By Angie Ledbetter

When Jamarca Sanford was a freshman at Ole Miss, the seniors told him to enjoy his college career because it would be over before he knew it.  The Ole Miss strong safety knows that now.

“It came quick and inexpertly for me,” said Sanford. “I’ve been around for awhile but it still seemed it came so quick. It’s my last go around and I’ve got to go out and play as hard as I can because I don’t get another chance at playing college football.”

Being a senior, everyone looks up to Sanford and the coaches expect a lot out of him, Sanford said..

“You have to go out and be a leader by example and not just talk about it, you have to do it.”

Sanford has a big honor on his shoulders this year. He’ll be wearing the No. 38 Chucky Mullins patch on his jersey.

“Wearing this No. 38 Chucky Mullins patch means a lot to me. It’s an honor so I have to go out and represent it to my best ability like Chucky did.”

The 5-10, 200 pound Sanford has been referred to as one of the best hard hitting defenders in the SEC. Last year he started in 10 games at strong safety and ranked sixth in the SEC with 8.3 tackles per game. He finished third on the Rebel team with 83 total tackles and fourth in tackles-for-loss and pass break-ups.

Sanford had a great summer, staying healthy and working hard.  He gives credit to coach Tyrone Nix’s “great” strength program and nice conditioning.

Sanford said the new coaches have brought a lot to the program.

“Coach (Houston) Nutt hand picked all of the coaches so it’s not like he just hired someone he didn’t know. They know what he can do and he knows what they can do. They trust in each other.”

Expectations for Sanford are always high.

“We’ve had a few down years but this year we have the pieces to the puzzle,” he said. “It’s always my goal to go to the SEC Championship but the national championship is my biggest goal. We just started practice and we have to keep working hard every day. The sky is the limit to what we can do.”

The Rebels open the season Saturday with Memphis

Sanford expects Memphis will play them hard.

“We have to be prepared and be ready to go out there and play hard,” she said. “My goal after this year is that I can make enough plays to get looked at by the scouts. Other than that, I’ll try to go in the field of criminal justice. I really want to continue playing ball which is something I love doing.”

Sanford made the U.M.A.A. honor roll in spring of 2007.

“A few weekends ago I was home and spent time with Peria and Derek. We all talked about how quickly our senior year came and now we just have to go out there and try the ball out this year.”

Sanford, Peria Jerry, and Derek Pegues all played on the 1993 South Panola team that went 15-0 and won the 5A state championship.