OXFORD, Miss. -- Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone has found a safe target for the disappointing start of the football team.

Boone believes a large portion of the problems can be attributed to the recruiting efforts of former coach and Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe, who was fired in December 2004. As a result, Boone said, the Rebels are young and have depth problems.

"There's a reason you have a coaching change," Boone told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. "I think what we're seeing now is that the recruiting the past few years of the previous group was not very good. I knew that. It was not a surprise to me.

"I'm not trying to throw any stones at the previous folks. I'm just saying there's a reason for that and you have to be patient."

The Rebels are 1-3 for the second straight season. Ed Orgeron, who replaced Cutcliffe, is 4-11 with the Rebels and 1-8 in SEC play.

Meanwhile, Orgeron considered opening the competition for the starting quarterback job after a 27-3 loss to Wake Forest last Saturday.

But the discussion didn't last very long.

Despite a lackluster effort against the Demon Deacons, Orgeron said junior Brent Schaeffer will remain the starter when the Rebels play No. 10 Georgia tonight.

"We talked about it and we're going to stick with Brent," Orgeron said. "We think (the offensive problems are) a combination of route running, protection, poor decisions with the quarterback. So we're just going to continue with Brent and hopefully we can get better in all three phases."

Orgeron had said backup Seth Adams played well in late-game relief and added that the walk-on could start if the Rebels determined he "is the best quarterback for our team."

Schaeffer completed 13 of 28 passes for 127 yards with one interception. Adams was 8 of 11 for 84 yards on Ole Miss' final possession.

But offensive coordinator Dan Werner said there wasn't much to talk about.

"We feel like he gives us the best chance to win," Werner said. "That's what we're trying to do is win ballgames. So, as I said, at every position we've got to keep on getting better. We've got a lot of guys that haven't played a lot of football, so it's not like we're going to start searching and grabbing straws or whatever.

"We're going to keep on doing what we've been doing."

Ole Miss promoted Schaeffer as the offensive leader when he signed with the Rebels in February. The highly rated quarterback, who started three games as a freshman at Tennessee in 2004, seemed to live up to those expectations in the opener against Memphis.

He didn't put up big numbers, completing 7 of 16 passes for 97 yards, but the offense didn't commit a penalty or turnover en route to its best outing since 2004.

But Schaeffer has completed 39 of 83 passes (46.5 percent) for 407 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions the past three games. Schaeffer, who wasn't available for comment, also has lost two fumbles and Ole Miss has scored 25 points.

"I think he may be frustrated that things aren't clicking," Adams said. "But it's not all on him. It's not all his fault. We've just got to get better as an offense."

Orgeron said Schaeffer turned in a "hot and cold" night against the Demon Deacons, struggled in the pocket and had problems leading the team. But he said the Rebels couldn't establish a ground game, failed to protect Schaeffer, fell behind and were forced to throw more than usual because of the defense's inability to stop Wake Forest.

Werner said Schaeffer hasn't been the offense's only problem. But, much like the offensive coordinator, Werner said Schaeffer can handle the criticism.

"He understands what's going on," Werner said. "He's got to do a better job of leading this football team and when he does, then he'll get all the praise too. ... Right now, he and I are both getting criticized, but we understood that when we took the job. We're going to both do a better job and work harder and hopefully get this thing turned around."