecisive there you got to hit that stick it and gety up so okay as a coach how do you convey confidence in a young man who is so talented like him you Pat him on the back tell him he's better than that go back in there all right well Carter Peavey will come back out the first play from scrimage for Mercer he kept it took it to the house 75 yds [Applause] Peavey little sidearm toss caught by trayon Solomon Solomon picks up nine one thing to see on this situation JK is they came out in a 3 four look this time around okay that's a little out of uh sync for coach Golden [Applause] on second and one Peavey rolling out to his left throws on the run that ball nearly picked off by John Saunders Jr a dangerous throw right there dangerous throw but the thing there that does make coaches crazy is py could have easily ran for that first down it's wide open he can stick it up there and get yardage from him Drew chronic like Lane kein in his fourth year here with Mercer and has certainly turned this program around Mercer had never had a winning record in conference play prior to him taking over and since he has taken over they are 16 and eight in conference play Third and one Al woen in the back field and it's going to be kept we have our first flag of the game and they got enough for the first down but is this coming back I think they jumped a little bit too early there to get the little fast twitch muscles going Right Guard jump on that one offside Defense number 99 L up in the neutral zone that 5yd penalty results in a first down well there was some eagerness it's Isaac uku Isaac twitched a little bit I thought the Right Guard jumped there at first so that's my mistake on that call there but it was really important for them to get a first down here to rest of the defense that was a critical third down situation there first and 10 now on their own [Music] 31 Parker Robel now on the back field he motions out they swing it out to him Robel nice cut back Parker Robel is one of those guys who impressed the coaching staff in their weak zero victory over North Alabama they took boasted him out to an empty set and just ran the oldfashioned bubble blocking on the perimeter Robel does a nice play to cutting back up inside now they're in another second short situation second and two empty backfield as pebi in the shotgun now mic Bell motions in the back field p a pump fake throws and he completes it to trayon Solomon and that'll be enough for the first down so what we're seeing early on here de that this Mercer offense is not having much difficulty moving the ball against old Miss's defense I think you know from breaking him down last year and then breaking down their video for the first game what he's doing now is trying to get the ball in the perimeter a little bit more and the other thing he's done that he hasn't done in the past he's thrown three step drop to get the ball out of the quarterback's hand fast because of the protection issues with that old line with that defensive line and of course you're speaking about Drew kronic who's the head coach and the play caller here for Mercer Robel motions back into the back Back Field P rolling out to his right he's got some room he's going to run he's a big guy he took a big shot last week and he ran out of bounds before xaven Harris could get to him 63 220 you mentioned his speed again we talked about Old Miss being ranked number 22 in the country Mercer is ranked number 22 in the FCS there is Pete Golding second and eight the Jet Sweep to Harper and Old Miss was ready for that anytime that guy goes in motion you got to anticipate him getting the ball Jed sweep coming off thing they did a nice job of setting the edge there wrapping up tackles coming through that was Centurion Perkins made the tackle he's a true freshman sports fans he is a true freshman and the coaching staff just gushes about that guy yeah he was their biggest recruit out of the state of Mississippi now in third and eight PB in trouble escapes one PB now just trying to get rid of it nobody there is that going to be intentional grounding Lane kippen wants it to be grounding it looked like he was still inside and there is the flag there's AAG they had to make sure that he was still in the pocket when that [Applause] occurred I don't think anybody was in the area JK intentional grounding offense number seven that's a penalty at the spot of the foul loss and down it'll be fourth down Cedric Johnson was applying the pressure and he was never able to get outside the tackles there was nobody in the area and he couldn't get the ball out of bounds it was what what it looked like to me with that quarterback action at first is I thought it was a quarterback draw cuz he stepped up into the pocket while he was tucking the ball away and then he backed back up and threw it there was no receivers cuz they were blocking Ian Garcia on to punts Jordan Watkins standing at his own 25 yd line [Applause] Watkins says steer clear as this one will be down right around the 23 yd line so the high-powered offense of Miss coming back on the field leading 21-7 football is back tonight with three more games UT Martin at number one Georgia at 6 Eastern Alabama and AMU against Vanderbilt at 7 then SEC Saturday night Middle Tennessee State at number four Alabama and look at the top four quarterbacks for the top four teams in the country in the inexperience at that position there really there really is man McCarthy's got the edge there with 13 though it could lead to a much bigger discussion as Jackson Dart throws a dart over the the middle another completion he's now seven for seven as that pass was caught by his tight end Kiren Heath another explosive play that goes for 20 yards he's got 160 yards on seven of seven Dart to the sideline make it eight for eight as he goes right back to Heath coaches were raving about Heath with his athleticism he's tall he's lean very good hands high hand coordination on second down another pass Jordan Watkins with this catch and that's the first down up to the 44 [Applause] first they got the tempo going JK Dart another long one another catch for Jordan Watkins another explosive play as Watkins is down to the 10 33 yards they keep going with that run pass option RPO and dart just thre a dart about 28 yards is it junkins time they gave it to him junkins going to be one yard shy of the end zone last year quinon junkins had 16 rushing touchdowns he wants his first of the year is he in no sign yet it looks like he's stopped by Ken Stanley just shy they'll Mark him down at the one again well here comes the question they go quarterback sneak nope he's back in the shotgun this is junkins time yep it's back to junkins and he's in for the touchdown 16 last year his first this [Applause] year Trey Harris says it's okay I'll let you have one yeah I'm not so sure Trey wanted to say that one just for the record but it's really good to see that young man get a touchdown you know the thing that really special about Junkin we told about all the stats and things but visiting with that young man yesterday M what a super guy I mean he's calm he's reserved he's very intelligent he's very he thinks things through respectful very respectful wants to be an entrepreneur I don't know how to spell entrepreneur but that he wants to be one of those guys didn't you write a book I did thank God they had spell check Kaden Costa the extra point is good so the explosive plays again for Charlie Weiss Jr in this offense setting up another touchdown the RPO here's the Dig route on the cross the cross dig there Watson catches the ball he probably T should just take it up and burst another Miss tackle and then they come right back to it they go Tempo they give it to Quan and he's in for the touchdown behind that big massive offensive line you know we see junkins we talked about him but St there was a lot of talk as we mentioned when Jackson Dart came out the biggest question for Old Miss for all the fans out there was who would be the starting quarterback and Lane kiin kept it very close to the vest and it finally came out that Jackson Dart was going to start today Jackson Dart 10 for 10 207 yards three touchdowns I don't know if you can make a better impression here in the first quarter I don't think you can and they they had a great transfer from the portal with Sanders coming from Oklahoma State and the thing that that makes it frustrating sometimes from a coaching perspective is these guys jump in the portal when he's the second alltime leading passer of Oklahoma State but he has to come in here to Old Miss and the difference is Dart had a jump on him learning The Playbook he knew Charlie Weiss's Playbook they were on the same language and and learning A playbook is almost like learning Spanish or French or for me English and he had to learn a whole new playbook whole new verbiage which which makes you your uh your advancement a little bit slower well Dart had a whole year of that advancement and he's a very talented football player as you see the way he throws and that was one thing that Charlie Weiss Jr said about Jackson Dart he said the stride since last year decisionmaking he knows the system better than Spencer he's taking care of the ball he understands Protections in the runs and here Mercer trailing the hand off to Robel Robel it'll shake and bake and he's going to pick up a yard Parker Robel what impressed his coaches last week was they realized he could actually run the ball between the tackles he thought they thought this guy was more of you know little scatback and third down receiver but no he can run between the tackles they really like him he's a slot guy the thing they they really like the most is his quickness and his speed but when you got a guy that can stick it upside there in the middle that's a very good attribute to have we do have a whistle looks like Jeremiah Jean Baptist had to come off the field he's the on came out of the portal from Central Florida I'm living over there in those Florida Days Central Florida had a huge Win Thursday night second down and nine the pass complete to Harper Harper trying to make a move and he's going to have the first down up to the 30 yd line Trey Washington brings him down good good call coming out here on the screen gets his out of his hands quickly you see the lineman coming out making nice key blocks there and he's cutting up inside the middle we used to always say on the screen progression from a defensive standpoint you got someone's got to force the ball back inside which they did and you cap it but now you got to run like heck to get to that screen guy and we didn't have great Pursuit for from the D line on that one first and 10 at the 35 PEB rolling out and he's going to throw this one away the pursuit by Monty Montgomery the transfer out of Louisville you know what he had to throw that one at JK cuz if you watch that play they're running like the N naked boot off the fly sweep and they were trying to set up a screen back on the other side with the lineman and the receiver and an Old Miss snuff that one out well you're going to get Carter PE out of the pocket a [Applause] lot mikab Bell the transfer from Charlotte in now at running back Harper in motion they give it to Bell and Bell gets hit in the back field right away by zavon Harris a guy who dropped weight in the off season and his coaching staff said he is going to be a problem for many people yes this this man's really huge he's a big human being what they try to do is come back with a trap play center didn't block back he's right there to make a big play now it's a big third down play Third and 12 you got you can't want to get behind the sticks here zavon Harris he's dropped weight and he's still 67 335 lbs Al Wooten motions to The Back Field rolling P out and that ball was deflected [Music] incomplete coach kronx I like his game plan of moving the pocket getting the quarterback his ball out of his hands fast in three steps running naked running a roll out pass there you got to move the pocket against this rush I think the secondary is starting to settle down in on their responsibilities and doing a best better job of covering those receivers there is a look at Drew kronic Garcia on to punt again with Watkins back at his own 28 Watkins chance to return this one and he gets tackled good special teams play here for Mercer Jared Ivy I think made that play JK did a really good job that thing gets out he's got the sidelines coming up Jackson Dart look at this I mean 10 for 10 207 three touchdowns he's got explosive plays obviously he's averaging over 20 yards per completion you like that math I just did for you I'm impressed you said you didn't know English obviously you know math I mean you know you're G H I didn't even have to ask Dave corus to break that down for me with the numbers which is not always the easiest thing for me so you know awesome so you know you're you know you're gazintas huh I do you do eliss is Bentley the fourth now in the back field here for Old Miss a hand off to Bentley oh nice little shake and bake move gets the outside and Bentley he's got the first down a flat comes in looks like we're going to have a late hit the thing that coach has said about him I didn't see breaking him much down on film because he was injured holding number one offense that's a 10yd penalty we'll replay first down I was wrong it's going against the offense and it's going against Aiden Williams a true freshman they they run the tackle trap play here and you see a little wiggle there by the young man takes off comes around the corner he's a transfer from SMU and the coach has said about this guy is he not only does he have quickness but he's got home run speed so that's really impressive he was coming off injury last year the true freshman got caught for holding though see back it up Dart with time wide open receiver is Watkins and another explosive play Watkins is their top receiver coming off of last season coming back they had they had 20 they had uh two big time receivers go to the National Football League you see there's a little defensive holding there he comes off out of the break on the uh dig route wide open catches the ball explosive now they go hurry up explosive again the one-handed grab no by Aiden Williams but we've got flags on the play as Tavon McCarthy was there on the coverage and this could be a pass interference I think they grabbed his collar but you see a Aiden pass interference defense 15yd penalty from the previous spot automatic first down watch Aiden now people this is a true freshman you see the grab there he turns his body and he still almost makes a one-handed grab right there unbelievable you see it coming back from the background here you see all handsy by the DB and he still almost comes down with that football first and 10 Bentley takes the hand off and and let's you know not forget you mentioned those wide receivers from last year Jonathan Mingo Malik Heath both guys in the NFL now we see Bentley in as the second running back they also had another running back last year Zack Evans who went for over a th yards he's in the NFL with the LA Rams so even with quinon Judkins getting so many yards they were still they still had 2,000 yard rushers that's very impressive Dart now room to run pump fake Dart inside the 10 from a defensive perspective Mercer's going to come back look look at that video and they're going to be besid themselves because of all the missed tackles you know they have to take the extra step run through the tackle and you got to wrap a body part they're not doing that today as of right now anyway an 11 yd run by Jackson Dart I'm a little in shock here how about that they slowed it down a little bit giving us a chance to catch our breath Bentley fumbles Mercer saying they've recovered it Mercer had a fumble on a punt return just on a kickoff return I beg your pardon and now it looks like Mercer has recovered a fumble here by ulses Bentley inside the 10 and Mercer takes over they slowed it down a little bit they went with the inside Zone play beautiful little jump cut gets the arm in there strips that ball out that was Marquez Thomas who is able to strip it number 24 Marquez is a backup linebacker I talked to Coach about him he really likes this young man he's going to be a really good football player I think he has really good skills in the linebacker so now it's amazing it's 28-7 we've got 119 to go here in the first quarter and Mercer takes over at their own seven [Applause] on first down taking the shot P down the sideline tipped ball incomplete was looking for Tai James zamari Walton on the coverage come back like a three-step pump and go there nice job coming down the infield Z Mar though he gets that hand in there right at the last second and uh knocks that football out good ey hand coordination there by Walt what do you think about taking that shot after the turnover on the first play I kind of like it cuz they're backed up you know they came here you know here's what the we talked about Coach obviously we're playing an FCS team but he said hey we're coming here to win Robel pushed out at the 14 yd line third and short coming up to me this is a big play offensively coming up here on the third thir and short they want to te maintain here keep the thing going a little bit if they get a first down here you got to rest that defense a little bit cuz the tempo is unbelievable by Old Miss well if you get a first down here you can rest that defense even more because this quarter is about to come to a close absolutely it's third and three PE looks to The Far Side they've got the first down scooter risper number 81 with the catch and the first down conversion and I'd be surprised if they run another play here in this quarter I I agree with you now the thing there what I really liked about py is he they ran like a little out and curl to the boundary it was taken away very nicely by Old Miss and he had the presence of mind to come back and go to the second read to the field and hit that little hit shot for the first down very impressed with [Applause] that that's the end of the first quarter are you impressed with the scoring here in the first quarter 35 total points 28 By Miss s by Mercer 28-7 after one here in Oxford Mississippi 28-7 Old Miss leading Mercer here as we get set to start the second quarter Justin cutcher alongside St stle and the first down was picked up by this Mercer offense so Carter peave in the shotgun Robel goes in motion they're going to hand off to him and Robel may get a yard tackled by Joshua Harris out of Roxboro North Carolina transfer from NC State I like what what coach has said about Robel and I'm kind of curious to see if something's going on with Wooten because wooten's a bigger thicker back trying to run up inside there when when uh our man Robo is only 510 180 lbs even though coach says he's tough and loves to run up inside there well won is back in there there you go on key huh 6' 225 lb he out peave on the slant completes the pass to Harper Harper's got the first down up to the 40 yd line a 20 yd completion of Deon Harper what they did is they motion Wooten out you see the linebacker goes and chases him and the slant comes right in behind him because it's wide open there and Harper does his magic dejon Anthony transferred of Liberty makes the tackle you know we haven't seen Tai James yet number 13 with a comple with a with a reception hand off up the middle and Wooten moves that pile up to the 45 yd line nice job there JK by the offensive line getting some push getting some movement his boldness was in man coverage and Coach Golding he packed the pain inside there in the Box the offensive line did a really nice job of getting push momentum for a 5y game now Mike gell comes in at tail [Applause] back second and five peave looking to the sideline hand off to Bell and Bell is going to be just shy the first down marker Jean Baptist with the tackle and it's going to be third in less than one nice job of Bell cutting coming back against the Green he's the number two tailb but talking to coach we talked about how elusive he is how quick he is and I really like this young man he's out now though now they've got Robble back in there which when you have Robo back in you have options do you let him run up the middle or do you try to get him out in space pressure coming PE just flicks it out of bounds a wise play by Carter PE as he was being chased down Sant cistrunk was chasing him down and let's ask this we're wondering Yep they're going to go for it here here they are right at just shy Midfield they have to get to the 50 to get the first down and so Drew konik again trying to make a point he's almost in plus territory can he get there last season they were 85% on fourth down and I believe a timeout is going to be taken timeout wow Mercer that's their first timeout of the half guys hurry up Mercer takes the timeout back after this fourth and one coming up Drew kronic called the Timeout on that play on that fourth down play stick why did he call the timeout that what happened was they shifted the offensive line here you see they took an extra mly Hawk an offensive line put it to the right side of the formation and the clock is ticking down for the quarterback sneak so coach did a really good job on the one to give them the timeout call so that they can come and live for another day so they call the timeout and now they're going for fourth and one they were two for three last week look at this the push and it looks like they got enough for the first down so they're three for four right now on the season in first and fourth Downs now the only tough thing about that pv's got to come out of the game now because his helmet popped off the backup is hes horn hes Horn red shirt sophomore transfer out of a a place you know pretty well Missouri State i' never been a fan of that pushed the quarterback on the pile the old Reggie push play with that liner but it is what it is now horn will hand off to Wooten Wooten breaks a tackle and that's a good strong run by Al won II a junior from nearby Memphis Tennessee John Saunders Jr with a tackle and now Carter PE will come back in first thing we talked about when we went over personnel with Coach was how he's a tough Runner and I concurred with him downhill smacking in the mouth W's a tough guy man Carter pe's back in second and five [Applause] PE completes the pass first time to Tai James today Tai James tackled by deontre Prince and James is a guy who came in just shy of being the all-time leading receiver in Mercer history he has over 2,000 career yards receiving and he's he's a dangerous weapon for this team I agree with you good football play on first down the handoff is to Bell and we've got a flag coming in and this may be coming back that area of holding inside there personal foul Chop block 7988 offense that's a 15yd penalty we'll replay first down it's Matthew Johnson and Ty Everson with that chop lock what's happening there is when a when a player is engaged with a defensive football player another guy comes in and blocks him below the knee is was constitutes a chalk block that was an excellent call by the officials and I got to tell you it's got to be a good call JK cuz being a defensive guy I never agree with those officials and of course that's in there to protect the players you don't want the injury to to occur absolutely but now they're really behind the sticks [Applause] here now it's first and 25 hand off to Bell and Bell gets wrapped up in the back field by Jared Ivy ivy the transfer out of Georgia Tech a tackle for a loss of five and that just made our spotter Ken Trevor very happy Georgia techam did a nice little slant move up inside got up the field made a really good play we watched this young guy in practice remember how we pointed him out how he's very very long long arms long a and the thing about him is with his length he's got quickness to go with him now second in Forever peave trying to get a large chunk back right now over throws devron Harper so third and 30 upcoming I don't know what you have in the playbook for third and 30 I will say this though they were having a heck of a drive on there and all of a sudden two plays a penalty which penalties are what I call my St secrets that are hidden plays during the football game it really gets you and then the big tackle for loss they got they got theirself in a very disadvantage here and I don't know if everybody was set going to be a false start here to make it a little bit more difficult on third down false start offense not all 11 players set prior to the snap 5yd penalty third down which is probably a good thing because old Cedric Johnson came around that edge and I think I saw drool coming off of him cuz he was going to smack PE right in the back there probably caus a turnover all right so now it's third and 35 as a coach on Third and 35 are you just looking to get 10 10 yards give yourself a little bit more room punting for field position how was a defensive guy I'm in prevent uh-oh we got a problem with a snap and this is going to be a turnover maybe yep not even sure what happened right there but it's Reginal Hughes who recovers Carter pey wasn't expecting the ball a turnover here let's take a look peave not looking snap came and turnover for [Applause] Mercer 28-7 ol Miss leading Trey Harris has been a big part of the offense so far for ol Miss three touchdowns already you're absolutely right three touchdowns by this young man transfer from Louisiana Tech he gets one more he might have to change his name to quad guess what if he gets one more he has a new school record he's tied the school record with three TDS Trey Harris 62 205 and another issue right now this is the second turnover in plus territory by Mercer so now ol Miss takes over at their 33 of Mercer Judkins in at tailback play action don't F and that pass is incomplete his first incomplete pass of the game that was intended for Dayton Wade it was and here's what frustrates me as a coach though on the other side of the ball is I don't understand why that wasn't passing uh intentional grounding I understand the receiver ran the wrong right but there was nobody in sight there I thought it was close enough 15 yards I mean you're a defensive guy biased Dart to Harris through his hands so backto back incomplete passes after Jackson Dart was perfect to start the game third and 10 coming up now trying to take advantage of that turnover this should be a huge win for them JK if they can get them to try a long field goal but he's a mad man going on on fourth down in plus territory so I'm not sure it matters quarterback draw and Jackson Dart up the middle will get the first down excellent call by Charlie Weiss Jr come out here empty backfield linebacker out of the box there's no one in there now if our big our big man Warner man I guess they call him Buckshot gets that block on the linebacker he probably going to score a touchdown nobody can tell us why he's called Buckshot Judkins takes the hand off up to the 18 that's what I like JK about Judkins he's he's very patient behind that line very patient you asked him about that and he he said I really can't explain it it's just it's instinctual I know which is very impressive with the kid now they toss it to him there's the explosiveness in the strength as he gets the 10 another first down the other thing he said about that patience was I said are you are you patient with the in real life he said nope there's a look at Charley Weiss Jr his dad an offensive genius and this kid might be even better [Music] flag the play was stopped to fix the down box this first down appreciate that explanation by Ted pittz Charlie Weiss Jr saw I want at least 12 explosive plays per game that means a rush of 12 or more yards or pass of 16 or more yards so far they have eight of those explosive plays we're not out of the first half yet and Judkins nowhere to go he's going to lose a yard tackled for a loss by Savio Frasier Frasier a junior out of Hampton Georgia we talked to Coach about Coach Taylor over from Mercer about he didn't Blitz a whole lot last season I broke down the film this year he's bringing more heat especially down here in the Red Zone Judkins goes out in motion Dart over the middle and that ball is incomplete it would have been number four for Trey Harris but [Applause] incomplete good protection in the boxers hurries to throw a little bit gets it a little bit low on the ground makes a little skip up there he's going to wish he had that one back now third and goal here the last third down we saw a quarterback draw for Jackson Dart watch up top with the pick vertical here play clock at one and Old Miss is going to call a timeout time out Old Miss this their first timeout of the first half Jackson Dart you could see he wanted that one back like you said it should have been another [Music] touchdown SEC football final is back for another season daring no Chris doring and Benjamin Watson take you through the biggest stories of the day and break down all the games tonight at 10:30 p.m. Eastern 930 Central over on the SEC network and the ESPN app back here inside VA Hemingway stadium in Oxford Mississippi and we've got third and goal coming up from the 11 Lane kein called the timeout so let's see what Charlie Weiss has drawn up out of the timeout quinon Judkins in the back field Dart in the shotgun Kiron Heath goes in motion and seems to be a bit of confusion now they've got their guys set Dart will keep it up the middle Dart spins and we've got a flag coming in he's going to be shy of The End Zone in this where the flag came in usually as holding holding 57 offense that's a 10yd penalty replay third down TJ Moore was the one who made the tackle on Dart to prevent the touchdown but mic a Pettis gets called for the holes you thought there was a little bit of confusion there but what they did was they went FSL which means they put the formation into the sideline okay then they motioned back out of that and the safety and the linebacker were spinning coming through there which when they ran the tackle trap with the quarterback they left a big hole there nice job by the safeties coming down stopping that touchdown though well now it's third and goal from the 21 Dart steps up in the pocket going to run again and this time he's going to get chased out of bounds and shoved out by Marquez Thomas so this will force potentially a field goal although you never know with kein but they are going to bring out the field goal unit Lane loves going for and fourth down and I understand a lot of his logic with it you know with the analytics nowadays Lane's a really intelligent guy we know we didn't ask him yesterday with all that analytics if he was a math major like yourself oh I definitely was not a math major I went to Comm College of optional math Kaden Davis here for 30 yards and that kick is good 31-7 that's now 10 points off turnovers for all miss here as they lead Mercer in the [Music] second well coming up at halftime you can watch the live performance of the Old Miss band The Pride of the south on SEC network plus starts streaming now on the ESPN app Kaden Davis will kick off Deon Harper is back deep 31-7 ol Miss leading Mercer here week one for ol Miss and Harper will not get a chance to return this touch back here as Mercer will start at the 25 yd Line This Mercer program one and0 on the season after a victory last week against North Alabama 17-7 you look at this program and they had no football from 1942 through 2012 then 2013 in the Pioneer Conference 2014 in the Southern Conference that's where they are right now and under Drew chronic is how this program has resurrected itself under his leadership his coaching staff they've been doing it the right way and they say three pillars love compete and believe Micah Bell in the back field here on first down and we're going to have movement up front false start offense number 52 that's a 5yd penalty still first down Demetri Robinson Fort Lauderdale Florida 62275 when you talk about FCA s versus FBS or FCS versus SEC a big difference you'll see is the size in the lines would you agree with that absolutely offens and defensive line not only their size but also their athleticism the pass to Harper Harper in space is dangerous and he gets tackled at the 31 yd line by Trey Washington a very dependable player for this Old Miss team nice job there getting the ball of his hands quick getting a three-step now they back in motion on on they're getting back on track because they can't get themselves in a disadvantage behind those sticks here now they had a nice little manageable second and five they're on track now to be able to run the ball they have their whole Playbook open to them right now PB hands it off there is a hole for mic Bell but that hole was closed xaven Harris again the coaching staff said he's going to be a problem for people he is there is a player down right now that's Israel mugua the left guard out of the Bronx I hate to see that here now here's what people guys see at home here all right with Harris that man is 67 three something okay 325 he changes Direction he can come laterally down the football field there and then with the long arms be able to wrap W up my man Bill and Bill's pretty fast now yeah so mukiza is okay they're still tending to him right at the 30 yd line typically when you see these offensive linemen go down they usually get rolled up on right around the knee area and you always get scared you see a lot of offensive linemen play with knee braces on regardless if if they have a a knee issue or not you're right see here in the replay here you get in that little pile up in there and then he gets he's just standing there he gets rolled back up on that guy as you see you were talk about the knee and that's not very good you know I'm not a doctor but I did stay at a holiday and express last night yeah no that's important I mean I don't know if I I trust you I mean did you also watch gr's Anatomy while you're at it who's gray well MCU is being helped off the field right now 61320 red shirt Jr he's a trans from Alabama A&M you really hate to see anything like that happen especially this early in the season the one thing you asked the other thing about coming up FCS and FBS the one thing you always thought about as an FCS guy was you come up here you don't want anybody to get hurt because you're playing up it's great for the kids to come up here and play up they understand they want to play at this level at one time but you still got to go back to your your conference and Mercer is a good team that can win their conference and get into the playoff off ront so you hate to see one of their outstanding offensive lineman go down you know and just thinking about what you're saying about FCS teams coming into SEC places with a transfer portal you put on a good performance in this game as an FCS player that's going to Garner the attention for a lot of teams in that transfer portal if you go into the transfer poort because you know you can't wink wink recruit guys from other schools Jose Gonzalez in plays mukiza on the Run Robel gets hit as he gets to the first down marker Zari Walton with the tackle but not before Robel gets the first down nice design play Roll the pocket again get it out to the flant and zamari Walton vision and breaking hits that guy uh talking to Pete yesterday coach Golding he say he's a really smart football player Robble is going to go out woen is going to come in and now substitutions here for ol miss one of those guys coming back in is xaven Harris they're going to have to hurry and snap this ball cuz they're at 4 seconds already they get it off in time and they get the pass off in time completed to devron Harper as Harper gets spun around nice little design there they went into the boundary with the throw they went with a little curl flat they ran the tight end into the flat and they curled Harper right in behind him for the completion you see the tight end going into the flat Harper runs a little curl behind him the linebacker goes to the flat which leaves that thing open if the linebacker stays there in the curl they can throw it into the flat second down and four hand off and nowhere to go witon tackles he's going to lose a yard jaman Jordon the guy they call greasy there are a lot of nicknames for this Old Miss team and nobody seems to know how they got these nicknames I love nicknames but grezy did a good job here I feel bad because the right tackle M Johnson there number 77 I'm staying there at the Hampton in with with his dad I said hey your son's a football player there he goes yeah my son's number 77 I said well let me talk about him I didn't want to talk to him about in a bad play there at all timeout now you say Hampton in what happened to Holiday expressed you lying to us de no I just had a flashback to his old commercials okay okay third and five toss here to Micah Bell and Bell is going to get tackled after a pickup of one 318 to go time out time out oh miss thing I really like second of the half this will be a 32 timeout the thing I really liked on that play is they they fak the they they fak the fight sweep there and ran the toss to get the ball on the perimeter like what coach was talking about but but our guy Reginal Hughes you talk about putting your foot on the ground running flat down the line of scrimmage to help get in on that [Music] tackle really nice change of Direction well after Lan kippen calls a timeout SEC Network's newest show read in react premieres Monday night at 7 Eastern 6 Central hosts Cole cubik and Roman Harper will take a look back at the biggest plays players and games from the weekend's college football big games Jordan Watkins back to receive this Punt and Watkins says steer clear oh as he tries to get it muffs it and was he able to jump on top of it I think he was oh he was trying to cover up because that was taking a big bounce in favor of Mercer and that was a really dangerous play by Jordan Watkins really good coaching here though okay now he should have caught a clean on the first one they tell them to short stop that football all right and the reason why back in the day we used to make you know coaches are anal in the off season make all these studies no really and what we found okay when I was the punt return coach was when a guy doesn't uh short stop that thing you lose an average an average of 15 yards but can I can I play Devil's Advocate you sure can how many punt returners are great Short Stops and field it cleanly [Music] just remember something JK if there's no point on the ball there's no point to the game okay 305 to go starting at their own 16 yd Line DART low pass for Watkins and Watkins gets stuck a nice open field tackle by Richie coffee Richie coffee did a really nice job there that young man is really aggressive I think in the back end he's probably one of their better tackers second and seven after that three-y pickup Dart with a pump fake takes the shot towards the sideline and coffe is there to go up against Hudson wolf but Hudson Wolf the tight end brings it down an 18yd completion another explosive [Music] [Applause] [Music] play high throw again to the sideline and this time it's Trey Harris going up to make the catch they're going into two-minute mode here getting down the football field I was trying to figure out why they're throwing the ball over the lot until I pop my eyes up on the two-minute drill here under two minutes to go leading 31 seven hand off Judkins breaks a tackle and there is quin Shawn Judkins taking it down to the 45 when it looked like he was going to get a yard or two yards he gets nine he's an explosive explosive football player coming back on that tackle trap right there they tried to pop a quick one they come right back to it pass down the sideline two long out of bounds intended for Trey Harris danis Miller was there on excuse me trayon McCarthy was there on the coverage they came to the right back to the right play another RPO action where they they ran the tackle trap Dart pulled it and tried to hit the fade you know they call that RPO run pass action okay and you told me I'm an old dinosaur from 1911 but back in the day that was just called play action pass now all of a sudden it's F I said 1910 the game was a 1911 okay here's Dart High throw intended for Aiden Williams and Aiden Williams took a shot by TJ Moore setting up third and 10 and at this moment we talked about the analytics and you got to think right now two down territory here for Miss absolutely Lan with a two-minute drill here their defense is starting to come under under uh their feet a little bit playing well on defense and they're in plus territory I can even see them try to pop a run right here Dart gets it to Judkins out of the back field and Judkins is going to pick up about eight yards cam Sims squid The Tackle Here Comes fourth down we're going for it it was soon as he got tackled two yards short you and I are both poin no hesitation coming up on a minute to go here in the first half we were both in Lane's head in there but I'm not sure if we want to be in his head but we were on that play the toss to Judkins junkins has the first down breaks a couple of more tackles Chris Jones brings him down but not before quinon Judkins picks up 13 another explosive play Dart dancing around he'll throw on the Run completes it to Kiren Heath the tight end and Heath stretching there's that long athleticism coach was talking about 64 64 guy comes off with the play action fake buys time with his feet getting out of the pocket throws a really beautiful ball there time out Mercer this their second time out of this first half it'll be a 30 second timeout now we can talk about the new rules in college football this year with under two minutes in the second quarter and four quarter please reset the game clock to 35 35 the clock will stop on a first down like it used to in college football but prior to that STC it doesn't we haven't seen it really impact this game too much but we did have a timeout here by Mercer trying to just kind of regain themselves and get a little bit of a break before they're trying to stop this first and goal you're right and and and all those analytic guys say because of the way they're going to run the clock and stuff now that they're going to save seven to eight plays which over the people say well seven eight plays but over the course of a season you're talking a lot of plays wear and tear on the body I don't know if that's true with these fast tempo offenses so far 11 explosive plays for this Old Miss team 10 passing one running nine of 20 or more yards they have 404 total yards of offense trying to punch it in again it's first and goal from the three Judkins in the back field direct snap to him and Judkins takes it in for a second touchdown of the day they came out in the Wildcat set there where he's the quarterback run the fly sweep you see there the linebacker jumps out of the box and there's his clean pck right up down the middle by the way it didn't matter with the fly sweep he was taking it no question about it should I drop a little knowledge on you here right before half the Wildcat okay that came out of the old Wing te systems back from the tubby tubby Raymond from Delaware how about that for little trivia I thought you going to say tubby Smith which would really have impressed me if it started in the basketball court absolutely you take another look at this what I'm talking about they do run that fly sweep here okay the tight end comes across the linebacker runs out of the box and you see number 14 there who's actually a good football player Chris Jones he doesn't replace the linebacker over there in the a gap and he just walks on into the end zone and as you hear that this is what you don't like to hear as a defensive coordinator the band play 10 plays 84 yds in just over 2 and 1/2 minutes for ol Miss quinon Judkins with his second touchdown of the day both on the ground Trey Harris has three receiving touchdowns here in just the first half and with all the questions coming in who would be the quarterback what would this offense look like so many transfers on defense got to think right now that lane kein is happy with how certainly his offense has come out but his defense also a couple of takeway ways got some stops and only allowed seven points right and you know what what when you start off a game defensively there there's a lot of what are they going to do how they going to react and there's a lot of new faces out there on the defense and they're getting their feet underneath them the thing I really want to see coming out of the halftime is How Lane handles this obviously the game's getting out of hand here a little bit but what a lot of coaches like to do is come out of halftime and still play your starters so they can experience and feel what it's like to sit down coming around come back out on the field play and then I would foresee wholesale substitutions so it's going to be interesting to see if he makes the substitutions right at half or let the Stars play one more [Applause] series there was lan kein kein he's never completed fourth years at one stop as a head coach so right now this is his fourth year as Carter peave will take need to end this first half Carter PE had the first play of scrimmage for Mercer and took it 75 yards here is Lane kein having some conversations on the sideline but again Lane kein has to has to be pretty happy with what he saw so far from his Squad leading 38-7 I'm not sure coaches are ever very happy I know I went to dinner with you last night it was unbelievable and but what's really funny there lane lane lane I think he's playing baseball like everybody else he puts his hand over his mouth so they can't read his lips that's usually a sign of some bad language well 38-7 that's the score at the half Trey Harris making his old Miss debut the transfer from Louisiana Tech has not one touchdown not two touchdowns but three which is already tied a School record Chris and Benjamin coming up after [Music] this SEC halftime report good to have you with us star NOA Chris doring Benjamin Watson as we going to move ahead a little bit later in the night look at some of the Prime Time games coming your way including number one Georgia you'll get them on ESPN Plus or SEC network plus A&M in prime time in their opener on ESPN we've got Alabama coming up here against Middle Tennessee and then ABC Prime Time North and South Carolina from right here in Charlotte what an awesome opportunity it is uh to be in uptown Charlotte Under The Lights uh neutral sight game there going to be great a great number of South Carolina fans there great number of North Carolina fans there it's not pressure this is called fun and it it's Pride it's a it's a pride game and a Rob game so our guys are really excited about it we're going to have to go out there and play at our best um we will get beat you know we got to come out there fast start fast finish Fast so uh we want to make a statement game one we just got to do our job and let the rest take care of itself you know I think the stigma is you know it's the only football being played in the SEC they got all the big schools but I think we just want to make a statement that you know ACC teams got a lot of talent and we can beat SEC [Applause] teams all right so Drake May on one side Spencer rattler on the other our guy chiz coaching that North Carolina defense can South Carolina exploit it what's ultimately going to determine who wins that game well Benjamin you said on our Friday night show that you have no idea what to expect from South Carolina I'm right there with you at the same time I don't know what to expect from North Carolina's defense our guy chiz should have them better the the jump from year one to year two the last time he was in Chapel Hill was significant but in terms of that matchup like can the offense get some of that that lightning they caught in a bottle in that 8 day span last year when they beat Tennessee and beat Clemson that's D Logan's task but we have no idea what his offense even looks like so the word out of Camp has been there going to be good but I I really don't have any idea of what to expect from them till we see it well I think you look at that look at UNC last year they gave up 31 points a game and so that's got to make you excited as a South Carolina Gamecock especially offensively and when you think about Spencer Rattler the way he played during the end of last year he was lights out 63 points against Tennessee they go beat Clemson uh they had some transfers but you still got guys like juice Wills they got plenty of Firepower on this offense to score points where South Carolina has to be special and it's kiche and you know what I'm going to say it's special teams that they blocked six kicks last year they they've got the number one ranked special team unit so they have to go out and make those types of plays that are game-changing plays in one of the best matchups of of week one that we have across the Slate yeah that this that one certainly is a little bit later tonight the best matchup of week one in general that's tomorrow in Orlando as LSU takes on Florida State Bill kindly providing a little numbers crunch Jaden Daniels to the end zone got it my oh my what a night in New Orleans it's blocked it is blocked it is blocked last year's Florida State LSU matchup a one-point seminal victory in New Orleans was one of the season's most exciting games in and we didn't even understand the stakes at the time we didn't know FSU would go on to win 10 games for the first time in six years they have gotten themselves back to being a legitimate National Contender and we didn't know LSU would win nine of its next 10 to snare an sccc West Title in Brian Kelly's first year in charge Brian Kelly certainly seems like the right hire for this program this time around the stakes are clear the Tigers begin the season rank fifth in the preseason polls with with the nulls not far behind an eighth both Harbor college football playoff Ambitions Jaden Daniels what an evening he's having Jordan Travis he's a man on a mission this game features two of the most thrilling quarterbacks in the country but both will need help from their supporting casts LSU's Jaden Daniels needs help turning efficiency into explosiveness among last year's top 50 in total QB Daniels ranked 10th in completion rate but only 46 thin yards per completion a few more big plays for Malik Neighbors in the LSU receiving Corp it's been a dyamic combination for the Tigers Daniels to neighbors would take this offense to a new level for Florida State's Jordan Travis it's all about his offensive line it improved in 2022 but the seminal still ranked 75th in blown block rate 102nd in pressure rate allowed and 106th in offensive line penalties per game Travis's escapeability is topnotch but against Harold Perkins Jr in a dynamite LSU pass rush he might be running for his life all [Music] game both of these teams should be excellent in 2023 but only one will start one and0 yeah that's that's the most anticipated week one game what excites you most about it I agree with Bill Conley that both of these teams should be good but at the same time I go back Benjamin the last time we saw the LSU Tigers in a regular reg season game Texas a& him physically manhandled them of Texas a& him team that missed Bowl eligibility and then on the other side that win streak that FSU went on they won six games at the end of the year but didn't beat a single team that had a winning record during that run so as much as we project that these guys are going to be good I don't think anybody for sure knows that and I hate the fact that we're playing this game in week one week one last year was sloppy as hell the mistakes the penalties the turnovers I'd love to see these two teams play later in the season and perhaps we may see them in the college football play I I like the fact that they're playing in week one too have you seen the rest of the week what I'm saying you you got a top 10 match and granted uh this is all projection we don't know who's going to end up where you know in 12 weeks from now but to have a week one match up like this is exciting but if I look back at last year and I'm LSU I'm thinking you know what I got to get rid of those self-inflicted wounds I can't have two muff punts I can't have two block kicks and coach Kelly says something about a guy Aaron Anderson the pump returner he said he was Dynamic LSU needs special teams to be dynamic not to their Achilles heill this year the way it was last year also they got to protect Jaden Daniels and need to block Jared vers the defensive end for Florida State who had two sacks last year against LSU also had seven pressures you remember that offensive line last year they had a start freshman guy playing out of position in the center they didn't even emry Jones Campbell I mean those guys are your he W even start emry Jones wer even starting at that point in the season so this is a totally different situation from an offensive line standpoint I think they'll be better there but I I love what you said about the Special Teams not only Aaron Anderson but they got a new special teams coordinator as well so that's the the kind of emphasis that Brian Kelly is putting on that part of the the phase of the game real quick real quick how important is the game for LSU in general I it won't cost him a chance in the SEC we know that but how important in general is this game I think I saw something where coach Kelly said they were going to beat up on FSU in so many words and if that's and if that's true I love the confidence it's huge for LSU especially the way it happened last year but coming off an SEC West Championship they want to set the tone moving forward all right that's going to be awesome on a Sunday night in week number one thanks for watching the halftime report welcome back here to Oxford Mississippi VA Hemingway Stadium at the half 38-7 the 22nd ranked rebels of ol Miss leading Mercer the band performing for the fans here the first game of the season for ol Miss as we say hello again Justin Kutcher alongside Dave stle and St we were speaking with the coaching staff for Old Miss just yesterday and Charlie Weiss Jr the offensive coordinator stressed explosive plays he wanted 12 of them at least per game first half he got a lot of explosive plays he did they're at like 10 of 11 and the thing about explosive plays that you study off in the off season you know is that 86% of the time when you have an explosive play on a drive you score touchdowns yeah that's why offensive coaches are stressing so much about explosive plays and they were 10 of 11 11 you know they had so many good explosive plays as we watch here you see the pass here by Trey Harris he's explosive coming down the sideline locks the ball away for a touchdown comes back now here's peave explosive play touchdown he shows his four 465 speed dart on another Dart rope down the sideline again Trey Harris another touchdown and then you see here an explosive for Trey Harris on another touchdown and like I said earlier one more touchdown he's going to be called quad Harris no doubt as we take a look at these first half stats and you see the rushing yards for M Miss at 111 the total yards though 407 to 162 on those explosive plays that's what's been so different 11 versus two for Mercer of those explosive plays for Mercer one of those was a touchdown the first play of the game by pe now Lane kein we know what he did in the transfer portal we know he went there he he's not a big fan of the transfer portal but he knows it's a necessary evil almost right now what he does love is fishing and in the off season Lane kein caught that fish and he said to you it didn't take him that long either however when you think about the big fish in Old Miss this season you think about the SEC in their schedule how can they go and get those wins in this schedule next week they've got a game at two lane two lanes at top 25 team at Alabama this year you're home against LSU what do you think when you see this schedule it's a gauntlet but but here's the thing that's what they signed up for that's SEC football okay everything's bigger down here in the SEC I remember we made our transition from the Big 12 into the SEC and everybody laughed hey come on in here and we're fortunate because we had great players to go back to back and win SEC East championships and that's what you have to do to win the SEC East West to be have a chance to go into and play for a championship Lane knows what he signed up for he came to from Alabama and just a side note you know in 2014 he kicked our we were in in the SEC Championship game he had a big smile on his face when we talked about that JK but that's what you have to do to establish yourself in the SEC now last year a problem for this team which by the way Old Miss last year got off to that great start we ranked as high as number nine in the country but a problem for them was scoring in the fourth quarter and that's an area where Lane kein wants to improve this year they have to they have to be a second half team and we always used to say finish the fourth quarter big phrase was always finish but not just offensively they have to do it defensively also you know those last five six games they went from averaging 17 17 points a game to 35 points a game now part of that is they didn't concentrate focus and finished and then also the caliber of play picked up because they had LSU they had Alabama they had Texas A&M well a guy whose caliber of play in the first half was great was Jackson Dart he was on fire to start for Old Miss as they lead 38 to7 third quarter coming [Music] up welcome back here to VA Hemingway Stadium Oxford Mississippi the home of Old Miss ranked number 22 in the AP poll to start this season leading 38-7 over the Mercer Bears out of the Southern Conference and scoring was coming fast and often in that first half Lane kien getting hooked up here for the second half and Lane kin we know what kind of an offensive mind he is he said hey look I don't call plays anymore this is this is all Charlie Weiss Jr he's the one who calls the plays I need to be able to focus on the full game clock management time management substitutions all of that and there is Charlie Weiss Jr upstairs as ol Miss will kick off to open up this third quarter Devon Harper is back and Harper again will not get a chance to return he mentioned all those things about not calling plays but he's very active all week long in the discussions in the play [Music] call you know they're the Running Rebels but they got their dog juice his dog juice is like their team mascot look at him running out there for the field pick up the te I love that juice a good dog what a good boy my dog I got a dog champ he get about halfway there and he'd lay down and go to sleep man a my dog Cota she would go for the [Music] football pee on first down pump fakes rolls out to his right now just throws it away wisely all right let's let's dissect this play look at that long Strider good burst change of Direction Scoops the ball up and takes it to the sideline and really coasting in it wasn't the full Sprint to the sideline you know it wasn't so what we got to do it was like a little Dion Sanders esque you know Deion Sanders in Colorado absolutely got the at TCU today you know we were just talking about how how old Miss got to finish in the fourth quarter and scored points and played well defensively in fourth quarter juice has got to finish that run deontre Prince with a nice pass break up Tai James the intended receiver there is a flag on the play there a couple flags on the field that's an a sign of so 12 men on the field on defense so that goes against Old Miss sometimes you feel like you're playing against 12 or 13 guys against some of these defenses in the SEC including Pete golding's old defense at Alabama but that was actually 12 men they are Pete's done a nice job they're coming out with the three-step quick drop game and he's playing cover twoo and there's pressing those Corners here's a hand off to Wooten Wooten lowers the shoulder as he takes the shot [Music] does a nice job of getting the first down getting to the Edge Edge outside part of the formation as you see here gets the edge got the lead block by the tight end they didn't seal this the corner over here gets the first down and here's that new clock rule where the clock just keeps on ticking Kyrie Coleman was the one to hit Al Wooten the second play Action Pressure coming p P escapes On The Run throws High intended for Devon Harper and Harper was wide open right there pey would love to have that one back he he he wants that one back no question he's scrambling to his right he's a better Scrambler to his right than his left and on the back end on the secondary what we what you teach him here he throws the ball here and look at the jumps there by Harper we call them hops you call them hops yeah well I'm old school they're jumps baby now second down and 10 you see my jumps man I got a 4-inch vertical you know that two up and two down toss to Bill and Bill will pick up a couple of yards Kyrie Coleman another tackle Kyrie Coleman really good linebacker you see how he gets up over top with that closing speed and gets his head across to make a nice play there on the sideline those two linebackers are really good football players we got to meet yesterday with Montgomery and you talk about another young man that young man transferred from Louisville and I'm jealous telling about all the deres he knows jockeys and stuff come on and and I at their best huh I mean he he knows the jockeys he gets dressed up for the deres he's got two kids a son King who is four Quick Pass and it's incomplete for M Bell and that was Monte Montgomery out there on the coverage he was on that I asked him if he rode a horse you know he said no I haven't been up on one I told him hey you know what probably cuz the horse will look back and say dude you're too big man get off this this is not good for my back fourth and eight so Ian Garcia on to punt Jordan Watkins standing around his own 25 Watkins running up to make the catch has some room Watkins to the sideline does he have it Watkins down the sideline there he goes Jordan Watkins a punt return for a [Applause] touchdown 69 yard return for Jordan Watkins [Applause] low Line Drive punt caught on the run is not a good recipe middle of the field opened up he broke to the sideline and it's the old Advantage as your punt returner can always outrun a punter I guess he wanted us to mention his name cuz he's also a transfer from Louisville we're getting all the love to Montgomery we had to give Watkin some love [Music] Kaden Costa on for the extra point that punt return for a touchdown is the first for Old Miss in 10 years since Jeff Scott back on September 14th 2013 at Texas see low punt catches it on the run you see the opening up there quick inep and look at that speed coming down the sideline all way waiting for the touchdown look at those moves some athletes are just special JK not only got quickness this kid got lightning speed man his coach he said this guy Mr Dependable catches everything including that punt on the run and then he shows off the Speed 45-7 Miss now leading Mercer all fastest of the football game those cylinders are running high for old myth which is a really good showing going to your first game planing in FCS theme when you got to go on the road next week they're actually going on the road next week to New Orleans they played too late well Harper will have a chance to return this from the four Devon Harper [Applause] his helmet comes flying off as he goes across the 30 yd line so Harper will have to sit out the next play the first play on offense here for this Mercer [Music] team timeout officials timeout official timeout as we have a player down here for Old Miss it looks to be number 34 Tyler Banks Tyler Banks now being helped up hobbling just a bit sophomore and a Blackstone Virginia a linebacker there on special teams all right so you've coached in the FCS we see Pete golden right there take me inside the head of of Drew kronik the head coach for Mercer what what is he thinking right now what's his goal and to to accomplish I think what he has to do now in his mind is he wants to run his offense getting things ready to go when they come back into FCS play run what you're trying to run and at the same time try to put your kids in advantage to try to like right there a nice little tunel screen play coming off on the first play Still let's move the ball down the football field let's go points they're not going to raise a white flag that's not a coach's blood and on the other side with with what Pete's thinking right now is okay we got him seven points that's too many already all right and it's a whole new defensive structure here so let's get in here with the defensive structure learn it let's get going here with this three four front on second and three the handoff to Wooten moves one of his linemen out of the way pushes a pile and he gets the first down up to the 43 xaven Harris another tackle the thing I like right now what's happening is they're still playing their ones who sprinkled it with their twos and the reason for that is to get that feel coming out at halftime feeling what it's like going in the locker room sitting around for 20 minutes come back out and play their game football and I think also the other aspect for the defense all new for everybody let's learn these fundamentals that we're trying to do on the base defense Mell takes the hand off and he gets stuffed again xaven Harris was right there in the back field going to be a loss of three on the play you know St when you think about it how college football has evolved it's very similar to the NFL in the sense that this now is almost like your pre-season game you need to figure out what you're going to do and no disrespect but the first couple of weeks in college football you're learning a lot about your team you're learning and trying to teach your players what they can do absolutely especially with the transfer it's like starting all over 46% of their football team uhoh interception picked off dejon Anthony Anthony still on his feet tackled now another takeaway here for Old [Applause] Miss this guy is someone to watch he is meeting with Pete he said when he talked about dejon he looked at me and said St this kid flashed es mhm and he did right there nice job here quick getting the ball out Miss throw a little bit har slowed down on the route there a little bit dejon's right there breaks a tackle and the other thing I like about him is I got that takeaway he protected the football so he wouldn't turn it back over he had three interceptions last year one now at a Richman Virginia like you said he just pops so another turnover in plus territory here's dart throwing to the end zone touchdown Jordan Watkins he returns a punt for 69 yds for a touchdown now he catches one from 27 yds holding offense number 78 that's a 10 yd penalty will replay first down forget about it it's coming back Jeremy James called for holding you asked me before up top on the thing he grabs big hole wraps him around the side there with his big paw on the right hand side gets out of the pocket there Dart did throw a dart there so you're going to back it up now first and 20 [Music] the starters are out there right now for miss this is their first offensive possession here of this third quarter Dart takes a hit completes the pass to Trey Harris Harris breaks some tackles and he's down marked down at the 15 yd line coming right back right back to The Dig route to him and takes the Dig reverses field comes up the sideline nice job here comes their Tempo after the first down a 22 yd completion hand off to Judkins let's go back to the previous play and see how Jackson Dart stood in the pocket to deliver that [Music] ball comes off the little play action fake there comes in steps up into the throw got B waggled after he threw the football and that's that's our guy Zoo yeah Zoo zubra he's a good football player when I coached at Ruckers we had a a player defense Manan like that his nickname was zoo I kept telling the players why you call him Zoo he says well he belongs in a he belongs in the zoo he's a wild animal Dart to Harris and there is a new Old Miss record touchdown number four for Trey Harris a single game Old Miss record in his first game as a member of the Old Miss Rebels quad Harris is electrifying his parents are probably mad at me because I gave him a new name but I'll tell you what now he is having one big time game I think when the SEC player of the weeks come out next week his name's going to be at the top of that list Davis the extra point the out is on 52-7 Miss leading but Trey Harris is becoming a quick and favorite Target of Jackson Dart six catches 133 yards not one not two not three but four [Music] touchdowns in the 12 128th season of Old Miss football Trey Harris has just set a single game program record with his fourth touchdown in his first game how about that six catches 133 yds four touchdowns what a debut for that young man talk about running and coming out of the blocks and you're you're a transfer trying to make friends and influence people and I'll tell you what he just made a bunch of friends and he just influenced a whole bunch of fans out here today and he may have just made himself some money with some nil deals here here in Oxford Mississippi going man who's this guy that's a horse of another color huh all right so let's see what this Mercer team can do to respond the first touchdown of the game was scored by Harris and then Carter P responded going 75 yards to the house for touchdown here he is on first down taking a shot down the field and that one's dropped Xavier Brantley just dropped that ball a little bit of lack of focus here they're now thing that's nice about Mercer some of their backup players he gets out of the pocket throws it a little high but brandley took a little peek at the DB coming there didn't look the ball into his head if that was high then I'm 67 second down and 10 oh pressure coming up the middle sacked and again it's xaven Harris man 67 335 long arms he is lethal look at the pers huge man coming off the ball he's unblocked straight to the quarterback offensive line coach going to have to draw that up the center's got a block back on that one you can't leave that big man coming free like [Applause] that Carter peave is not small he's outweighed by over 110 lb by that man PE on the run again throws towards the sideline and that pass is caught by Tai James but that'll bring up fourth down one of the few blitzes that coach Golding brought it today sometimes you put those blitzes on there just so the other teams got to work on them man Ty James walking off a little gingerly Jordan Watkins is back deep Carter PE is limping a little bit and again you want to get through these games if you're an FCS team healthy and Carter pebe seem to be signaling towards his foot [Music] out of great punts takes a good roll for Mercer and that'll be at the 24 yd line 808 to go here in the third 527 Old Miss [Music] leading Old Miss year in year out is considered one of the top if not the prettiest universities in the country well the Old Miss Manning Center just got renovated completed in July cost nearly $47 million in this place is spectacular increase the size to$ 221,000 Square ft state-of-the-art training Health Wellness facilities new offices for the football coaches you saw Lan keen's office we were in it yesterday it really is special and it's also special that it's the Manning Center and you think about Archie then you think about Eli and when we talk about quarterbacks we've got a new one in Spencer Sanders the transfer out of Oklahoma state gets his chance right now this young man he's the second all team Le alltime leading passer at Oklahoma State history and there's some fine company there here he is his first drop back in the pass and that is [Applause] caught we haven't seen Triggs most of the day today here I think that's the first reception for him here comes the fast that was Michael Trigg on the catch timeout official timeout they coming out throwing right off the bat with him now here Richie Coffey the player down right now for Mercer at the 45 yd line but here are the numbers in the career for Sanders at Oklahoma State second passing yards third touchdowns first and quarterback rushing yards which begs the question why transfer why leave why not have the chance to be the all-time leader maybe in all those categories that's an interesting concept I asked Lane that one he said you got to ask him but then we weren't allowed to talk to him but that would be a really good question because this is a really good football player coming out of the cowboy area out there and I'll tell you what I I don't understand sometimes people's thought process the only thing that can jump into my mind JK is nil yeah and I don't know if that's to be true little miscommunication and they do blow this one dead that was very close to being a lateral but it was a forward pass but here Spencer Sanders comes here trying to win the position over Jackson Dart who was also a transfer but Dart started last year for ol Miss Spencer Sanders was the 2019 Big 12 offensive freshman of the Year 2020 21 first team Big 12 30 and 11 as a starter and the handoff here to Bentley the other thing you can think about there and what they did I think Charlie Weiss Jr is putting video on film for tulan to work on because they went un unbalanced FSL formation the silent and ran the football there the one thing about this young man is you see him throw it down the football fi he's got an arm and that was just some Tangled feet Dayton Wade the intended receiver I think the other flip side of it with this young man that that that lane said which is really impressive to me anyway is this area of uh time of college football he's got two studed quarterbacks going into the SEC he does yeah so this is a really good time for him to learn the Playbook get some reps nice job of throwing a little toss sweep there out coming in the corner with Bentley the kid transfer from SMU Now's the Time to get it going and two Point Charlie Weiss Jr talked about hey Jackson Dart had the advantage timeout because he knew the Playbook because he was more comfortable with the system but in the last couple of weeks they've been incredibly impressed with what Spencer Sanders has done in practice and now Sanders will get that chance to show them more here in this game absolutely and I think that's what's really good about the coaching part and aspect of it that they have two quarterbacks which is really good as they start moving down the road here getting into SEC play and being able to have being able for him to become in here and get these live reps a lot different than practice reps I think it's really good well I tell you what Jackson Dart you know when you're in a competition you want to put forth a good performance 18 of 23 334 yards four touchdowns zero picks I would say that's a pretty darn good performance the old adage with coaching is what brings out the best of you is competition and it either brings out the best so you can Thrive and and flourish or you're going to cave and in this situation here with these two young man they're both flourishing they're pushing each other the other thing I think was impressive that Charlie told us was they work well together in the quarterback room mhm [Applause] it's pretty wild how he came in knowing the story would be about quinon Judkins and as Sanders takes a hit able to deliver the ball to Jordan Watkins Watkins will have another first down really we start talking more about Jackson dart at that quarterback position in the play of Trey Harris today that is so as we were talking about that they threw a blitz out there and Sanders got smacked right in the mouth and he delivered the ball right on the money now he's taking the shot down the field and he's got his man Aiden Williams all the way down to the 5 yd line a 43 yd completion true freshman catching the ball from Sanders throw that ball on the money you got to understand Sanders was a four-year starter at Oklahoma State a four-year starter I guess he just needed a S A new scenery I tell you what coming to Oxford this place is beautiful throws to the end zone and that was intended for Aiden Williams defended by Tavon McCarthy but let's take a look at the previous catch by Williams Williams comes down here they're pulling him on the back of the Jersey he's hanging all over him I would be throwing a pi flag there unbelievable concentration by the true freshman brings it in and takes it right back into his body second and goal from the five Sanders keeps it he'll get wrapped up he's going to lose a yard Solomon zubar Zoo again with that tackle for a loss so third and goal now coming up here for the rebels looked like a little mesh problem in the back end on the handoff there at that point on the on the Zone re keep third and goal from the six Sanders stepping up throws to Bentley out of the back field for the touchdown ulses Bentley the fourth 6yd touchdown from Spencer Sanders coming off now you talk about the age-old aded that we talk about here how they do what they think about coming out of halftime here's the other thing that the Mer's over going you're still throwing the football but on the flip side of it Old Miss has got to run their offense Sanders got to learn to be comfortable in it he's got to learn the play actions he got to learn the system the terminology the routes at live fast action Kaden Costa on for the extra point [Applause] [Music] 5 9-7 ulyses Bentley out of the back fields Spencer Sanders finds him Bentley does the [Music] rest well SEC college football continues tonight with three games at 600 p.m. Eastern UT Martin at number one ranked Georgia and then at 7 Vanderbilt hosts Alabama A&M and at 7:30 on the SEC network Middle Tennessee State will take on number four Alabama all three games streaming live on ESPN plus no chance for return for devron Harper we did see after the last series Carter PE went to the bench was pointing at his foot so let's see if Carter peave comes back out or do we see hes horn at this point 527 to go 59-7 I see peave in the Huddle over I think he's coming out with this team he's a competitor like coach said so this is his time to play against an SEC team I got to tell you coach was really really high on this young man about all the accolades he talked about [Applause] here and he's a really interesting story he came to Mercer in 2020 Co obviously hit they had no fall season so he ended up playing the spring season because Fred Payton who is a transfer from Coastal Carolina wasn't eligible as the handoff to Al Wooten so he plays the spring season wins freshman offensive player of the year now all of a sudden the next year he loses out to Fred pton Fred pton gets two years as a starter he readed shirts last year but the entire time he stayed at Mercer in this day and age when everyone's going in the transfer portal he did not I give this kid a ton of credit a ton of credit and coach talked about how they had some really good conversations about that y about him wanting to stay and why he should stay and why he should be patient and you know I was blessed in 2020 to do to do Coastal Carolina cuz they had a season and Fred Payton got got beat out by a kid named Grayson McCall who played as a true freshman who is like three-time consecutive Sun Bel player of the year so Fred sits down was his back up there played up there Fred's a really good football player transfers to Mercer doesn't have to sit out because of the drop and down Rule and he plays and starts for two years for Mercer and now it's previous turn and he's got three more years left now so he's going to be in good shape he uh Mercer's in good hands with this young man the hel third and seven another tip ball at the line this will be a three and out Force by the old miss defense kilo Stone what they did here he takes off and the old Line's getting pushed back good Paul gets up there knocks the football down but schematically what's been happening on the other side is coach Golding because of the three-step drops that they didn't see a lot on film one of his halftime adjustments been to press those Corners up so when the ball comes out there's tighter coverage Cody Arnolds The Freshman from Brunswick Georgia on to punts and ulses Bentley is back to receive this punt so it looks like Jordan Watkins his day as the punt returner is done not a great snap nearly a block and that will be down right around the 32 yd line 59-7 here at ol miss when you think of old miss you think of this man Archie Manning from 1968 to 70 the quarterback I mean the Manning name is synonymous with Old Miss of course Eli Manning then came here but how about Archie's grandson Arch Manning now at Texas Texas against Alabama next Saturday 700 p.m. Eastern that game on ESPN there was a lot of dialogue going on with where arch is going to go to school kind of like with uh his uncle pton didn't come to Old Miss and everybody thought he was going to just follow the footsteps and come to Old Miss with Daddy but he broke the chain so I think Eli he jumped in here and said I'm going to go to Old Miss cuz I'm going to be in the [Laughter] inheritances Michael Trey with a 19 yd catch and now this pass to jayen Knox this offense going quickly again and I'm going to bring up the point again with Spencer Sanders now in at quarterback the reason why they're throwing is they're trying to get him reps as he goes down the sideline for the tight end Trigg cannot bring it in juggling the ball out of bounds Trigg 63 240 a transfer from USC that is a big Target it is as he comes down the line here he throws that ball he was a little bit non shalant coming up for the ball he if he was a little bit more aggressive I think he can make that catch he's trying to make a one-handed and make Sport Center he goes up with two hands he probably catches that ball hand off here third and one that's Bennett getting the first down Jordan Swain with the tackle these guys are well coached on their on their fast tempo because you notice receivers running backs they run and spot the ball for the official so they can let that thing keep going and get those plays [Music] off Sanders pass is behind Shri second and 10 coming up what's your what's your opinion on the new rule and college football not stopping the clock after a first down I've always liked it I've always thought we had to speed it up get the game going you know 3 and 1 half hours is really long for a football game quite frankly and uh you know the average plays in the NFL are 62 plays and back when that clock was going Tempo we were we were averaging 8085 plays of a football game Sanders again goes deep Kaden Le's open for the touchdown 33 yds to another Tri [Music] [Applause] [Music] freshman well we talked to Coach in the back when we're going over their personnel and we asked are we going to see this guy he said probably not unless the game gets out of hand we just saw kayen Lee score his first touchdown as a true freshman 16 explosive plays on the the day for ol Miss Kaden Davis the extra [Applause] point 66-7 Spencer Sanders picking up where Jackson Dart left off comes in a little play faction fake there looks to his left comes back throws It Wide Open obviously a busting the coverage on the back end but you see a nice tight spiral looks it into his hands welcome to college football and guess what 66 points that's the most points scored by an old Miss team under Lane kein kein now in his fourth year as the head coach might be scary JK but at this rate those sixes might flip upside down this could be a 99er I think the last time they play it was like 34 nothing the game got suspended cuz of Darkness but that was 1911 they didn't have the lights like I guess well yeah you said you remembered that game just like it was [Music] yesterday these are look at this most points in a season opener trailing just 25 and we still have 309 to go here in this third quarter there's obviously two coins to every side of the story here but they're they're out there they're running their offense I'm curious to see like if we get into the fourth quarter if they're going to like empty the bench let the they have a a red shirt freshman that came over here from LSU are they going to give him some reps and let him work on the offense and on the other side with Mercer they're probably going to try to run the ball here they should stick to their offense stick to their defense learn their schemes but at the same time they got to keep their chin up here and keep fighting on first down the handoff Jet Sweep to Harper and he gets tackled for a loss larius Tennyson with that tfl we didn't see larius in the first half and I think they he they which this is one college football rule that is not right to me he got hit for targeting in the bowl game yep so he has to lose a whole year he has to wait to sit out the first half of a college football game I don't know it seems like the December the clock rolls over you know it's a clean slate let's get going here yeah I'm with you peeve he's got some time and he's got a completion to Braden Smith a true freshman from mon Georgia and we've got a flag and this is going against Old Miss nice job by Smith there he broke the pocket he came back to the football holding Defense number 17 that penalties decline play results of the play or a first down a 19 yd play and if I'm correct that might be the longest play from scrimmage since the very first play no there was also a 20 yard pass completion for this Mercer team and that was to Parker Robel so they went 7520 and now 19 yards come back to the bubble screen out on the perimeter mic Bell [Music] receivers sustain their blocks out there on the perimeter Mel might have had to get more yards out of that [Music] thing second and four here for Mercer play action pey comes back throws across the middle we have a flag near side the pass is complete to Braden Smith and let's see it looks like we have an ineligible receiver an eligible man downfield offense number 73 that's a 5yd penalty second down John Thomas left tackle 63 62 315 the senior is the ineligible man tough thing for those big guys the quarterback start scrambling around he's trying to buy time and they start drifting down that the field there was a nice job by the receiver though coming back for the ball again what they have to do when the quarterback scribers one thing coach Golden's going to have to clean up in my opinion is that when the quarterback's scrambling we used to call it a match so when you're in a Zone coverage like that you got to find a guy in your Zone and you got to match and start playing them manto man now okay some people call it sticky some people call it you know paced but you got to get on those guys and turn that into manto man so receivers aren't wide open Ty James with the catch but we do have a flag this might be roughing the passer personal foul roughing the P Number 96 the ball been released and he punish the the quarterback 15 yd penalty first down that's against jius Brown [Applause] I'm not so sure about that one that was one stepping hit yeah I'm with you that was one stepping hit there and I never was big on late hits shocking I never would have guessed I know see I surprise you don't I 43 seconds to go here in this third quarter just cutcher and St deckle with you here from Old Miss and it's been all Rebel 66-7 and the hand off to Wooten and Al Wooten a good run was nice job they ran the counter play where they pulled the guard and backside tight end very patient by Wooten follows his blocks breaks a tackle gets a nice little seveny run I got to tell you a story about late hits you know make it quick quick there's 10 seconds 10 seconds you know what I tell you we'll come back out of the break let's tease the viewers I want to hear this story about late hits when we come back we're through three qus it's 66-7 Jordan Watkins returns a punt 69 yds for a touchdown and Trey Harris sets a School record with his fourth touchdown of the day folks help people affected by Hurricane Adalia donate at redcross.org ESPN to help the Red Cross respond and help people recover your donation will help provide people and communities affected with food Water emergency shelter and relief supplies it is all certainly needed and appreciated fourth quarter just about to start 66-7 Old Miss the 66 points most points scored in the Lan kein era but here is [Applause] Mercer and the hand off to Micah bell bell tried to get outside and he just gets hammered by Kyrie Coleman well here is Drew kronic head coach in his fourth year with Mercer his dad was a high school coach for 35 years his dad Dany was his high school coach he was the quarterback for his father as Bill takes the handoff he was the quarterback from 1990 to '92 then his brother Nathan played there from 93 to 95 his dad retired from high school coaching and then the two of them actually started the program at Reinhardt and he said it was the greatest experience of his life at that point he was about 37 38 years old here as Carter pebe gets sacked by The Freshman Perkins and he said at that point I was able to really appreciate and understand what we were doing and he's like I got to coach and start a program with my dad how cool is that I think that's beautiful you know so many times they talk about the cliches of football's family there is a great example and the other thing though with coach's story who was in the offic yesterday running around here at Old Miss first and the second half coach Monty kin M Lane's father legendary NFL coach was a head coach at NC State at one time was the uh one of the architects of the Buccaneers defense back there in the in the golden days so you have both head coaches here with their fathers who not only were a huge influence they got to coach and work with and you mentioned Monty kein and and I had the chance as we were talking with Lane kein yesterday you know Monte kein was a great defensive mind Lan kein is a great offensive mind and he said you know whether it's my dad whether I was working with Pete Carroll or I was working under Nick Sabin those guys were through the best defensive Minds ever and so I got to figure out plays that would befuddle them and that's how I became a better offensive play caller which is really good and then you asked the question do you ever go and ask your dad for some advice he goes no I know what he's going to say I love it well okay let's spin it Forward during One Moment In this game you got a text from your daughter who said Palms up and you brought it up to me and explain why she wrote to you Palms up well on the fumbled snap there the uh quarterback Peavey when they fumbled a snap because he was going up to check the play but the spender s he gave Palms up and I used to always get frustrated when I was coaching at the University of Missouri when my players gave Palms up they weren't allowed to and it trickled down to Amanda she was so scarred the poor girl so scarred that when you give Palms up it means I don't know what you want I don't care what you're saying or it's the others guy's fault so you're saying you parented like you coached got it another sack as PE gets taken down at the 50 by kilo Stone fourth sack of the game for the old miss defense you know what JK I try to but I found out quickly in life I can coach players and I thought I was pretty successful at that but you can't coach your wife and your sure as heck can't coach your daughter lessons for life here on this Old Miss m broadcast for all of you out [Music] there even a guy who went into the Marines like St [Music] did timeout will be taken here by Mercer this will be a 30 second timeout 66 to Media timeout this will be a full timeout here with 1256 to go in the fourth 1256 to go here in the fourth quarter ol Miss leading comfortably 66-7 over Mercer and ol Miss has now removed their starters playing a lot of guys getting them some game experience 10th play of the drive coming up here for Mercer but it is third and 24 Parker Robble with the carry nice Tackle by the true freshman Perkins Cody Arnolds will punt Elsa Bentley is back and we teased you I mean it was really a big time tease about the late hit story that St has and we're going to get to it right after this punt so don't go anywhere and just to tease you even more we have a penalty false start kicking team number 31 that's a 5yd penalty still fourth down that's right that's like the old uh the old cliche you know how you keep a guy in suspense I'll tell you a little [Laughter] was that in your book no but my book I I wrote it for football players it's only 88 Pages that's nice that's my type of book well JK it's not a picture book then it's not not then not my type of book all right that punt goes out of bounds so old Miss will take over and now let us know stop teasing us what is your late hit story well my late hit story goes on with Lane you know like you mentioned earlier we're at Missouri in 2014 we get to go play for the SEC Championship actually we went back to back at Missouri we go Missouri goes back to back to the SEC Championship and Lane is the offensive coordinator there okay and on like the fourth play of the game Shane Ray our stud defensive end All-American first round draft pick comes off the ball and gets called for late hit targeting on the quarterback okay okay so we lose our our one of our best front guys in the thing so fast forward to tape I run into lane two days later okay and I see Lane and the first words out of his mouth was hey St that was a late hit you know that D and I looked at him and I'm went was it cuz I didn't see the tape right oh it was a late hit and I said well I'll be willing to bet it wasn't so here's an offensive guy and a defensive guy standing there in front of an elevator arguing about a late hit but I couldn't say a whole lot cuz he b b waggled me there on that uh that game third and four Sanders trying to extend this play we've got a flag on the play so let's wait to see what this flag is for holding 76 offense that penalty's declined it'll be fourth [Applause] down had a feeling they might decline that and bring on the punt team so this all happened because you guys were Royals award finalists in 2014 and if I'm if my memory serves me correctly obviously Tom Herman was the winner that year I mean it should have been Dave steckle but besides that this being the first punt of the game for ol Miss Harper making some moves Harper breaks a tackle Harper gets outside gets pulled down and a good return there by devron Harper Jaylen Knox able to chase him down from behind maybe pulled down by the dreadlocks and I didn't know this stti but apparently I'm a poet Knox dreadlocks a 39 yd return timeout media timeout it is he's carrying that ball Loosely comes to try to Tom Hawk it out nice return hopefully they get some points on the board off of [Applause] it let's go back to that 2014 boals award fin finalist group Lane kein Dave steckle Tom Herman Scott Frost Doug Meo Herman wins it and that ex that entire Exchange took place at the hotel elevator at the hotel elevator when we first were checking in but the thing about that Tom Herman we got to give a shout out to Todd Co it's our producer who's doing a phenomenal job here cuz he's an Ohio State guy so he's in the booth in there pounding his chest because an Ohio State guy won but I want to bring you to to egotistically to the point there that I'm the only defensive guy up there mhm and I was very defensive when the elevator door opened and there stood Lane telling me how we threw my guy out of the game and that changed the perplexity of the whole entire football game well we've got a new quarterback in here for this Mercer team it is hes horn who handed off to Micah Bell little problem with the ex mesh right there so Carter pb's day is done hasn 6285 lb Missouri State transfer used to be a baseball player former pitcher and short stop in high school well see he should probably be the punt return so get short stop and thing so doesn't roll 15 yards second and 15 swing it out to Wooten and Wooten will pick up about six yards Nick Co red shirt freshman on the tackle this is a really good opportunity on both sides of the football to get younger guys or inexperienced guys reps that can help you down the road to you can build depth for Mercer going into the FCS schedule and for Old Miss down the road you never know what can happen so they need these valuable reps as they move on in a game like situation third and 11 fake the toss horn keeps it and he's up to the 35 yd [Music] line comes off a nice little quarterback toss trap there with the guard P fumble but recovered it he did it bounced right back up into his hands it's going to be a good learning experience for this young guy on fourth down they're going to go for it here from the 35 and why not 66 to7 you want to try to figure out what you can do that and I don't think they want to give the ball back to the Running rebeles [Applause] Man horn tries to step into one got hit and that pass is incomplete was looking for Braden Smith yeah pressure came up the middle there and he short armed that throw well tomorrow night at 11 Eastern 10 Central on SEC network and the ESPN app join and the SEC now crew as they wrap up the weekend's action that's coming up tomorrow night at 11:00 p.m. Eastern SEC now you know tradition right here at Old Miss we talk about pregame and postgame at the Grove if you've never been you have to go also tradition here you have a lot of male students showing up in coats and ties and you may wonder why well those are actually all for eternity pledges and this is actually pregame they have to race in they have to get their spots reserve it for the upper classman and they have to wear the coat and tie no matter how hot it is out there and they have to wear it for the whole game and I if I were someone I'd go over is that a pledge pin you're wearing you took the words right out of my mouth I flashed right back to Animal House man Walter Howard is now in at quarterback here Matt Jones on the carry Walker Howard 615 lbs they're still going with that Tempo and they're running their offense see that comes the old cliche where I know the game's out of hand mhm however they're doing a good job with their offense getting these young guys experience so when they Day come they know how to do it and you being a coach how critical is it to get these reps on tape so you can go back and watch game action game film for these players because it's a teaching learning environment coaches at their core of a coach you're still a teacher and what you want to do is get these things on video for example on the out there they went with the RPO they tried to get the fade up over top short armed it a little bit under through the throw a little bit those things you can coach on film because at the end of the day it's all about developing your players to be the best that they can be to help the program Walker Howard the transfer from LSU appeared in two games last year for the Tigers that had to be a tough transfer for him cuz his his pops was a quarterback at LSU hand off here to jam Griffin and we've got a flag coming in from the back field this could be coming back going back to Animal House he was a legacy 76 offense that's a 10yd penalty we'll replay second down maybe who's on double Seeker probation you just don't know maybe that's why he's here huh or maybe he's on secret probation over here and being a spy for his papa huh 706 to go here in the fourth what's your takeaway right now from from what you've seen from Old Miss in this game they're running all cylinders I came into the game really impressed with dart I liked him on video when I broke down their films from last year I really like Jackson on video Howard down the seam and he has that one to brillan Brown another explosive play here for ol miss that that was a big time throw from that young man coming out of uh tra coming over here out of the transfer portal 20 9 yards to brillan Brown that a beautiful throw right there you can you can hear the stripes on the ball going first and 10 from the 36 Jam Griffin to the 30 he picks up six yards nice job getting on the perimeter Jam's doing a little dancing out there in space where he could stick his foot on the ground and probably get a couple more yards there coaches are really high on this young man another hand off to Griffin and Griffin moving that pile looks like he's going to have enough for the first [Music] down and I'm telling you right now coach Taylor on the other side of that football saying you're still throwing the football run the ball which they are now they are now Griffin again and Griffin gets tackled in the back field by Tavon McCarthy that'll be a loss of [Music] two tell you what both sides of the football Mercer and Old Miss they're getting to play a lot of players here in this football game to get him experience and I think it's really going to pay off for Mercer down the road because they're they're had so many returning players coming back from their football team to be an FCS Contender Howard's pass to Michael Trigg completes it I'm telling you right now Howard I'm very impressed with those two throws very impressed with those two throws another explosive play the 18th of the game you could see he's got a really good arm and oh by the way Austin Simmons who's a 17-year-old quarterback he's a lefty who in baseball throws 97 miles hour it would be fun to watch him come out here and play but 97 M an hour I don't even drive that fast this hand off to Matt Jones and Jones goes backwards now the one thing that Mercer is doing over in defense if you noticed is because they are running game and stuff and and I the mentality of a defensive coach is they're still throwing they're still doing this well you got the backups in over an Old Miss so coach is blitzing a whole lot right now so the guys make sure they don't know their scheme and what's happening obviously I know they're down in the Red Zone here Jake okay but uh coach is heating up some blitzes here comes another one coming off the edge Howard to the end zone and this is caught but coming back was JJ Henry not the golfer but JJ Henry the sophomore wide receiver he came back to make that catch so he's down at the [Applause] [Music] one by the way JJ Henry the golfer played at TCU from my hometown Fairfield Connecticut and grew up playing baseball with my brother dropping some knowledge out there on the viewers first and goal from the one Jones no signal yet no there's no one there it is touchdown TouchDown for Matt Jones [Music] [Applause] [Applause] 72 points right now the most points they've ever scored in a game well was actually 114 back in 1904 as this extra point is good but this 73 points is the most they've scored since 2015 when they went 7321 over Fresno State they're chasing that 7641 score against Southern Illinois back in 2018 the 73 points scored here in this opener the most under Lane kein most in an opener since 2015 when they scored 76 against UT Martin and that's actually SC history since 1933 so ol Miss has two of the four highest scoring Point totals Braden Smith well the uh the cup snake by the pledges that is an impressive cup snake I mean that Rivals what you'll see at Wrigley Field and the bleachers wow let's add another one to it you know they they go to the library often here in Oxford Mississippi the library a library here a Barney in the library yeah probably do and I saw those tail Tailgators over at the Grove man that hand off up the middle tell you what that's why I think the Grove is is the Grove right in front of the library so all the students can say Mom I went to I was I was I went to the library today I can't say anything when I was in college time out officials time out wasn't until my senior year I found out we had three floors to the library it wasn't until graduation I found out where the library was well that's what happens when you're as smart as you are in communication see I always thought it would have been really great to go to a school like Old Miss where they have you know uh a place that's called The Library and I could tell my parents I'm going to the library man you're really going there a lot aren't you studying hard studying hard nice cut back but for some reason they keep charging me money can you send some more money so I can go books are expensive I'm reading books left and right Terrell Cor in at tail back now as we're coming up on two minutes to go here in this fourth quarter order that brings me to a question about the library like there's their menu and their their cocktail thing looked like a book so you could say I went there and read books yeah your book 88 Pages no pictures that's right the [Applause] fisherman as we are under two minutes we came in and again a lot of Old Miss fans were wondering who who's going to be the quarterback for this team who's going to get that start week one Jackson Dart Spencer Sanders Jackson Dart got the start great game do you see any quarterback quote unquote controversy going into Tain not in my mind Dart was a really good quarterback for him last year he did nothing here to say that he's not the guy hopefully as time goes on you know Sanders can maybe get some reps and try to go win the job and no doubt about it we also were talking about quinan junkins what he did last year they didn't need him much in this game today you know and and you look at the offense under Lane kein his first year they threw the ball a lot the last two years they were run heavy now this year maybe there's a really good mix for this team there is and and with the way darts throwing the football and the way they've done a really good job Charlie Weiss Jr has done a really good job with him from the standpoint of his accuracy his arm strength has gotten better over time and this is a good job of developing a football player well the headsets are off lay kein and ol Miss will get their first win since last October October 29th was the last win for ol Miss and they start this one off winning 73 to7 over Mercer an impressive performance from a multitude of players Jackson Dart began the game 11 for 11 237 yards three TDS Trey Harris making his old Miss debut had a school record for receiving TDS well be back after this to wrap things up from Oxford as they say here in Oxford hotti totty 737 Old Miss defeats Mercer and their season opener an impressive performance for sure especially for Trey Harris who set an alltime single game record in his first game as a member of ol miss four receiving touchdowns that's just awesome explosive play Ki can play man I when I told you earlier he played misso in the opener last when he was at ltech you see his hands there catches the ball with his hands he's got burst for a guy his size he's got quickness here's a nice break of tackle little move in out back up top and then here this is one that's pretty right here down over the middle catches it takes it into the end zone and then he counts for every four yep they had 18 explosive plays on the day 73 points and that sets up what happens next week when they go on the road to tlane our final score 73 to7 for Dave stle and our entire SEC network crew I'm Justin cutcher saying so long [Music]