Nathan Stanley’s feet are dry these days, the shoes a bit more comfortable.

And his head is cleared of the initial shock phase of being a college football quarterback.

The former Sequoyah High School standout is now in control of the University of Mississippi offense as a 6-foot-5 redshirt sophomore coming off a brief baptism in last year’s Cotton Bowl Classic.

Brief, but educational.

Thrust into action when starting quarterback Jevan Snead took a shot to the head by OSU defender Jermiah Price, Stanley’s first play from scrimmage was a simple handoff to Dexter McCluster, who took it around right end for an 86-yard touchdown run, the second longest in Cotton Bowl history.

Later in the first half, after directing another drive across midfield to a missed field goal, Stanley tried to make the most out of a third-and-10 from his team’s own 17. He rolled out of the pocket to the right. With four receivers on vertical routes, he misread Cowboys linebacker Andre Sexton on short route coverage, and tossed an ill-advised pass in the flat, right into the hands of the game’s Defensive MVP.

OSU’s offense turned Sexton’s pick into its only touchdown of the game, a 1-yard pass from running back Keith Toston to Wilson Youman out of the wildcat formation.

For Stanley, it was back to the sideline to stay, ending a 2-of-7, 3-yards day throwing.

Fast-forward to the spring. Snead, who lost a battle with Texas’ Colt McCoy for the starting job in Austin then transferred to Ole Miss, surprised a few Rebels by opting for an NFL draft that ultimately didn’t see his name called. Snead then signed a free agent contract with Tampa Bay, though, and the stage was set for Stanley to take over.

Stanley capped a solid spring with an 11-for-16, 166-yard performance in the Rebels’ spring game, completing two passes for touchdowns. He also had a pair of interceptions which were more due to inexperienced receivers running off their routes.

“It felt a lot different being out there,” Stanley said. “In January I’m ready for that moment but you don’t expect it. This spring, nothing was surprising. I knew where I was and what I was there for.”

After a two-week visit home to Tahlequah, Stanley returned to Oxford, Miss., for summer classes and work on the side with his receiving corps.

“Just spending a lot of time throwing, a lot of time working out and getting stronger and a lot of time watching film,” he said.

Stanley made the decision to go to Oxford after spending three years attending football camps at the University of Arkansas under then-coach Houston Nutt. That’s where Stanley’s heart was, but when Nutt accepted the job at Ole Miss during Stanley's senior year, that relationship moved with the job change.

“I always liked the way he interacted with the players at camp, myself included, and during the recruiting process, my mother and family,” Stanley said. “He really made an impression on me during all that and I told my mom he's the type of coach I wanted to play for.”

A prototypical pocket passer, Stanley played in five games last season. He completed 11 of 23 passes for 163 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The No. 1 job is Stanley’s for now. Raymond Cotton, a redshirt freshman from Fort Meade, Md., saw some action in the spring. He completed 5 of 6 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns in the spring game but the team discovered he suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

There’s also a highly touted junior college transfer, Randall Mackey, set to arrive in the fall. The 6-2 Mackey was the national junior college player of the year at East Mississippi Junior College, throwing for over 3,000 yards last season.

Stanley was asked what he would pitch as his selling point if he was interviewing for the job today.

“This spring I think I showed I could turn bad situations into good situations,” he said. “My reads and decision-making, where to go with the ball and where not to go, have all gotten good.  But it’s all things that I’m still working on every day to improve in. I’m not satisfied.”

To illustrate those strengths, he noted a play in the spring game that set up a touchdown, in red zone pressure.

“We lined up and I realized we’d lined up in doubles where we were supposed to have trips to one side,” he said. “I made the adjustment with the receiver who was out of position and completed a vertical, I’m guessing, about 15 yards to the 2 or 3. That’s something that sticks out in my memory.”

Former Tulsa coach Dave Rader, the new offensive coordinator at Ole Miss, said the spring effort showed Stanley can handle the task given him.

“There are times of one step forward, two steps back that eventually became steps forward and at that point, you get the confidence of the people around you,” Rader said. “He’s a kid who yearns for the opportunity he’s been given and strives to make the most out of every situation.

“I would think (game management) is something he’s referring to from his high school days because he’s yet to be in an actual game (under Rader’s tutelage). But I’m definitely glad he has that confidence. He's shown he can make the most of a bad play, that he can read defenses, all that you’d want him to do.”

Stanley won’t be surrounded by many of the faces which stared at him in the Cotton Bowl huddle, rather an inexperienced line and receiving corps and no McCluster, the first SEC player with 1,000 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving in the same season.

“I came in with most of these guys so I've been developing a comfort level with all of them since we got here,” he said. “I think it’s got a chance to be a really diverse offense. We’re young, but we’re developing.”

With drier feet and a dose of determination.

“No one has started a game yet,” he said. “I’ve still got work to do.”