By Angie Ledbetter

Senior Jamarca Sanford, a former South Panola standout, was excited to become bowl eligible with his Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday when the Rebels shut out University of Louisiana-Monroe on a very cold day of football.  The weather didn’t affect the Rebels as they were fired up to get that win to become eligible.

“It means a lot and it’s something that we’ve never done since I’ve been here. It’s great but I know we can still get more.”

Sanford said there was never a doubt in his mind that they would become bowl eligible.

“We believed in Coach Nutt from day one. When he came in, he gave us his word and he is a man of his word. He believed in us and he has been to a lot of them. He knows what it takes to get to a bowl game. Everybody has really bought in as a team. We’re playing together as a team.”

It was not hard for Nutt to convince them this could happen, according to Sanford

“It really wasn’t hard. We’ve kept playing week in and week out as a team.”

Though this win and accomplishment are good, Sanford is not satisfied.

“It’s a great win and it’s something that we’ve never had since I’ve been here. It’s great but we want more. We have two more games, Mississippi State and LSU, that we have to finish up with. We could really get to a bigger bowl if we focus on that.”

Since being at Ole Miss, Sanford has never been part of a team that has beaten LSU.

“We’ve come close but never beat them. Close isn’t good enough now and we know what it takes to get over that lump now. We’ve got to go down there and play hard and play as a team. We know that it’s going to be a tough rivalry but we will be prepared for it.”

The big question: what will it take for Ole Miss to beat LSU?

“We have to really not hurt ourselves and turn the ball over and no stupid penalties,” Sanford said. “We don’t need to worry about the score and just play ball.”

Becoming bowl eligible gave Sanford and the Rebels more momentum going into the LSU game, according to Sanford.

“Without a doubt it does. This is our third game in a row winning and that’s something we’ve never done since I’ve been here either. We just want to keep it going. We don’t need to be just satisfied with this, we need to continue this.”