Football Notebook: Early look at Vanderbilt

Nutt impressed with Vanderbilt’s 2-0 start

“Vanderbilt is a very good football team,” Nutt said. “They play extremely hard. We always catch them early when they are healthy, fast and confident.”

An improved defense for the Commodores

“Their defense is relentless and fast,” Nutt said. 

“Tim Fugger at defensive end is relentless and quick. Their linebacker Chris Marve is very good. Casey Hayward gets a lot of interceptions. Those guys are playmakers. We have to do a good job of staying on our blocks offensively. We have to execute.”

First-year head coach James Franklin brings a lot of excitement to the program

“I always thought Bobby Johnson did a great job, and I think James Franklin has brought in a lot of energy and enthusiasm,” Nutt said. 

“They are believing right now and are doing a good job. Winning helps that. Winning is the best medicine there is to give you confidence and what you need. They are playing very hard, fast and with a lot of confidence.”

Stoudt to start at Vanderbilt

Junior quarterback Zack Stoudt will start for the second week in a row in Nashville after completing 11 of 18 passes for 118 yards and his first career touchdown in Saturday’s 42-24 win over Southern Illinois.

Ole Miss secondary continues to make plays

After struggling to create turnovers last season, the Rebels are having no trouble this year. 

Last season, the defense had only six interceptions, which they returned for 63 yards and no touchdowns. In just two games this season, the defense has five interceptions for 133 yards and one touchdown, including four for 37 yards against Southern Illinois. Sophomore safety Charles Sawyer leads the team with two, one of which he returned 96 yards for a touchdown in the opener against BYU. 

Nutt has been pleased with the work new defensive backs coach Keith Burns and safeties coach Chris Vaughn have done with the secondary.

“Coach Burns has done an excellent job along with Chris Vaughn,” Nutt said. “The defense has done a great job reading the ball. They are in the right position, getting breaks on the ball and have done a lot of drill work.”

“Now there is a belief and a confidence. That is exactly what they have going right now. When you are playing at that level of confidence, good things happen. When they believe that they are going to get interceptions and turnovers, it helps.”

Ole Miss-Georgia game time set

The game time for Ole Miss and Georgia on Sept. 24 has been set for an 11:21 a.m. CT kickoff and will be televised by the SEC Network, the SEC announced Monday.