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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Football To Host Kentucky Saturday
9/25/2000 | Football
Sept. 25, 2000
OXFORD, Miss. - After a bye week, the Ole Miss Rebel football squad hosts the Kentucky Wildcats in a Southeastern Conference showdown Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field. Game time is 6:00 p.m. (CT).
During the off week, head coach David Cutcliffe said the focus was on his squad, but this week that focus shifts to Kentucky (2-2, 0-1 SEC) and its high-powered offense.
"We used the open date last week to focus on Ole Miss," said Cutcliffe, who is facing the Wildcats for the first time in his career as a head coach. "Last week, we put ourselves in a lot of game situations that I think helped us as a team, and I'm anxious to see what our team attitude is this week.
"We certainly better have a great week of preparation to get ready for a fine Kentucky squad. It will be an outstanding SEC contest."
The Rebels (2-1, 1-1 SEC) will be preparing for the Wildcats' high-powered offense, which is posting 466.5 yards of total offense per game. The Kentucky offense is ranked first in the SEC and ninth nationally. Redshirt freshman Jared Lorenzen leads the Kentucky offense, passing for 351.5 yards per game. He has connected on 120 of his 198 pass attempts for 1,406 yards and 10 touchdowns. Lorenzen's favorite target is sophomore tight end Derek Smith, who has 23 catches for 303 yards. The Wildcats also have five other receivers who already have over 100 yards receiving so far this season. Freshman running back Chad Scott leads the Kentucky ground game with 186 yards on 33 carries.
"Kentucky has a lot of outstanding athletes," Cutcliffe said. "Obviously, you start with their quarterback, Jared Lorenzen, who is playing anything but like a freshman. He is putting up the numbers, but he is also making great decisions. Jared is an outstanding competitor, who is very accurate with the ball and is hard to pressure.
"They do so many positive things, and they use all their weapons. They have a lot of weapons on offense with their tight ends, receivers and running backs. Everybody does their job, and they do them well."
The Kentucky defense is allowing its opponents 371 total yards and 35.5 points per game in the first four contests. Senior linebacker Marlon McCree leads the Wildcat defense with 32 total tackles.
"Defensively, they are versatile and they can run," Cutcliffe said. "They can give you a lot of problems by giving a lot of different looks on defense."
The Kentucky defense will face an Ole Miss offense which is averaging 338.3 yards per contest after three games. The senior backfield tandem of running back Deuce McAllister and quarterback Romaro Miller will led the Rebel offense. McAllister, a Heisman Trophy candidate, leads the SEC in all-purpose yards (202.3 per game) and scoring (42 points), while Miller is averaging 174.3 yards per game through the air.
The Rebels' open date last Saturday also allowed several players to heal their injuries, including McAllister's right shoulder.
"We will address the injury situations when we get on the practice field this afternoon," said Cutcliffe. "We all know what Deuce means to our team, but we are not going to put a player out there who can't protect himself. If he's not ready, then he's not ready. Deuce stayed on campus last weekend and received a lot of treatment. He is doing everything in his power to get well."
Prior to Saturday's game, the 2000 class of the M-Club Athletic Hall of Fame will be honored at induction ceremonies in The Grove at 2:00 p.m. (CT) and also during pregame ceremonies. The members of the 2000 class are Kent Austin, Paloma Collantes, George Kersh, David Peege and Elston Turner. Also, the 1980-81 Ole Miss men's basketball team will be recognized at halftime of Saturday's game. The 1980-81 Rebels won the program's first SEC Tournament title 20 years ago.
