NCAA says Masoli must wait; Ole Miss appeals

Ole Miss football coach Houston Nutt believes quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has been beneficial whether he takes snaps Saturday against Jacksonville State or not, but he wants him to play.

“Jeremiah has raised everybody’s level,” Nutt said. “There’s nothing like competition. There is nothing like it. It makes everybody better.”

Masoli, who led Oregon to the Rose Bowl last season but was kicked off the team in June, became a hot SEC topic Aug. 4, when he was accepted by Ole Miss officials into their Parks and Recreation graduate program. Ole Miss requested a waiver of the one-year residency requirement for a transfer student, but the NCAA issued a waiver Tuesday that included the restriction of Masoli from playing until the 2011-12 academic year.

Ole Miss quickly appealed the decision, and a response from the NCAA Subcommittee for Legislative Relief could be as early as Friday and no later than next Tuesday.

In its decision, the NCAA stated that the waiver “exists to provide relief to student-athletes who transfer for academic reasons to pursue graduate studies, not to avoid disciplinary measures at the previous university.” Masoli, who has never redshirted, still will be allowed to practice and receive financial aid.

“There is no requirement that says a student-athlete must be in good standing with an athletics team — just the university, which he was,” Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone said. “That question is not part of the waiver application. We are aware of other student-athletes with similar issues, but since their team status was not public, their waivers were successful.”

Said Masoli: “I’m just shocked and disappointed. I’ve done everything I can to follow the rules.”

Even before Tuesday’s ruling, Nutt had been forced to work primarily this week with sophomore Nathan Stanley and junior-college transfer Randall Mackey, his only scholarship quarterbacks.

Masoli was charged with stealing laptop computers from an Oregon fraternity in January and was suspended for the 2010 season by coach Chip Kelly in March after admitting his involvement in the burglary. He went through spring practice in Eugene and worked at receiver, but he was booted from the program after getting cited for driving with a suspended license and for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana.

Ole Miss had a need for Masoli when redshirt freshman Raymond Cotton left in late July and transferred to South Alabama, and Nutt knew it would be viewed with skepticism.

“The biggest thing that helped me was when I got him on campus and got him to Oxford,” Nutt said. “I sat him down and looked him in the eyes and explained to him about the situation that we were in. One of the biggest points we made was, ‘You need us more than we need you,’ and I think he understood that.”

The 5-foot-11, 220-pounder from San Francisco threw for 2,147 yards and 15 touchdowns last year and rushed for 668 yards and six scores. In a 47-20 drubbing of Southern Cal, Masoli completed 19 of 31 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown and rushed 13 times for 164 yards and a score.

Oregon went 8-1 in Pac-10 contests, winning the league by two games.

“I’m very hopeful the NCAA will do the right thing in my case,” Masoli said. “I still have faith.”

Stanley played in five games last season in relief of Jevan Snead, completing 11 of 23 passes for 163 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Nutt said that when he approached Stanley about the possibility of signing Masoli, Stanley said, “Bring him on.”

Mackey quarterbacked at East Mississippi Community College last season and led the NJCAA with 3,122 passing yards. He threw for 32 touchdowns and rushed for 579 yards and five scores.

Nutt said he has a lot of confidence in what Stanley and Mackey can do, but he hasn’t played multiple quarterbacks too much during his career. His last experience took place at Arkansas in 2006 with Casey Dick and Mitch Mustain, and that situation didn’t end well.

“I just hope the Jeremiah deal works out,” Nutt said.