NCAA Football

It’s Jevan Snead’s time at Ole Miss

One of the most anticipated quarterback debuts of this college football season will come in a place not exactly known as a quarterback hotbed (unless you are a Manning): at Ole Miss.

Jevan Snead was a former five-star recruit who went to Texas out of high school in 2006 but couldn’t beat out Colt McCoy as the heir to Vince Young. He transferred to Mississippi and had to sit out last season but already was selected as SEC Newcomer of the Year by Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook.

Snead, a sophomore eligibility-wise, has won the starting job with the Rebels, completing 20-of-26 passes for 269 yards and two TDs in the Red-Blue game.

“I’d never actually been the starting quarterback before in the spring, so it was big for me,” Snead said. “All my emotions have been building toward this, so it was pretty exciting.”

The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder is similar to Young in that he can beat you with his arm and his feet – Snead ran for 766 yards and 23 touchdowns rushing his senior year at Stephenville High in Texas.

Snead should improve a club that managed just three wins last season and failed to score 20 points in five games, mainly because of erratic QB play. Throw in new coach Houston Nutt, and the Rebels could be one of the nation’s surprise teams.

“Jevan is special,” Nutt said, adding that Snead could become the best QB he has ever coached. “All he needs is repetitions and game time. He’s tall, with a good, quick release.

“I love Jevan’s way of standing in that pocket,” Nutt said. “He has a quick release, but he’s fearless. He doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t care if somebody is about to hit him full speed. He’ll take a shot for the team, and I’ve seen a lot of quarterbacks who turn, run and hide. He sits in there and throws with confidence.”

Last year’s top five receivers return, and the new coaching staff favors opening things up a bit: the new offensive coordinator is former Rebel quarterback Kent Austin comes from two decades as a player and coach in the high flying CFL.

“Jevan has done a good job and, we have a good group of receivers to work with,” Nutt said after the spring game. “We still have a ways to go, but that’s the way that it usually is at this time of the year.”

The Rebels open their season Aug. 30 vs. Memphis.

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