ESPN College Football

Hugh Freeze enters his first spring at Ole Miss with a lot of questions surrounding his new football team.

The same team that won just two games last year, watched its head coach get shown the door and has lost 14 straight SEC games.

Talk about a project.

For starters, Ole Miss is breaking in a totally new spread offense for a team that isn't exactly built for it. Plus there are four scholarship quarterbacks competing this spring and the ones who played last year had a host of issues.

Don't be surprised if junior college transfer Bo Wallace turns some heads this spring at QB because he's more familiar with Freeze's offense. He spent 2010 with Freeze at Arkansas State before going the JUCO route. While he had a record-setting season at East Mississippi Community College in 2011, Wallace has zero experience at this level. He redshirted in 2010, so he has yet to take a snap at the FBS level.

The defense will also see quite a few changes, as defensive coordinator Dave Wommack has said he plans to move the Rebels all around the field. Ole Miss ran a 4-2-5 defense last year under Tyrone Nix, but will come out in multiple sets this time around. It's going to take some time for players to adjust. It also means the Rebels might have to rely more on its secondary again. The good thing for Ole Miss is that just about everyone from the secondary is back, including standouts Charles Sawyer and Wesley Pendleton.

Sawyer might have been Ole Miss' best defensive player last year, while Pendleton has a chance to be a very solid corner in the SEC next fall. Also, keep an eye on Aaron Garbutt, who transferred from the JUCO ranks last year and was sixth on the team in tackles. Getting more out of them this spring will go a long way to helping this defense adjust.

At linebacker, the Rebels return all four starters, but adjusting to the new defensive formations could be more of a chore for them. But having Mike Marry back will be big for the Rebels this spring, considering D.T. Shackelford won't go through the spring as he recovers from another surgery on his knee. Marry filled in nicely for Shackelford last season, leading the Rebels in tackles as just a sophomore.

Marry will be accompanied by rising sophomores Serderius Bryant and C.J. Johnson. Bryant was the better of the two former freshmen last season and was fourth on the team in tackles. For Johnson, the spring will be crucial for his maturation. He started to come on strong toward the end of the season, but he still needs to make strides in his game before the end of the summer. Johnson could also line up at defense end, a position that must replace former star Kentrell Lockett.

The defense has more positives, but there are still questions surrounding where guys will lineup and how they'll take to all the changes. Plus, this is practically the same group that ranked last in total defense, rushing defense and scoring defense in the SEC last year.

On offense, finding a quarterback is priority No. 1, with improving an offensive line that took more than a few steps back in 2011 as a close second. Two starters are gone from the line and Freeze has said that the linemen he has weren't recruited for a "more power-type offense."

Freeze has a lot on his plate, but he knew that coming in. He understands that there were locker room issues in the past and the field issues are well documented. This won't be a quick fix by any means, but this spring will be really interesting for Freeze because even he'll have a lot of questions of his own to sort through when the Rebels start digging deep into spring practice.

We move to linebackers today in our postseason position rankings.

Defensive lines are very important in this league, but there are other guys in the box who have to be pretty reliable as well in this league. This league has done a pretty solid job of producing some top talent at this position as well.

You can see what are preseason linebacker rankings looked like here.

And here are our postseason rankings:

1. Alabama: This unit was at the top of our preseason rankings and didn't budge throughout the season. When you have two All-Americans in Courtney Upshaw, who was the defensive MVP in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game, and Dont'a Hightower it's pretty understandable to see why. Those two combined for 136 tackles, including 29 for loss. Nico Johnson was fourth on the team in tackles, while C.J. Mosley added 37 of his own. Alabama's defense was first nationally in total defense and first in rushing defense, allowing 74.2 yards per game.

2. Georgia: Linebackers are essential to any 3-4 defense, and the Bulldogs' group did quite well in 2011. Georgia ended up with one of the nation's best linebackers in Jarvis Jones, who led the SEC with 19 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks. He also had 49 quarterback hurries. Michael Gilliard was third on the team behind Jones with 65 tackles. While Alec Ogletree missed part of the first half of the season, the speedster still finished with 52 tackles, including 7.5 for loss. Cornelius Washington, Amarlo Herrera Christian Robinson combined to add 101 more tackles, as Georgia's defense ranked fifth nationally.

3. Arkansas: Arkansas' defense had a lot of bend in it last season, but the linebackers found ways to make plays. Newcomer Alonzo Highsmith was third on the team with 80 tackles, led with 12.5 tackles for loss and had 4.5 sacks. The star continued to be Jerry Franklin, who led the team in tackles (101) for the fourth straight year. Then there was Jerico Nelson, who was all over the field as that hybrid linebacker/safety. He came away with 70 tackles, two sacks and two interceptions. Ross Rasner, who played outside with Nelson, added 53 more tackles and two sacks.

4. Florida: The Gators' defense ranked eighth nationally in part because of the aggressive play of its front seven. Jon Bostic commanded the middle, leading the team with 94 tackles, including 10 for loss. Jelani Jenkins seemed to come more into his own outside, finishing third on the team in tackles. The big surprise was Lerentee McCray, who played both Sam linebacker and the hybrid Buck. He was one of Florida's most active linebackers and grabbed 7.5 tackles for loss. Ronald Powell started at the Buck, but saw most of his production from defensive end.

5. Vanderbilt: The Commodores entered the season needing to replace three starting linebackers and ended the year with a very impressive linebacking corps. It was led by vet Chris Marve, who was 10th in the league in tackles. Archibald Barnes had a solid year at the Will, ranking fourth on the team in tackles and grabbing two interceptions. Chase Garnham and Al Owens manned the Sam position and combined for 72 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss. Against conference foes, Vandy's rush defense ranked fourth in the league.

6. LSU: The Tigers were in search of that dominant middle linebacker all season and might have found a budding star in Kevin Minter, really grew into the position by the end of the season and was fifth on the team in tackles. He started 11 games, but shared time with Karnell Hatcher, who finished with 24 tackles. Ryan Baker was LSU's best linebacker, was an outstanding leader and was fourth on the team with 64 tackles. Stefoin Francois was the starter at Sam, but he accumulated just 11 tackles, while backup Tahj Jones registered 27. Still, LSU owned the No. 2 national defense.

7. South Carolina: The Gamecocks saw improvement from this group as the season went on. While the defensive line got a ton of credit, the linebackers did their part in securing the defense's No. 3 national ranking. Antonio Allen spent some time in the box at the Spur position and led South Carolina with 88 tackles and had 9.5 for loss. Rodney Paulk and Shaq Wilson, who returned from injury, rotated at the Mike and combined for 109 tackles. Will linebacker Reginald Bowens added 44 tackles.

8. Kentucky: The Wildcats owned the SEC's top tackler in Danny Trevathan (143), who should have received more national attention. Trevathan was one of the most active defenders around at the Will. Winston Guy played the hybrid linebacker/safety and was third in the SEC with 120 tackles. Ronnie Sneed added 71 more tackles. Kentucky's defense was much more aggressive under new defensive coordinator Rick Minter and got more exotic looks from its linebackers.

9. Mississippi State: Cameron Lawrence was a beast for the Bulldogs in 2011. He was second in the SEC with 123 tackles, and had 49 solo. Senior Brandon Wilson added 94 more tackles. Brandon Maye, who transferred from Clemson, was expected to make a bigger impact for the Bulldogs, but played behind Wilson and was 11th on the team in tackles. Sophomore Deontae Skinner added 69 tackles and Mississippi State ranked in the bottom half of the SEC in total defense.

10. Tennessee: The Vols' top three tacklers were linebackers. The leader was senior Austin Johnson, who finished the season with 81 tackles, including 41 solo. Next were two true freshmen on the outside in A.J. Johnson (80) and Curt Maggitt (56). Both freshmen experienced up-and-down seasons, but were SEC All-Freshman selections. Herman Lathers, who was a projected started, missed 2011 with a fractured ankle, and after the big three, the Vols didn't get a ton out of their linebackers, as Dontavis Sapp was their next most productive linebacker with 20 tackles.

11. Auburn: The Tigers' defense really struggled in 2011 and gave up more than 200 rushing yards a contest. Auburn had to basically start over at linebacker, but lone returning starter Daren Bates had a heck of a year, ranking fourth in the league with 104 tackles. He really tried to make sure he played all over the field last fall. After that, the play was up-and-down. Senior Eltoro Freeman took over in the middle halfway into the year and finished with 58 tackles, while Jake Holland and Jonathan Evans combined for 83 tackles.


12. Ole Miss: The Rebels' defense had all sorts of problems defensively, including allowing 256.5 yards per game and 21 rushing touchdowns. The linebackers took a major hit with the absence of D.T. Shackelford, who missed the season with a knee injury. Mike Marry stepped up at the Mike and led Ole Miss with 81 tackles and five for loss. Freshman Serderius Bryant and junior Joel Kight combined for 122 tackles. Damien Jackson played the Spur and added 64 tackles, but Ole Miss' defense ranked dead last in the SEC.

We kick off our season report cards today with the Ole Miss Rebels, one of three SEC teams that didn't qualify for a bowl game. Instead of the postseason, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Tennessee get summer school.

OFFENSE: F

Nothing went as planned for Ole Miss offensively this season. The Rebels had hoped to lean on their offensive line and pound away in the running game, but senior running back Brandon Bolden broke his foot in the opener. An even bigger problem was the quarterback position. Barry Brunetti opened the season as the starter and was replaced in the first game by Zack Stoudt, who was more of a pocket passer. Then it was Randall Mackey, who showed a few flashes before he was suspended at the end of the season. The three quarterbacks combined to throw nine touchdown passes and 13 interceptions, and the Rebels averaged just 16.1 points per game. It was even worse in the eight SEC games, as Ole Miss averaged just 11.6 points per game. The bright spots were true freshmen receivers Donte Moncrief and Nickolas Brassell. Moncrief led the team with 31 catches, including four touchdowns, while Brassell was second with 24 catches, including two touchdowns. There's some young talent returning, but the bottom line is that Ole Miss was held to a single offensive touchdown (or less) in six of its eight SEC games this season. In this league, that's a 2-10 season waiting to happen.

DEFENSE: D

Losing top linebacker and team leader D.T. Shackelford in the spring to a knee injury was a killer for the Rebels. Not only did it hurt them on defense, but it was a huge blow in the locker room. More injuries followed during the season, and defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix was left with a frighteningly young and inexperienced defense. The Rebels simply wore down after starting the season with an excellent defensive effort against BYU in a bitter 14-13 loss at home. Ole Miss finished last in the SEC in scoring defense and total defense. The Rebels gave up an average of 32.1 points per game, but were hung out to dry more times than not by an offense that couldn't score points and couldn't move the ball. Most of the Rebels' best players on defense were their youngest players. Sophomore cornerback Charles Sawyer had a team-leading four interceptions and was second on the team with 70 tackles. True freshman linebacker Serderius Bryant was an SEC all-freshman selection and tied for fourth with 61 tackles. Redshirt freshman linebacker Ralph Williams and true freshman linebacker C.J. Johnson also played key roles. Where the Rebels really struggled was up front. They had an SEC-low 13 sacks and simply couldn't stop anybody from running the ball, finishing 111th nationally in rushing defense and giving up 224.9 yards per game on the ground.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B

If not for the kicking game, it could have been even worse for the Rebels. They had two different players return punts for touchdowns (Jeff Scott and Brassell) and finished second in the league in kickoff coverage. What's more, they didn't give up a touchdown on a kickoff return or punt return. Punter Tyler Campbell is lucky his leg didn't fall off during the season. He punted it 72 times, but averaged 43.6 yards per kick and had 28 downed inside the 20. Place-kicker Bryson Rose was 9-of-11 on field goals. One of his two misses was from 52 yards.

COACHING: F

In 14 seasons as a head coach in the SEC, Houston Nutt has certainly had his share of success. It's fair to say, though, that he won't look back on either of his final two seasons with much fondness. The Ole Miss program hit bottom this season, and Nutt was fired two days after the loss to Kentucky on Nov. 5. While Nutt deserves credit for leading the Rebels to back-to-back nine-win seasons and Cotton Bowl victories his first two years on the job, he simply didn't recruit well enough and had too many misses on the recruiting trail those first couple of years to make it long term in Oxford. Several player suspensions only made it worse this season, and the Rebels weren't a very disciplined team. They were 11th in the league in penalty yards and 11th in turnover margin. Hugh Freeze takes over an Ole Miss program that has lost 14 straight SEC games. He does inherit some promising young talent, but the climb in the Western Division will be a steep one.

The coaches have spoken with their own SEC All-Freshman team, so we here at the SEC blog decided to come up with our own team.

We couldn't fit all of the youngsters on the list, and some tough cuts had to be made.

Honestly, our list wasn't much different from the coaches' list. There were a couple of changes, but nothing extreme.

One tough cut we made was Vanderbilt wide receiver Chris Boyd. He was Vandy's second wide receiver, catching 29 passes for 404 yards and seven touchdowns. He had a very solid first year in Nashville, Tenn., but we decided to go with LSU's Odell Beckham, who caught seven more passes and had 33 more yards. Although, Boyd had five more touchdowns. In the end, we felt he was more valuable to LSU's offense this season.

LSU also led the way with five selections, while Tennessee was second with four selections.

Here's our freshman team:

OFFENSE

QB -- Maxwell Smith, Kentucky
RB -- Kenny Hilliard, LSU
RB -- Isaiah Crowell, Georgia
WR -- Malcolm Mitchell, Georgia
WR -- Odell Beckham, Jr., LSU
TE -- Malcolm Johnson, Mississippi State
OL -- Chaz Green, Florida
OL -- Marcus Jackson, Tennessee
OL - A.J. Cann, South Carolina
OL -- Cyrus Kouandjio, Alabama
C -- Reese Dismukes, Auburn

DEFENSE

DL -- Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina
DL -- Anthony Johnson, LSU
DL -- Kelcy Quarles, South Carolina
DL -- Trey Flowers, Arkansas
LB -- A.J. Johnson, Tennessee
LB -- Curt Maggitt, Tennessee
LB -- Serderius Bryant, Ole Miss
CB -- Marcus Roberson, Florida
CB -- Tevin Mitchel, Arkansas
S -- Brian Randolph, Tennessee
S -- Vinnie Sunseri, Alabama

SPECIAL TEAMS

K -- James Hairston, LSU (He handled kickoff duties for the Tigers.)
P -- Brad Wing, LSU
RS -- Tre Mason, Auburn

The SEC coaches announced their selections for the 2011 SEC All-Freshman Team Thursday.

LSU led the way with five selections, while Tennessee and Arkansas both had four selections.

The coaches also made Arkansas tight end Garrett Uekman, who died suddenly last month, Honorary Captain.

South Carolina placed three on the team, including SEC Freshman of the Year Jadeveon Clowney.

Here is the 2011 SEC All-Freshman Team:

OFFENSE

HONORARY CAPTAIN
Garrett Uekman, Tight End, Arkansas

TE - Malcolm Johnson, Mississippi State
OL - A.J. Cann, South Carolina
OL - Marcus Jackson, Tennessee
OL - Cyrus Kouandjio, Alabama
OL - Chaz Green, Florida
C - Reese Dismukes, Auburn
WR - Malcolm Mitchell, Georgia
WR - Odell Beckham Jr., LSU
QB – Maxwell Smith, Kentucky
RB – Isaiah Crowell, Georgia
RB – Kenny Hilliard, LSU
AP - Bruce Ellington, South Carolina

DEFENSE

DL - Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina
DL - Trey Flowers, Arkansas
DL - Anthony Johnson, LSU
DL - Kaleb Eulls, Mississippi State
LB - A.J. Johnson, Tennessee
LB - Curt Maggitt, Tennessee
LB - Serderius Bryant, Ole Miss
DB - Brian Randolph, Tennessee
DB - Vinnie Sunseri, Alabama
DB - De'Ante Saunders, Florida
DB - Tevin Mitchel, Arkansas

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK - James Hairston, LSU
P - Brad Wing, LSU
RS – Marquel Wade, Arkansas

• I'm actually surprised to see Saunders get the nod over teammate Marcus Roberson. Roberson was easily Florida's best cornerback this season. He has the makings of being a talented cover corner, but he did get overly aggressive throughout the season. I guess coaches paid attention to flags he earned.
• It had to be tough when the coaches looked at the quarterback position. Smith was probably the best of the bunch, and even he threw just four touchdowns to four interceptions. Still, Kentucky's offense moved down the field much better when he was on the field.
• Remember when all the talk in Oxford, Miss., before the season centered around how great true freshman linebacker C.J. Johnson was going to be? Well, he had a solid first year, but it was Bryant who really came on as one of the young guys on defense. He saw tremendous playing time and was fourth on the team with 61 tackles.

Ole Miss’ defense is getting back to the roots of it all.

Fundamentals, attitude, a blue-collar work ethic and trying to outwork others will be the foundation of a defense that was a disaster in 2010.

Defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix said his players took their talents and what those before them did for granted last season. Players strutted around thinking the red carpet was going to roll out for them each game.

It didn’t come close to working that way as the Rebels ranked last in the SEC in scoring defense (35.2 points per game) and 11th in total defense (399.2) and passing defense (246.3). Ole Miss also allowed opponents to score a league-high 95 percent of the time when they ventured into the red zone (27 touchdowns and eight field goals in 37 attempts).

That’s a far cry from the defenses Nix led at Ole Miss in the previous two seasons. Those defenses commanded respect and delivered results. Last year’s defense just struggled to keep its head above water.

This season, Ole Miss is dealing with a slew of younger players on defense. It has been both exciting and tiresome for Nix and his defensive staff, but with days until the Rebels’ tough season-opener against BYU, Nix says he’s happy with where his defense is.

“These kids have really worked hard and are trying to restore some of the respect that was lost last year,” Nix said. “We built this thing up in the first couple of years and earned a lot of respect defensively and we’re going to continue to work toward that.”

In order to do that, this group has had to shovel away its pride and start over. Nix said he’s seen players getting to meetings on time or earlier this time around. Players are holding each other accountable instead of assuming they’ll get it right on the next play.

There is fire and determination in practice, Nix said, and he sees that in his coaching staff as well. Nix said the addition of Keith Burns as the secondary coach has been a major boost for the defense and added that the coaches have become better teachers. They too took past talents for granted.

Senior linebacker Joel Kight agrees: This team thought the past would push it in 2010. He was also wrong, but he also sees a change.

Kight sees more togetherness and trust among players. Youngsters are being vocal, but they are also willing to listen to veterans. Kight is being looked at as a leader, but he’s made sure he hasn’t fallen off in practice or his words will mean zilch to players, especially the young ones -- and there are a lot who will see the field early.

Top-rated linebackers C.J. Johnson and Serderius Bryant are expected make major impacts. So are defensive backs Cody Prewitt and Senquez Golson.

While Nix admits no true freshmen are ready to be regular starters, he thinks they’ll contribute a lot, starting with the opener.

Seasoned players will also guide this team. Senior end Kentrell Lockett is back after blowing out his knee last season, providing a tremendous presence in the pass rush. Wayne Dorsey will be assisting opposite, while Marcus Temple will lead a more athletic defensive backfield.

The hope, Kight said, is that everyone doesn't hold back this year.

“They say we have a lot of potential. I don’t really like the word potential,” he said. “I want to see us use that potential. We’re very talented and it’s up to us to be a good overall, all-around defense.”

But there will be plenty of hiccups. It’s hard for a unit to perform an instant 360, and Nix is fine with that. What he won’t tolerate is complacency. For the defense to shake last season’s setback, it will have to rediscover itself and get back to the foundation of football.

“You’re either at the top or at the bottom because everybody sitting in between is just a juggling act,” he said. “Right now, we’re at the bottom of it and we want to finish on top and all we can do is control the present and that’s play the best we can, play as a team and play fundamentally sound. If we do those things I think we’ll be happy with our season this year.”