Jackson Free Press

Everything changed for the Dallas Cowboys at the position of quarterback on a single play. Kellen Moore was scheduled to become the No. 2 quarterback behind Tony Romo.

That all changed on Tuesday, Aug. 2, when an offensive lineman rolled up Moore, breaking the quarterback’s fibula or ankle depending on the report. Currently, there is no timetable for Moore’s return, but recovery time after surgery is three to four months.

The injury moved former Mississippi State University quarterback Dak Prescott from the No. 3 to the No.2 quarterback on the depth chart. That means if Romo is injured, Prescott would be the starting quarterback for the Cowboys.

Going into training camp, that wasn’t the plan for Prescott. The rookie fourth-round pick was supposed to sit behind and learn from Romo and Moore. Playing time for Prescott looked like it would come in the preseason, with no chance of seeing the field in the regular season.

Now, Romo is the starter, and Prescott moves up from taking snaps with the third-string offense. Prescott was splitting time with Jameill Showers, who spent last season on the practice squad playing other positions besides quarterback.

Romo, now 36 years old, missed most of last season with a broken collarbone. That left Dallas with Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel and Moore playing quarterback, and the Cowboys went 4-12.

The Cowboys have to moved up the timetable on the development of Prescott. Coming from a spread offense at MSU, Prescott has to learn a pro-style offense and learn how to take snaps from under center.

Prescott, who turned 23-years old last Friday, July 29, has embraced the No. 2 role and is ready to step up to the challenge, he told DallasCowboys.com.

“I’ve just got to come in each and every day and get better—that’s all I’m worried about,” he said. “My main focus is just to come in and make sure these guys hold me accountable. I’ll hold them accountable, and I’ll just be my best each and every practice.”

The Cowboys are going to look for an experienced backup quarterback, as well. The early thought was that former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Nick Foles would be the target for Dallas.

Then, Foles signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Cowboys turned their attention to Cleveland Browns’ quarterback Josh McCown. The Browns have asked for more than Dallas is willing to part with at this point in terms of trade value. Cleveland wants a high draft pick, and the Cowboys don’t want to give up their future for a backup quarterback.

With training camps just opening, Dallas will keep looking for another quarterback and can still wait until the team finds one at a price that it likes. In fact, the Cowboys could wait until rosters are cut down to 53 players before having to make a move if all their quarterbacks stay healthy during the preseason.

The Cowboys had …

The University of Mississippi is one of a few SEC football teams in a unique position going into this season. The Rebels have a proven starter at quarterback while most of the conference is looking for answers in that position.

Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly and University of Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs are the only returning starters who were ranked in the top five in passing yards. The rest of the top five, Dak Prescott, Brandon Allen and Jake Coker, are all in the NFL now.

Former Texas A&M University quarterback Kyle Allen, who was sixth in passing yards, is now at the University of Houston. Louisiana State University quarterback Brandon Harris, seventh in passing, might be the starter for the Tigers, but his performance was up and down at best last season.

Patrick Towles, eighth in passing, transferred from the University of Kentucky to Boston College after Drew Parker replaced him as the starter. University of Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert, ninth in passing, and University of South Carolina quarterback Perry Orth, 10th in passing, are locked in a battle for the starting job at their respective programs.

Auburn University is trying to find a starter out of a trio of quarterbacks, including two who earned playing time last season and a junior-college transfer. The University of Alabama is also working with three quarterbacks, trying to find out who will separate himself from the others.

The University of Florida has named Luke Del Rio as its new starter since both starters from last season have left the school to play elsewhere. The University of Arkansas has named Austin Allen as the player to replace Brandon Allen under center.

Texas A&M will start transfer Trevor Knight at quarterback after Kyle Allen left for Houston. The University of Missouri will have quarterback Drew Lock, who won four games in four starts last season.

Vanderbilt University will go with Kyle Shurmur at quarterback after limited playing time last season. Shurmer joins Austin Allen at Arkansas, Del Rio at Florida, and Lock at Missouri on the list of quarterbacks who have little or no starts for their respective programs.

Mississippi State University might go into the season looking for a starter between Nick Fitzgerald, Damian Williams and Nick Tiano. Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen has gone with multiple quarterbacks before, as with Chris Leak and Tim Tebow at Florida and Tyler Russell and Prescott at MSU.

Kelly and Dobbs will have a chance to lead their teams to division titles as the rest of the conference works to figure out who will take the reins at quarterback. The rare exceptions are Alabama and LSU, who both have strong defenses and powerful running games, and just need quarterbacks who won’t lose them games.

The rest of the SEC could see their bowl hopes go down in flames if they can’t find the right player under center. MSU is one of those teams …

At this moment, it must feel like the Sword of Damocles is hanging over the University of Mississippi’s football program. But the question isn’t if the sword will fall but when it will.

In this case, the sword is the NCAA, and the Rebels must feel like they are hanging on by a single strand of hair a horse’s tail. UM received new notice of allegations from the NCAA, including eight more charges.

The biggest and potentially most devastating new charge is a lack of institutional control and Head Coach Hugh Freeze failing to monitor his coaching staff. As the NCAA continued to dig into the Rebels’ sports programs, the football program now has 21 violations.

Besides the lack of institutional control and Freeze’s failure to monitor, here are the seven new allegations.

A recruit was allowed to hunt on property that a booster owned while UM was recruiting him, and he was allowed to hunt again on the property after signing with the school.

From March 2014 to January 2015, a former staff member provided improper inducements in the form of lodging and transportation valued at $2,272 for two potential recruits. Both recruits signed with other programs.

A former staff member provided false and misleading information to the university and the NCAA about his involvement in recruiting violations.

Another former staff member facilitated a recruit’s meeting with two boosters to receive cash payments from $13,000 to $15,000. That recruit didn’t sign with the Rebels.

Another former staff member allowed one associate of a recruit and two other potential recruits to receive merchandise totaling $2,800 from a booster-owned store.

In 2014 a current Rebels coach made improper in-person and off-campus contact with a recruit.

A booster gave free food and drink at the booster’s restaurant that totaled between $200 and $600 in improper benefits.

Amazingly, none of the new allegations came from the draft night fallout from former offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil. A screenshot of texts between Tunsil and Assistant Athletic Director John Miller concerned Tunsil getting money from Barney Farrar to play his mother’s gas bill.

Rebels Athletic Director Ross Bjork said that the school agrees that the NCAA has enough evidence to prove three of the allegations. He said the university would fight the other charges, including the lack of institutional control and Freeze’s lack of monitoring the staff.

In response to the new allegations, the Rebels imposed one-year bowl ban for the 2017 season. UM will have to forfeit its share of SEC postseason revenue for the coming season, which could be $7.8 million or more.

UM has 90 days to respond to the new notice of allegations and will have a hearing, possibly this summer, with the Committee on Infractions to discuss penalties. The committee can accept the Rebels’ self-imposed sanctions of a loss of 11 total scholarships stretched from 2015 to 2018 and the bowl ban.

The …

The SEC placed six teams in the NCAA Baseball Super Regionals, but only three reached the College World Series. Two teams from the ACC made it out of the Super Regionals to the CWS, and one team from the Big 12, Pac-12 and Big West conferences are in the CWS.

Louisiana State University took out fellow SEC West member Mississippi State University. The Tigers barely got by the Bulldogs in game one 4-3 but won 14-4 in game two and advanced.

The University of Florida needed three games to get past Wake Forest University. Weather delays plagued this series, as the Gators won game one 2-1, the Demon Deacons took game two 8-6, and UF won game three 3-0 and moved on.

Texas A&M University played two games against Davidson College and advanced. The Aggies took game one 7-6 and outlasted the Wildcats 12-6 in game two.

Oregon State University swept Vanderbilt University in the Super Regional. The Beavers won 8-4 in game one and 9-2 in game two, getting past the Commodores.

The University of Louisville battled past in-state rival University of Kentucky and reached the CWS. The Cardinals took game one 5-2 and game two 6-2, sweeping the Wildcats out of the tournament.

Florida State University slipped past Sam Houston State University in game one, scoring 7-6. The Seminoles had no trouble in game two, winning 19-0 over the Bearkats and reaching the CWS.

California State University, Long Beach and California State University, Fullerton need all three games to decide their Super Regional. The 49ers of Long Beach took game one 3-0, but the Titans won game two 12-0 and game three 2-1 and advanced.

Texas Christian University swept past Missouri State University, reaching the CWS. The Horned Frogs nipped the Bears in game one 3-2 but won in an 8-1 blowout in game two, finishing the sweep.

Top national seed Oregon State opens the tournament against CSU Fullerton on Saturday, June 17, at 2 p.m. on ESPN. LSU is the No. 4 national seed and takes on FSU on June 17 in game two at 7 p.m.

Louisville is the No. 7 national seed and will open day two of the CWS on Sunday, June 18, at 1 p.m. against Texas A&M. The second game on day two features No. 3 national seed Florida against No. 6 national seed TCU at 6 p.m. on June 18.

The first elimination game will be played on Monday, June 19, at 1 p.m. on ESPN against the losers of the OSU-Fullerton and LSU-FSU from games one and two. The winners between the Beavers versus Titans game and Tigers versus Seminoles game face off on June 19 at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

Game three and four losers between Louisville-Texas A&M and Florida-TCU will try to stay alive on Tuesday, June 20, at 1 p.m. on ESPN. The winners between the Cardinals-Aggies and Gators-Horned Frogs take the …