Pete Golding kicked off game week by revealing that Ole Miss does ‘anticipate’ star junior running back Kewan Lacy to return to the field this week against Vanderbilt.
Lacy went down with an aggravated shoulder injury early in the third quarter during Ole Miss’ win over LSU in Week 3. The Rebels’ record-breaking back was held out of practice in the days leading up to Florida in Week 4 and through the bye. Lacy’s first day back on the practice field came Sunday, as a limited participant.
On Wednesday’s initial availability report for the Rebels road trip to Nashville to meet Vanderbilt at FirstBank Stadium, Ole Miss listed Lacy as ‘questionable’.
Though he is ultimately expected to suit up for the Rebels on Saturday, Ole Miss will likely go the rest of the season with a limited version of Lacy and will lean more on its stable at the position.
“JT (Lindsey) continues to go to work. I think he’s a very explosive player. I think Makhi (Frazier) runs the football extremely hard. Obviously that game wasn’t everything that we wanted it to be, but I think they came to work last week as well. Same thing with Josh (Dye). That’s going to be a constant rotation based on how 5 (Lacy) is and how healthy he is, but even coming back he’s not going to take the toll of 40-50 snaps,” Golding explained Monday. “Those guys gotta come in and execute and play efficiently, which I think they will.”
Vanderbilt’s starting quarterback, true freshman Jared Curtis, missed last week’s battle in Athens against Georgia with a knee bruise. Sixth-year Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea addressed the situation surrounding his promising freshman under center earlier this week and declared Curtis as day-to-day.
As of Wednesday, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound signal-caller is considered ‘probable’ to play against Ole Miss.
Wednesday’s mandatory availability report from both teams can be viewed below.
Ole Miss
LB Ant Davis Jr. (OUT)
RB Joshua Dye (OUT)
S Craig Tutt (OUT)
OL Jalan Chapman (OUT)
OL Emanuel Faulkner (OUT)
TE Wyatt Smalley (OUT)
RB Kewan Lacy (QUESTIONABLE)
S Gerald Lacy Jr. (QUESTIONABLE)
CB Cedrick Beavers (PROBABLE)
CB Dorian Barney (PROBABLE)
S MJ Preston (PROBABLE)
Vanderbilt
CB Jaylin Lackey (OUT)
LB Jamison Curtis (OUT)
DL Aaron Bryant (OUT)
WR Kahden Smith (OUT)
OL Mitchell Smith (DOUBTFUL)
QB Jared Curtis (PROBABLE)
It’s worth noting that the Rebels are expecting to see both Curtis and backup Blaze Berlowitz under center Saturday afternoon.
It’s almost like two different offenses, to be honest with you,” Golding said of Rebels’ defensive preparation. “You know obviously Curtis is super talented…But you got to have your plan for two as well. Got to work on both of them all week. I think we’ll see both (quarterbacks) in the game, no doubt. Probably see them both in the game at the same time too. So we got to do a good job and have plans for all three.”
Kickoff between the Rebels and Commodores in Nashville is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
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