Monday’s and Tuesday’s practice reports are presented by Southern Q-Sauce. Ole Miss grads Hunter and Mimi Simpson formed Southern Q-Sauce craft barbecue sauce. Southern Q-Sauce is crafted by hand in small batches to capture that tangy, sweet and smoky taste with just enough heat. The original recipe features the Deep South flavors of apple cider vinegar, sweet brown sugar, tomato and hickory. It’s a blend of Tennessee, Mississippi and the Carolinas with a sweet, smoky finish.

Southern Q-Sauce also has a variety of rubs — from Ole Faithful, which is an all-purpose rub, to Ole Smokey, Honey Pecan, The Clucker and The Longhorn. Whether you’re a professional pit-master or an occasional backyard chef, Southern Q-Sauce has the sauces and rubs to have your friends and family coming back for more.

Check it our for yourself. Go to www.SouthernQSauce.com and use the discount code REBELGROVE for 15 percent off your order.

OXFORD —Austin Simmons is used to pressure.

In 2023, he reclassified by two seasons to enroll at Ole Miss. Last spring, as a relief pitcher, Simmons made 13 appearances, posting a 2-0 record and a 3.21 earned run average before suffering an elbow injury on his throwing arm.

Simmons pressed on, diligently rehabbing his arm in time for Ole Miss’ football season. On Saturday, in the sixth-ranked Rebels’ 76-0 season-opening win over Furman, Simmons relieved starter Jaxson Dart at halftime and made his collegiate debut.

His first pass, a 35-yard touchdown to Cayden Lee, felt “so surreal,” Simmons said Tuesday after the Rebels’ practice earlier in the day. “It felt like a dream, honestly. It felt like I was reliving my first high school touchdown pass. You know, a whole lot of emotions. You know, it just felt great.”

Simmons completed 7 of his 16 passes for 111 yards before Walker Howard wrapped things up with a late-fourth quarter appearance.

“It was a lot of hard work, you know, putting throughout the summer, you know, getting back to the swing of things, you know, especially throwing routes on air, getting back to my old self,” Simmons said. "It took a minute for me to, like, you know, get used to, like, you know, playing through the pain a little bit. But overall, there's a whole lot of work that was put in throughout the summer.”

Simmons will once again be Dart’s backup when Ole Miss (1-0) meets Middle Tennessee (1-0) Saturday in Oxford (3:15 p.m., SEC Network). He’s focused on three things these days — learning as much as he can from Dart, being prepared if he’s needed and putting himself in position to be QB1 next fall when Dart has moved on to the NFL.

“Yeah, that's always been my mindset, you know, ever since last year,” Simmons said. “I’ve always loved competing. I came here to compete and really, like, just taking every day, waking up with a mindset that I'm going out here to dominate, really learn, and to also progress into becoming a future starter.

“I've learned a lot from (Dart). He’s definitely one of those mentor guys. He takes everything in. He talks to me pretty well, and he's a great guy to be around. I’m just really learning from him visually, seeing how he plays, seeing how he's poised and calm in the pocket, seeing just how calm he is throughout the game, especially high pressure situations.”

“He's grown a lot since he's got here,” Ole Miss center Reece McIntyre said. “I mean, obviously a young kid, reclassified out of high school. And I mean, you see an upside of that kid every day, like arm (talent), stuff like that. I mean, I think he's going to help this program win a lot of games.”

Simmons said Tuesday he was “a little nervous” going into Saturday’s game. However, after redshirting in 2023, he said he’s much more comfortable in the offense and in his own skin this season if he’s needed in a big moment.

“Compared to last year, you know, I'm far more comfortable,” Simmons said. “I'm actually so comfortable that I'm able to, like, really, get in a high-pressure situation. That's my opinion. You know, they throw me in, game on the line. I'm pretty sure I won't be scared. I won't be like, you know, any of that. So, really pretty fun compared to last year.

“When I was getting recruited here, I've always wanted to be coached by, la great offensive mind like (Ole Miss offensive coordinator) Coach (Charlie) Weiss (Jr.) and Coach (Lane) Kiffin. You know, every single meeting, I'm always learning something new about the game.”

Simmons said, despite the elbow injury that ended his 2024 baseball season early, he plans to return to the mound in the spring.

“I'm pretty positive I'll be back to playing at Swayze next spring, so I'll be back into the relieving rotation,” Simmons said. “I just have to take another MRI, you know, to really see where I'm going from there.”

As for which accomplishment — throwing a touchdown pass or striking out a hitter — feels best, Simmons now can compare at the college level.

“There's a lot more emotion throwing a touchdown compared to a strikeout,” Simmons said. “You get a lot more opportunities in baseball, In football, you can't really get those back. You only play so many football games.”

McIntyre happy to still be helping program: McIntyre was forced into a starting assignment versus Furman due to injuries to Gerquan Scott and Caleb Warren. Both Scott and Warren are likely out a few more weeks, so McIntyre’s role remains a big one.

It’s one he’s happy to fill after a long career on the Rebels’ offensive line, making appearances at different positions along the way.

“I mean, I came here out of high school,” McIntyre said. “I chose here over like Florida and Arkansas and I just took a visit here. I loved it. And just people here, they really bring you in and make you feel like family and as you play over the years, you just get endless support by fans and just the community and parents and stuff like that. And like this past year we just have something, like we’ve got something brewing this year and we’ve got a chance to do something special.”