Thursday, December 30
Rebels have challenge in Oklahoma
Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi head football coach David
Cutcliffe was working 18-hour days and battling an inflamed
pancreas to get his Rebels ready for the Independence Bowl a year
ago.
The aching pancreas is gone.
Other things are also slightly different this season.
Ole Miss (7-4) is in the Independence Bowl again, but Cutcliffe
doesn't have to win with an unfamiliar team and a playbook filled
with offensive terminology left by a previous coach.
"The difference in last year and this year is a 180 degrees,"
said Cutcliffe, who made his debut in 1998 bowl game after Tommy
Tuberville left for Auburn.
"About a year ago, we were scrambling at everything we did. Our entire staff and squad had a great sense of urgency. What we have
to do is maintain that same sense of urgency this year."
Ole Miss beat favored Texas Tech, 35-18, last year. Oklahoma
(7-4), which is making its first bowl trip since 1994, will face
the Rebels on Dec. 31.
Cutcliffe was offensive coordinator at Tennessee, and a Vols
assistant for 16 years, before being introduced as Mississippi's
coach on Dec. 2, 1998. He returned to coach his final game at
Tennessee, a 24-14 victory over Mississippi State in the
Southeastern Conference Championship.
Instead of turning his attention to the Fiesta Bowl and Florida
State, however, Cutcliffe took over at Ole Miss after Tuberville
resigned.
But working long hours to get the Rebels ready to face Texas
Tech took a toll on Cutcliffe.
An inflammation of his pancreas required a four-night hospital
stay and delayed Cutcliffe's arrival in Shreveport by a day. While
out of the hospital, he still experienced intense pain in both his
stomach and back.
"It was a very difficult time being in the hospital wondering
whether I could even go to the bowl game just having taken the
job," said Cutcliffe, whose diet included only IVs during the
hospital stay.
"It was as emotional time as I have ever gone through. I had a
lot of support from family and friends and that's how I made it
through it. Thank goodness I was able to make it to Shreveport."
Ole Miss won despite have only about 15 practice sessions with
Cutcliffe. There was not enough time for a total overhaul of the
playbook.
"We had to put our offense in so what we did was use their
words and their terminology, but our plays," Cutcliffe said.
"Our challenge was to teach parts of the offense, but we were
very restrictive of how much we could put in. This year is so
different. What we have to do is to play better than we did at the
end of the year. That's our challenge."
Ole Miss ended the season with a 20-17 loss at home against
Georgia and 23-20 loss at Mississippi State on Thanksgiving night.
Oklahoma will be a difficult challenge for the Rebels, Cutcliffe
said.
Sooners quarterback Josh Heupel threw for a Big 12
Conference-record 3,460 yards passing and 30 touchdowns to lead
Oklahoma's potent offense. The Sooners' passing game ranks ninth
nationally.
"I think Oklahoma is an outstanding team. The quarterback,
receivers, and backs are outstanding," Cutcliffe said.
"They have a lot of weapons and they use them well. An area of
concern for us is on defense. We are going to have to play probably
our best game to be successful on that side of the ball."
