Hugh Freeze Addresses Photo of Robert Nkemdiche Holding Bong

Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said the school has seen the picture of Robert Nkemdiche with a bong, though he declined to say whether his star defensive lineman would be punished.      

"I'm very aware of the picture and also when it was taken and where it was taken," Freeze said Monday, per Hugh Kellenberger of The Clarion-Ledger. "We test our entire team on our drug-testing policy at the beginning of the season and then we have our follow-up tests throughout the course of the year. I'm super confident we handled each one the same and we enforce our policy very consistently."

The image, which was a Snapchat taken of Nkemdiche, according to Kellenberger, was posted by Clay Travis of Fox Sports Sunday, a day after the Rebels' 35-20 win over Texas A&M. Travis' post was cobbled together from a since-deleted post on a Tennessee message board. According to Travis, the poster has had the photo since August but decided to make it public before the Volunteers' game against Ole Miss.

The Volunteers and Rebels play Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Ole Miss comes into the game just two points behind Florida State for second place in the Associated Press Poll after back-to-back wins against Top 25 opponents.

Nkemdiche, a sophomore, is one of the driving forces behind the Rebels' ascent. He has 14 tackles and one sack through the first six games, but his ability to draw doubleteams and plug run gaps has helped Ole Miss build one of the nation's top defenses. Only Stanford gives up fewer points per game and the Rebels have given up six offensive touchdowns all season.

Nkemdiche has yet to comment on the photo. As noted by Kellenberger, terms of Ole Miss' drug testing program would not require the school to suspend him if it is his first offense. If Nkemdiche had previously tested positive in the past, another violation would require a suspension commensurate with 25 percent of the team's remaining games.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

"We're going to hold them accountable for actions that are not what we want representing our university and our program, or that would hurt themselves," Freeze said. "I'm very confident that we deal with all of them in the same manner, and that'll we'll continue to do that."

The former No. 1 recruit in the country, per 247Sports, Nkemdiche was one of three players suspended for part of last year's Music City Bowl. In February, Nkemdiche and his brother, Rebels linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche, were sued for $2 million after allegedly being two of seven football players to knock another student unconscious at an on-campus party.

Denzel Nkemdiche rejoined the team in June after being suspended throughout the spring. Robert Nkemdiche does not have any other publicly available disciplinary transgressions.

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