April 17, 1999

LAS VEGAS - Shaking off the effects of the flu, junior-college transfer running back Jeremi Rudolph put on a show for the more than 1,000 fans who attended Kick Off '99 at Rebel Park Saturday.

Rudolph, a former Florida State signee who is expected to be the Rebels' starting tailback this fall, rushed for 85 yards on 11 carries and scored two touchdowns in the school's first scrimmage under new head coach John Robinson. Not to be out-done, senior-to-be Dahrin Footman racked up 87 yards on just five carries, including a 45-yard burst on the day's first play.

Also making a strong debut was junior-college transfer quarterback Jason Vaughan who, despite three interceptions, connected on 7 of 11 attempts for 81 yards and one score. Redshirt freshman Troy Mason led the receivers with 33 yards on two catches and one touchdown.

Defensively, the Rebels were paced by 1998 Freshman All-American linebacker James Sunia's five tackles. Sophomore-to-be defensive back Kevin Thomas had one interception for a touchdown, caused a fumble and added three tackles. Defensive back Andre Hilliard and linebacker Tyler Brickell also had picks.

The Rebels were perfect in the kicking department as senior-to-be Tim O'Reilly and JC transfer Ray Cheetany both nailed both of their field goal attempts. The team is off until four straight practices next week, including another scrimmage on April 24 that will officially end spring practice.

SCRIMMAGE STATISTICSRUSHING LEADERSNAME            ATT YDS TDDahrin Footman      5   87  0Jeremi Rudolph      11  85  2Coury Hankins       4   28  0
PASSING LEADERSNAME            ATT CMP INT YDS TDJason Vaughan       11  7   3   81  1Chris Hayward       4   3   0   22  0
RECEIVING LEADERSNAME            REC YDS TDLen Ware        3   28  0Troy Mason      2   33  1Nate Turner     1   18  0
TACKLE LEADERSNAME            TT  INT     James Sunia     5   0Tyler Brickell      4   1Kevin Thomas        3   1