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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Football Game Notes
11/12/2000 | Football
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Game 10 - Ole Miss Rebels (6-3, 3-3 SEC) at #21/#22 Georgia Bulldogs (6-3, 4-3 SEC)
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
DATE: Saturday, November 18, 2000
TIME: 5:00 p.m. (CST)
SITE: Sanford Stadium (86,520)
TV: ESPN2 (Dave Barnett, play-by-play, Bill Curry and Mike Golic, color analysts, Michele Tafoya, sideline reporter).
RADIO: Ole Miss Radio Network (David Kellum, play-by-play, Pete Cordelli, color analyst, Stan Sandroni, sideline reporter, Gary Darby, pre-game host.).
RECORDS: Ole Miss dropped to 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the SEC after a 20-9 loss to LSU in Oxford this past weekend. Georgia is 6-3 on the year and 4-3 in the SEC after losing 29-26 in overtime at Auburn this past Saturday.
RANKINGS: Ole Miss is unranked in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25, however, the Rebels did receive 32 votes and three in The Associated Press Top 25. Georgia dropped from No. 13 to No. 21 in the new ESPN/USA Today Top 25, after losing to Auburn this past Saturday. In this week's AP Top 25, Georgia fell from No. 14 to No. 22.
COACHES: David Cutcliffe is in his second full season as head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. He is 15-7 at Ole Miss and has guided the Rebels to victories in the 1998 and 1999 Sanford Independence Bowls. He made his Ole Miss debut and recorded his first career win in the Rebels' 35-18 win over Texas Tech in the 1998 Sanford Independence Bowl. Ole Miss is Cutcliffe's first career head coaching assignment. Cutcliffe is 1-0 versus Georgia and Bulldog head coach Jim Donnan ... Jim Donnan is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, and his 11th season overall as a collegiate head coach. He is 38-18 at Georgia, and has a career record of 102-39. Prior to coming to Georgia, Donnan spent six years as the head coach of Marshall (1990-95), guiding the Thundering Herd to a 64-21 record and to the 1992 NCAA Division I-AA national championship. Donnan is 1-0 versus Ole Miss head coach David Cutcliffe, and 3-1 against the Rebels.
SERIES INFO
Georgia leads 25-12-1
Last meeting: Georgia won 20-17 last year in Oxford.
In Athens: UGA 14-4-1
In Oxford: UGA 7-5
Other Sites: UGA 4-3 (Atlanta: UM 1-0, Jackson, Miss.: UGA 3-2, Memphis: UGA 1-0)
Largest UM win: 17, (31-17, 1993 in Oxford)
Largest UGA win: 49, (49-0, 1974 in Athens)
Longest UM win streak: 2, four times
Longest UGA win streak: 12, 1977-1988
NOTES: Georgia has beaten Ole Miss each of the last three years, including twice in Oxford, since the Rebels edged the Bulldogs 31-27 in Athens back in 1996 ... The Bulldogs have won the last three meetings by a combined total of 17 points ... Ole Miss was 4-6 against Georgia during the 1990s ... The Bulldogs have won 10-of-12 from the Rebels in Athens since 1977 ... Ole Miss' two wins during that span came in 1990 (28-12) and 1996 (31-27).
DEUCE WATCH:
* Deuce McAllister continues to lead the SEC in scoring, averaging 9.3 points per game. He also ranks 16th nationally in scoring.
* McAllister's 14 TDs this season ties the Ole Miss single-season record held by Kayo Dottley and Archie Manning. McAllister is also two points shy of Manning's single-season for toal points scored of 86.
* McAllister needs 77 rushing yards to become the first Ole Miss player to rush for at least 3,000 yards in a career.
* McAllister ranks second in the SEC and tied for 22nd nationally in punt returns, averaging 13.1 yards per return.
REBELS BOWL ELIGIBLE: At 6-3, Ole Miss is eligible for a bowl game for the fourth straight season. The Rebels picked up the all-important sixth win with a 38-24 victory at Arkansas on Nov. 4. Ole Miss has advanced to a bowl game the past three seasons for its longest string of bowl appearances since setting a then national record with 15 from 1957-71. In their last three bowl games, the Rebels defeated Marshall 34-31 in the 1997 Ford Motor City Bowl, Texas Tech 35-18 in the 1998 Sanford Independence Bowl, and Oklahoma 27-25 in last year's Sanford Independence Bowl.
RECORD CROWD WATCHES REBELS, TIGERS BATTLE: A Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field record crowd of 52,476 watched Ole Miss host LSU this past Saturday, surpassing the previous mark of 52,368 set on Sept. 9 against Auburn. The crowd of 52,476 was also the largest on-campus attendance figure for a college football game in the state of Mississippi. Since Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field was expanded to its current capacity of 50,577 in 1998, Ole Miss has exceeded its previous capacity of 42,577 in 13 of its 17 home games. The Rebels have played before a home crowd of over 50,000 eight times during that span.
REBELS ON TV: Saturday's game at Georgia will mark Ole Miss' sixth TV appearance this season, and its third on ESPN2. This is the fifth straight season that the Rebels have made at least five TV appearances, and with ESPN scheduled to televise Thanksgiving Night's match-up with Mississippi State, Ole Miss will tie a school record with seven TV appearances in 2000. The Rebels also played on TV seven times in 1997 and last year.
Overall, Saturday's game at Georgia will mark the Rebels' 110th TV appearance, dating back to Ole Miss' first network TV appearance in the 1953 Sugar Bowl against Georgia Tech. The Rebels are 49-58-2 (.459 winning percentage) in TV games. Ole Miss is 3-6 all-time on ESPN2, and is 8-11 all-time on either ESPN or ESPN2.
Saturday's game will be the 10th time Ole Miss and Georgia have played on TV. Last year, ESPN2 carried the Bulldogs' 20-17 victory over the Rebels in Oxford.
OLE MISS VS. SEC EAST: Since the SEC began divisional play in 1992, Ole Miss is 14-12 versus the SEC Eastern Division, including 3-5 versus Georgia. Second-year head coach David Cutcliffe is 3-2 versus the SEC East. The Rebels are 2-0 versus the East this season, defeating Vanderbilt 12-7 on Sept. 16 and Kentucky 35-17 on Sept. 30. A win Saturday at Georgia would give Ole Miss a sweep of its inter-division opponents for the first time since divisional play started. The following chart shows how Ole Miss has fared against the SEC East since 1992:
School W-LFlorida 0-2Georgia 3-5Kentucky 2-1South Carolina 2-0Tennessee 0-2Vanderbilt 7-2
McALLISTER STILL LEADS SEC IN SCORING: Despite not scoring a TD in this past Saturday's game versus LSU, senior RB Deuce McAllister still leads the SEC in scoring and ranks 16th nationally with an average of 9.3 points per game. McAllister has scored at least one TD in seven of the Rebels' nine games, and in 12 of Ole Miss' last 15 games dating back to Oct. 16, 1999.
DEUCE TIES SINGLE-SEASON TD MARK: With 14 TDs this season, senior RB Deuce McAllister has tied Kayo Dottley's and Archie Manning's Ole Miss single-season TD record. Dottley scored 14 TDs in 1949, and Manning tied the mark in 1969. With 84 total points, McAllister is two points shy of Manning's school single-season standard of 86 (14 TDs, 1 2XP) set in 1969. McAllister has scored 11 of his 14 TDs on the ground this season, putting him three rushing TDs shy of the school single-season record of 14 held by Dottley and Manning (see the Ole Miss Record Book on page 24).
CLOSING IN ON 3,000: Senior RB Deuce McAllister is 77 rushing yards shy of becoming the first Ole Miss player to rush for 3,000 yards in a career, and the 19th player in SEC history to do so. The last SEC back to do so was Alabama's Shaun Alexander last year, who finished his career ninth on SEC's career rushing list with 3,565 career rushing yards. McAllister has 2,923 career rushing yards to rank 19th on the SEC's all-time list.
MEL'S BIG BOARD: ESPN football analyst Mel Kiper, Jr., rated both RB Deuce McAllister and CB Ken Lucas as one of his top 25 collegiate seniors for next April's National Football League Draft in his weekly draft column on ESPN.com. Kiper rates McAllister as the No.1 collegiate senior prospect, and Lucas No. 12, up two spots from No. 14 a week ago. Lucas is also the top corner and defensive back on Kiper's top 25 list. Mel's Big Board is updated every Wednesday.
CHARTING THE POLLS: Ole Miss received votes in both of this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25 and The Associated Press Top 25 to mark the 13th straight week the Rebels have received votes (see this week's polls on page 5). Ole Miss has spent four weeks this season ranked in the Top 25, including three straight weeks from the pre-season rankings to Sept. 3, and were ranked as high as No. 17 in the Coaches poll on Aug. 28. The last time the Rebels were ranked was in the Oct. 8 ESPN/USA Today Top 25 as they were No. 25. The following chart shows Ole Miss in the polls during the 2000 season:
Date ESPN/USA Today APPre-season 18 18Aug. 28 17 18Sept. 3 18 19Sept. 10 RV (81) RV (54)Sept. 17 RV (27) RV (23)Sept. 24 RV (20) RV (15)Oct. 1 RV (31) RV (15)Oct. 8 25 RV (92)Oct. 15 RV (22) --Oct. 22 RV (20) RV (4)Oct. 29 RV (20) RV (6)Nov. 5 RV (27) RV (11)Nov. 12 RV (32) RV (3)
MILLER SETS SIGHTS ON CAREER PASSING MARK: Senior QB Romaro Miller needs 87 yards passing against Georgia Saturday to tie Kent Austin's (1981-85) Ole Miss career record of 6,14 passing yards. Miller passed for 287 yards on 20-of-37 passing against LSU this past Saturday to eclipse the 6,000-yard mark for his career. Miller is currently second on the school's career list for passing yards with 6,097. His 6,097 passing yards is also 22nd all-time in SEC history.
MILLER JOINS ELITE CLASS: Senior QB Romaro Miller joined an elite class in last Saturday's game versus LSU. With 287 yards passing, Miller became just the second QB in school history to surpass the 6,000-yard mark in career passing yards. With his 279 yards of total offense (287 passing, -8 rushing) against the Tigers, Miller also passed the 6,000-yard mark in career total offense. Miller joins John Fourcade (1978-81) and Austin as the only players in Ole Miss history to record at least 6,000 yards of career total offense. Miller has 6,131 career yards of total offense, ranking third on the school's all-time list. Fourcade tallied a school career-record of 6,713 yards and Austin recorded 6,179.
MILLER LOOKING FOR 2,000 IN 2000: After throwing for 287 yards against LSU this past Saturday, Miller has thrown for 1,798 yards in nine games this season. He needs 202 yards in the final two games of the season to become the first passer in school history to record two seasons of at least 2,000 yards passing. Miller threw for 2,273 yards during his sophomore seasons of 1998, and last year, narrowly missed the 2,000-yard mark as he registered 1,999 yards in the air. Miller is also 183 yards of total offense shy of becoming the second player in school history to record two seasons with at least 2,000 yards of total offense. John Fourcade (1978-81) is the only player in Ole Miss history to do so, recording 2,299 yards (402 rushing, 2,299 passing) in 1980, and 2,014 (493 rushing, 1,521 passing) in 1979. If Miller can pass the 2,000-yard mark in both categories, he would be the first player in Ole Miss history to have two 2,000-yard seasons in both categories in a career.
ANOTHER FIRST FOR MILLER: The 287-yard passing effort by Romaro Miller against LSU was his fifth game of at least 200-yard passing this season to become the first QB in school history to record at least five 200-yard passing games in three straight seasons. Last year, Miller had six 200-yard passing games to become the first Ole Miss signal-caller to have back-to-back seasons with at least five 200-yard passing games. The charts on the following page shows Miller's 18 career 200-yard passing games (not including bowl games):
-- 1998 --Opponent Att.-Comp. Yards TD/IntMemphis 40-26 332 2/0SMU 51-32 351 1/1South Carolina 20-13 242 1/0Alabama 36-22 230 1/1LSU 23-16 279 4/1Arkansas 40-21 207 2/0Georgia 35-19 266 2/2
-- 1999 --Opponent Att.-Comp. Yards TD/IntArkansas State 25-16 253 3/0Vanderbilt 21-17 245 2/0Auburn 29-17 242 2/1Tulane 32-17 227 1/1Alabama 31-15 217 1/0Arkansas 22-12 232 1/0
-- 2000 --Opponent Att.-Comp. Yards TD/IntTulane 26-18 302 3/0Kentucky 25-15 238 2/0Arkansas State 29-21 226 3/2UNLV 29-18 288 3/0LSU 37-20 287 0/1
MILLER SETS ANOTHER RECORD: Senior QB Romaro Miller's 287-yard passing performance against LSU marked his eighth career game of at least 250 yards passing to break Kent Austin's (1981-85) school record of seven. It was also Miller's 18th career 200-yard passing performance to add to his own school record that he set last year. Miller can also break the Ole Miss career record for 300-yard passing performances if he can record a 300-yard game in one of Ole Miss' final two regular-season games. He is currently tied with Archie Manning for the school record with three.
HEARD CONTINUES TO CLOSE IN ON CAREER RECEPTIONS MARK: Senior WR Grant Heard had four receptions for 59 yards against LSU this past Saturday to move within five receptions of Ta'Boris Fisher's (1993-96) school career receptions record of 139. Heard is currently third on the Ole Miss career list with 134, one shy of Cory Peterson (1996-1999) in second place with 135.
HEARD LOOKING TO CRACK 2,000-YARD PLATEAU: With 59 yards receiving against LSU, Heard closed to within 63 yards of becoming the third player in Ole Miss to record 2,000 career receiving yards. Heard currently has 1,937 career receiving yards, ranking third on the school's career list. Willie Green (1986-89) with a school record 2,274 career receiving yards and J.R. Ambrose (1984-87) with 2,012 yards are the other two players in school history to record 2,000 career receiving yards.
40-40-40 CLUB: Senior WR Grant Heard needs four receptions in the Rebels' next two games to become the third player in Ole Miss to record three seasons with at least 40 receptions, joining Ta'Boris Fisher (1993-96) and Cory Peterson (1996-99). Fisher, Ole Miss' career receptions leader, had 40-receptions seasons in 1994 (41), 1995 (45) and 1996 (40). Peterson had 40 grabs in 1997, 41 in 1998 and 46 in 1999.
HEARD EXTENDS RECEPTION STREAK: With four catches versus LSU this past Saturday, senior WR Grant Heard has now caught at least one pass in 18 straight games dating back to Sept. 26, 1998. It is the third longest streak in school history. Cory Peterson set a school record when he finished his career with a catch in 22 consecutive games. Ta'Boris Fisher caught a pass in 21 straight games from 1993-1995.
LOST PLAYING TIME: Through nine games, Ole Miss starters and key reserves combined have missed 26 games due to injuries. In addition, senior RB Deuce McAllister has missed nearly nine quarters of action due to injury. He sat out the entire fourth quarter against Vanderbilt (9/16) with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder. He then suffered a high left ankle sprain early in the first quarter against Alabama and played sparingly the rest of the game. Against UNLV on Oct. 28, McAllister missed the entire game but the overtime period. The following chart shows the number of games missed by Rebel starters and key reserves:
Eddie Strong, LB 9*Augustus Carwell, OL 4Ben Claxton, C 4Charlie Perkins, OL 4Anthony Sims, DT 2Shane Elam, DE 1Anthony Magee, SS 1Doug Zeigler, TE 1
* -- Will redshirt after suffering a stress fracture in his left foot during pre-season drills.
OFFENSIVE LINE DOING THE JOB: Ole Miss is ranked first in the SEC for the fewest sacks allowed with seven, despite having three offensive lineman miss a combined total of 12 games this season due to injury. The Rebels allowed a sack against LSU this past Saturday for the first time since Oct. 28 against UNLV, and have allowed just two in the past four games.
LUCAS CONTINUES STEADY PLAY, TIED FOR SEC LEAD IN PICKS: Senior CB Ken Lucas intercepted one pass and had two passes defensed this past Saturday against LSU to give him an interception in four of the Rebels' last five games. He has picked off five passes in that span, including two against UNLV (10/28) to record his first career multi-interception game. Lucas is tied for the SEC lead and tied for ninth nationally in interceptions with five. The five picks is also the most by an Ole Miss player since Alundis Brice had seven in 1994. Lucas has also established a new Ole Miss single-season record for passes defensed with 22, breaking the previous mark of 18 set by Tim Strickland in 1998. In the latest NCAA Defensive Statistics released on Oct. 28, Lucas was tied for the nation's lead in passes defensed with Oklahoma's J.T. Thatcher (official defensive statistics will be available Monday afternoon).
REBEL PICK PARADE: Ole Miss intercepted two passes against LSU to mark the seventh consecutive game the Rebels have intercpeted at least one pass, and the third straight they have picked off at least two passes. Ole Miss has also recorded at least two interceptions in six of the last seven games, and has a pick in 8-of-9 games this season. The only game the Rebel defense failed to intercept a pass was against Auburn (9/9) in the second game of the season. The Rebels have intercepted 15 passes this season, led by senior CB Ken Lucas' five, to better last season's total of 13. The 15 interceptions is also the most by an Ole Miss team since picking off 19 in 1994.
TOP RATED AIR DEFENSE: In the latest SEC and NCAA statistics, Ole Miss leads the conference and ranks eighth nationally in pass efficiency defense with a rating of 94.9. The Rebels are allowing an average of 197.0 yards passing per game, ranking third in the SEC and 33rd in the nation. Ole Miss has held the opposition to an SEC-best 46.8 completion percentage on 138-of-295 passing, and has intercepted 15 passes while allowing seven TDs.
Through nine games a year ago, Ole Miss had a pass efficiency defense rating of 114.05 and was allowing 239.0 yards passing per game. Opponents were completing 54.4 percent of its passes, on 172-of-316 passing with nine TDs and 11 interceptions.
