The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss-LSU Postgame Notes
10/28/2001 | Football
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OLE MISS POSTGAME NOTES
SERIES NOTES
* Tonight's game was the 90th all-time between Ole Miss and LSU.
* The Tigers lead the series 49-37-4.
* The Rebels' win was their fourth in the last five meetings against LSU, including their third straight over the Tigers in Baton Rouge.
* It is the first time Ole Miss has won three straight over the Tigers in Death Valley since winning four consecutive from 1953-1956.
TEAM NOTES
* At 6-1, Ole Miss is off to its best start since starting 6-1 in 1990.
* Tonight's victory was the Rebels' fifth straight, marking their longest win streak since five consecutive to close out a 9-3 campaign in 1992.
* The Rebels are 3-1 in the SEC for the first time since 1990. The 1990 squad finished tied for second in the conference with a 5-2 SEC mark.
* Ole Miss is 5-0 when leading at halftime this season, and 20-4 under Head Coach David Cutcliffe.
* Ole Miss outscored LSU 14-0 in the fourth quarter, and has outscored the opposition 90-24 in the final stanza this season.
OLE MISS BOWL ELIGIBLE: Tonight's victory over LSU makes Ole Miss bowl eligbile for the fifth consecutive season since coming off NCAA sanctions prior to the 1997 season. The Rebels are the only SEC West team to have advanced to postseason in each of the past four seasons.
REBELS ON TV
* Tonight's game marked Ole Miss' third TV appearance of the season, as ESPN2 televised the contest. The Rebels are scheduled to have at least two more TV games, as ESPN2 will carry next Saturday's home game with Arkansas at 6 p.m., and ESPN will televise the Mississippi State contest on Thanksgiving Night.
* Ole Miss is now 3-8 all-time on ESPN2.
NOTING ELI
28-of-44, 249 yards , 3 TDs, 1 INT
* Tonight's victory marked Manning's second fourth-quarter comeback this season. He rallied the Rebels from a 24-14 deficit against Alabama on Oct. 13 for a 27-24 win.
* Manning's eight-yard TD pass to Omar Rayford with 10 seconds left in the first half marked his eighth consecutive game with a TD pass dating back to last December's Music City Bowl, tying the school record held by his father, Archie Manning, and Romaro Miller.
* With three TD passes tonight, Manning has 17 on the season, one shy of the school single-season record of 18 set by Charlie Conerly in 1947 and Romaro Miller last season.
* Set career highs for completions and passing attempts, completing 28-of-44 passes.
* The 249 yards passing marked the first time this season that he failed to reach the 250-yard mark.
* Was intercepted by Randall Gay in the second quarter to end his streak of consecutive passes without an interception at 168. Prior to tonight, the last time Manning was intercepted was in the third quarter at Auburn on Sept. 9.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
* Ole Miss has scored 30 or more points in 5-of-7 games this season.
* Senior RB Joe Gunn rushed for 96 yards to pass Dou Innocent (1991-92, 1994-95) for third-place on the Ole Miss career rushing list. Gunn now has 2,398 career rushing yards, 256 yards shy of Kayo Dottley (1947-50), who is in second place with 2,654 yards.
* Redshirt freshman WR Bill Flowers set career highs for receptions and receiving yards with six for 66 yards.
* Senior FB Charles Stackhouse's four receptions marked a career best, his previous high was three, set twice previously, most recently at Arkansas State on Oct. 6.
* Junior TE Doug Zeigler caught two TD passes tonight to mark his first career multi-TD game.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
* Sophomore LB L.P. Spence returned to action tonight after missing the past three games wiith a groin injury. Spence started the game at weakside linebacker.
* Junior DB Matt Grier intercepted a Rohan Davey pass in the first quarter to give the Rebels an interception in 6-of-7 games this season, and in 16 of the last 17 contests dating back to last year's game at Vanderbilt on Sept. 16, 2000.
* Opponents have completed 38.2 percent (29x76) of their passes against Ole Miss in the last three games.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
* Redshirt freshman Rob Robertson's block of Donnie Jones' punt with 42 seconds left in the second quarter was the first by the Rebels since last year against LSU. The punt block set-up Eli Manning's eight-yard TD pass to Omar Rayford to give the Rebels a 21-10 halftime lead.
* Not including blocked punts that were either recovered or returned for a TD, Domanick Davis' 71-yard punt return for a TD in the third quater was the first by an opponent against Ole Miss since Auburn's Thomas Bailey returned a punt 83 yards for a score on Sept. 14, 1991.
* Redshirt freshman P Cody Ridgeway set career highs for punts and punting yards with eight for 307 yards for a 38.4 average, including a long of 52. He also placed three punts inside the LSU 20-yard line.
LSU POSTGAME NOTES
The 71-yard punt return for a touchdown by Domanick Davis was the on a return (punt or kick) in his three-year career. The touchdown was the first punt return for a touchdown since Larry Foster returned a punt 50 yards on Sept. 26, 1998 against Idaho.
The punt return was the longest since a 78-yarder by Kevin Faulk in 1996 and the first for a Tiger against Ole Miss since Norm Jefferson returned a punt 65 yards against the Rebels in 1983.
Tonight's attendance of 91,941 was the second highest in LSU history behind only the Florida game earlier this year and was the third time in four home games this season that LSU drew a crowd of better than 91,000.
For the first time in the Nick Saban era, LSU lost a game when scoring 20 or more points. The Tigers are now 12-1 under Saban when scoring 20 or more. Ironically, LSU's last loss when scoring 20 or more came in their 42-23 setback to Ole Miss here in 1999.
Also, LSU lost for the first time under Saban when holding the lead after three quarters, the Tigers are 9-1 under Saban when entering the final 15 minutes with an advantage. LSU's last loss when leading after three quarters came in 1999 at Georgia, when LSU squandered a 16-13 edge and lost 23-22.
Michael Clayton scored the first rushing touchdown of his career, taking a reverse 29 yards for a score in the second quarter. He later caught his fourth touchdown pass of the season giving him five overall touchdowns on the season.
Clayton's five touchdowns are the most by a true freshman since Kevin Faulk scored six in 1995.
On a 39-yard touchdown pass to Michael Clayton in the third quarter, Rohan Davey moved past Steve Emsinger and into eighth place on the all-time LSU passing yardage list. Emsinger threw for 2,770 yards from 1976-79. The pass gave Davey 2,804 yards at the time.
After being outscored 37-7 in the third quarter in their first five games, the Tigers have outscored their opponents 35-0 in the third quarter of their last two games.
Josh Reed extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 22 games, or every single game since moving from running back to receiver prior to the Alabama game in 1999.
Reed moved past Abram Booty into sixth place on the LSU career receptions list with 118 catches. Next up is Sheddrick Wilson (1992-95) in fifth place at 121.
Domanick Davis' 58 first half rushing yards surpassed his previous game-high of 46 yards last week against Mississippi State.
Domanick Davis made his first offensive start of the season in place of the injured LaBrandon Toefield. Davis started one game this season on the defensive side of the ball when the Tigers started in dime coverage against Kentucky.
With a second quarter interception, Randall Gay became the fourth Tiger this year with at least two interceptions (Damien James ? 5, Erin Damond ? 3, Lionel Thomas ? 2).
The Tigers accumulated 89 yards of total offense in the first quarter, all of which came on the ground.
Senior free safety Ryan Clark made his team-leading 30th consecutive start dating back to the 1999 season opener against San Jose State. Trev Faulk made his 27th straight start at linebacker dating back to the fourth game of his freshman season against Georgia. Jerel Myers started for the 29th time in 30 career games. The only non-start in Myers' three-year career was the 1999 season finale against Arkansas when they Tigers started in a three tight end alignment.
True freshman Ben Wilkerson made his third consecutive start at center, while Rob Sale shifted to left guard for an injured Stephen Peterman. Wilkerson is the first Tiger true freshman to start on the offensive line since Todd McClure in 1995.
Kyle Kipps and Byron Dawson both started on the Tiger defensive line for the second consecutive week in place of Kenderick Allen and Muskingum Barnes respectively.
Tiger captains were permanent captains QB Rohan Davey, LB Trev Faulk and TE Robert Royal as well as honorary captain TE Joe Domingeaux.