Chad Kelly is Ole Miss' starter in week 1, at least

OXFORD -- Hugh Freeze announced that he expects junior college transfer Chad Kelly will start the season opener against UT-Martin this Saturday.

“Today in practice Chad’s going take the snap with the (first team),” Freeze said. “I anticipate that carrying on throughout the week leading up to Saturday, unless something just totally changes my mindset.”

Though Kelly will take the first snaps against the Skyhawks, Freeze plans to play redshirt sophomores Ryan Buchanan and DeVante Kincade as well.

“I expect all three to play,” Freeze said. “I don’t want to be quoted today that it’s locked in stone (that Kelly will be the starter). It is a very close competition. I like all three.”

Kelly earned the right to start the season opener based upon his performance throughout the entire preseason camp.

“We have a chart that I look at everyday that has tracked every single rep that every quarterback has had,” Freeze said. “If you look at pass percentages, turnovers, scoring drives, all of those things, he has a slight edge on the other two.”

“He’s a competitor,” junior wide receiver Laquon Treadwell said of Kelly. “That’s really what made the difference. He’ll take a lot of shots. Things we were doing in game situations, he looked good at doing it.”

Kelly enrolled at Ole Miss in January after leading East Mississippi Community College to a 12-0 record and the NJCAA National Championship. He started all 12 games for EMCC completing 66.9 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,906 yards with 47 touchdowns and eight interceptions and earned NJCAA first team All-America honors.

ESPN and Scout listed him as a four-star prospect. He was listed as the top junior college quarterback by Scout and the top dual-threat quarterback by 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals.

The Buffalo, New York, native originally enrolled at Clemson following high school. He spent the 2013 season as the Tigers third-team quarterback, playing in five games in 2013 going 10-of-17 passing for 58 yards while also rushing the ball 16 times for 117 yards. He also had 38-yard touchdown run against Virginia.

Kelly was dismissed from the Clemson football program for conduct detrimental to the team in April of 2014, according to Coach Dabo Swinney, necessitating his transfer to East Mississippi.

Before his arrival at Ole Miss, Kelly was arrested on assault, harassment, menacing, obstruction and resisting arrest charges after an incident outside a Buffalo nightclub in January. Kelly pleaded guilty to a violation of disorderly conduct, an action that resulted in a dropping of the previous charges. He was given a 12-month probation and performed 50 hours of community service.

Freeze has been pleased with Kelly’s development both on and off the field since his arrival at Ole Miss.

“All I can tell you is to this point I could not be more pleased,” Freeze said. “The guy had a 4.0 GPA this summer, had a 3.6 in the spring. He is one of the strength staff’s favorite kids. He finishes first in every drill. He’s just like a lot of us, has made some mistakes in the past and is ready to hopefully move beyond them. I think he deserves that opportunity now.”

No. 15 Ole Miss opens the season at 11 a.m. Saturday, televised by SEC Network.

PREVIOUSLY:

Chad Kelly is expected to start for Ole Miss on Saturday, but coach Hugh Freeze was not saying that for sure or naming a quarterback for the rest of the season.

Freeze said that Kelly will take the first snap in practice this week and will do so on Saturday against UT-Martin (11 a.m., SEC Network), unless something changes.

“But I don’t know who our starter for the season will be yet,” Freeze said.

Kelly, a redshirt junior who transferred from East Mississippi Community College, has been in competition with redshirt sophomores Ryan Buchanan and DeVante Kincade. Freeze has repeatedly hinted that he had a leader, but then said the other two had their best week of practice in the last seven days.

All three are expected to play against the Skyhawks, a FCS-level team. Ole Miss plays Fresno State in week 2, but then goes to Alabama in week 3.