OXFORD — Vincent Sanders is ready to make an impact.
With the University of Mississippi football team”s season opener against BYU looming at 3:45 p.m. Saturday (ESPN), Sanders appears primed to get the first chance to make a play. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder is listed behind freshman Donte Moncrief at split end. Ja-Mes Logan or Nickolas Brassel, Tobias Singleton, or Terrell Grant are listed at flanker.
The competition has been particularly intense, especially considering Logan and Grant are sophomores, Sanders is a redshirt freshman, and the others are freshmen.
As one of the “veterans,” Sanders realizes he will be expected to contribute this season. By all reports, he had a productive spring that raised hopes someone coaches initially considered “raw” would be able to mature and add a valuable game-breaking ability to the offense.
Now is the time to make it happen.
“I am expected to help the offense in any way I can, whether it is blocking for the running back or making a big catch on third down,” Sanders said.
Sanders was a SuperPrep All-American and the No. 1 player in the state of Mississippi as a senior. Despite an injury that kept him out of the first part of his senior season, he earned second-team All-State honors from The Clarion-Ledger and the Mississippi Association of Coaches. He earned first-team All-State honors as a junior.
Sanders made four catches for 96 yards in the Grove Bowl in the spring. He said he spent a majority of his redshirt season on the scout team going up against the first-team defense. He said he tried to use every day to hone his skills in anticipation of getting his chance to take the field.
“I knew coming in redshirting wasn”t a bad thing,” Sanders said. “I knew I had to get my weight up and learn the offense because it is way different than high school. I had no problem with redshirting, and I think it helped me out a lot.”
Sanders said he has put on 14 pounds from his freshman season. He said he feels a lot stronger and faster. He also feels more confident about the playbook and his ability to make an impact.
“When I first got here, they called a play and my head was going everywhere,” Sanders said. “Now I am more relaxed and focused and ready to go.”
Sanders praised the addition of associate head coach/passing game coordinator Gunter Brewer. He said Brewer is “all business” and also has developed relationships with all of the players. He feels all of the weapons the Rebels have this season will make them even more dangerous.
“(Coach Brewer) preaches all of the time about doing the simple things, like beating your guy off the line or looking the ball in,” Sanders said. “He is all about Xs and Os. To be honest, coming in I really didn”t pay attention to catching the ball. I had my eye on the ball, but he always emphasizes having your eye on the ball at all times.”
Brewer, who coaches last season at Oklahoma State, is eager to use all of his “chess” pieces and to see how all of them fit. He said he and offensive coordinator David Lee are anxious to strategize and to see which players fit into which roles the best. He said Sanders has made progress.
“In the 15 days we had him in the spring I thought he made a really good jump to put himself in a position to be a significant player at the ”X” position,” Brewer said. “He is still extremely raw. … You”re taking a raw talent, and it is nice to be able to mold a guy, like a piece of clay. He is extremely coachable. That says volumes about him as a person that he takes instruction well and he wants to be a good player. Now it is a point of getting enough reps at it to be a finished product.”
Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said Logan and Sanders improved in the summer in part because of the influx of newcomers. He said the freshmen added a tremendous work ethic and a hunger to compete for playing time. He said that competition will continue to make everyone better.
“That is a great bunch of young men who can play,” Nutt said. “It raises everybody”s level. (The returning players) know they have to come to work every day because they have some hungry freshmen behind them ready to go.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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