Cutcliffe eager to straight season in spacious new stadium

OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI - Mississippi coach David Cutcliffe is eager to start the season Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe. He&#39;s even more excited about possibly playing in front of the largest on-campus crowd ever to see a game in the Magnolia state. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m hoping to see 60,000 plus for the game,&#39;&#39; Cutcliffe said Monday during his weekly news conference. ``It&#39;s exciting and I know our players are excited about it. The stadium should be gorgeous for the evening kickoff and it should be a great atmosphere.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The opener will be the debut of the newly expanded Vaught-Hemingway Stadium after two years of construction that raised the capacity from 50,577 in 2000 to 60,580. It is the largest on-campus facility in the state. <br> <br> Besides setting the school attendance record, Cutcliffe thinks the Indians 33.5-point underdogs should give the Rebels a much better game than most expect. <br> <br> ``They have a lot of veteran players back this year and that will help,&#39;&#39; Cutcliffe said about the Indians, who have taken on Southeastern Conference powers such as Tennessee and Florida in recent years. <br> <br> ``They play an eight man front on defense because they were new in the secondary but that should be one of their strengths this year. They should be able to utilize their system more to their advantage and that will make them a much better team,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Ole Miss linebacker Eddie Strong is still nursing a sprained left ankle, and will have to show improvement in practice to play Saturday, Cutcliffe said. <br> <br> Starting wide receivers Jason Armstead (ankle) and Chris Collins (hamstring), who both missed some practice time last week, are expected to play, Cutcliffe said. <br> <br> Other than Strong, only redshirt freshman wide receiver Mario Hill (ankle) is in danger of missing Saturday&#39;s game. <br> <br> ``We&#39;ve had some people banged up more than we would like but everyone is back except for Eddie and Mario,&#39;&#39; Cutcliffe said. ``Both have been walking but you never know about ankles and how they&#39;ll respond when they start running on them.&#39;&#39;

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/8/190868