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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Football Game Notes
10/8/2001 | Football
Ole Miss Game Notes in PDF Format
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Updated Oct. 12, 2001
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
DATE: Saturday, October 13, 2001
TIME: 11:30 a.m.
SITE: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field (45,577) in Oxford, Miss.
TV: Saturday's game will be televised by Jefferson-Pilot (Dave Neal, play-by-play, Dave Rowe, color analyst, Charles Davis, sideline reporter).
RADIO: Saturday's game and all Ole Miss games can be heard on stations along the Ole Miss Football Radio Network (David Kellum, play-by-play, Pete Cordelli, color analyst, Stan Sandroni, sideline reporter, Gary Darby, pregame show host). The radio broadcast can also be heard on the official Ole Miss athletic website at www.Ole MissSports.com.
IN THE POLLS: Ole Miss and Alabama are both unranked in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches and Associated Press Top 25 polls. The Crimson Tide, however, did receive seven votes in the AP poll and five votes in the Coaches rankings.
SERIES INFO: Saturday's meeting will be the 49th in the series dating back to 1894. Alabama holds a 39-7-2 advantage in the series. The Crimson Tide has won 10 straight against the Rebels and 18 of the last 20. Alabama's 19-14 victory in 1993, however, was later forfeited to the Rebels. Ole Miss' last on-the-field victory in the series came in 1988, 22-12 in Tuscaloosa. Saturday's game wil be the fifth played in Oxford. Alabama has won all four of the previous meetings in Oxford, however, the 1993 game was forfeited to the Rebels to make the series 3-1 in favor of the Crimson Tide.
OLE MISS HEAD COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE: David Cutcliffe is in his third full season as head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. He is 19-10 with the Rebels since taking over the program on Dec. 6, 1998, less than a month prior to leading Ole Miss to a 35-18 win in his head coaching debut against Texas Tech in the Sanford Independence Bowl. This is Cutcilffe's first head coaching position. Prior to coming to Ole Miss, he spent 17 seasons as an assistant on both Johnny Majors' and Phillip Fulmer's staffs at Tennessee. Cutcliffe is 0-2 against Alabama.
ALABAMA HEAD COACH DENNIS FRANCHIONE: Dennis Franchione is in his first season as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, after being hired on Dec. 4, 2000. Franchione spent three seasons as the head coach at TCU from 1998-2000 prior to arriving in Tuscaloosa, compiling a 25-10 record and guiding the Horned Frogs to three bowl appearances. Overall, this is Franchione's 19th season as a collegiate head coach, and has a 141-67-2 record. In addition to coaching at TCU and Alabama, Franchione has also served as head coach at Southwestern (Kan.) College (1981-82), Pittsburg (Kan.) State (1985-89), SW Texas State (1990-91), and New Mexico (1992-97).
ALABAMA SCOUTING REPORT: Alabama is 3-2 overall after defeating UTEP 56-7 last weekend in a non-conference game at Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide is 2-1 in the SEC, having defeated Vanderbilt (12-9) on Sept. 8 and Arkansas (31-10) on Sept. 22, and losing to South Carolina (37-36) on Sept. 29. Alabama is averaging 30.4 points and 433.6 yards of total offense per game. Junior TB Ahmaad Galloway has rushed for 441 yards on 96 carries and two TDs to lead a rushing attack that is averaging 229.8 yards per game. Junior QB Tyler Watts has added 361 yards on the ground with four scores, and has thrown for 843 yards on 63-of-98 passing with five TDs and two interceptions. Senior WR Freddie Milons is the leading receiver, catching 19 passes for 323 yards and two TDs. Milons is averaging 124.2 all-purpose yards per game, as he is also averaging 26.4 yards on 10 kickoff returns, and 4.6 yards on eight punt returns. Senior PK Neal Thomas has scored a team-leading 44 points, having converted on 17-of-17 extra points and 9-of-11 FGs, with a long of 36. Junior P Lane Bearden is averaging 40.0 yards per punt on 20 attempts, and has a long of 58 yards.
2001 ALABAMA SCHEDULE/RESULTS (3-2, 2-1 SEC)SEPT. 1 UCLA L, 17-20Sept. 8 at Vanderbilt* W, 12-9SEPT. 15 SOUTHERN MISS PPDSEPT. 22 ARKANSAS* W, 31-10Sept. 29 at South Carolina* L, 36-37OCT. 6 UTEP W, 56-7Oct. 13 at Ole Miss* 11:30 a.m.OCT. 20 TENNESSEE* TBANOV. 3 LSU* TBANOV. 10 MISSISSIPPI STATE* TBANov. 17 at Auburn* TBANOV. 29 SOUTHERN MISS 6 PMREBEL GAME NOTES REBEL NOTEBOOK
* - SEC GameAll Times Central
* A win Saturday over Alabama would give Ole Miss its fourth straight 4-1 start.
* Last weekend's 35-17 win over Arkansas State gave the Rebels their sixth consecutive 3-1 start, and their ninth since 1990.
* Ole Miss' 35-17 win over Arkansas State marked the Rebels' 21st consecutive regular season win over a non-conference opponent, dating back to a 38-0 win over Tulane on Nov. 12, 1994. The last time the Rebels lost a non-conference game in the regular season was Nov. 5, 1994, falling 17-16 to Memphis in Oxford.
* The Rebels are 125-97-5 (.562 winning percentage) in the month of October since the school's modern-era began in 1947. Under Head Coach David Cutcliffe, Ole Miss is 6-2 in October.
POLICE, FIRE AND RESCUE DEPARTMENTS RECOGNIZED WITH HONORARY CAPTAINS: Ole Miss will pay tribute to police and fire and rescue departments across the country today, and honor the memory and lives of the victims of the tragedies of Sept. 11, by having honorary captains from both the police and fire and rescue departments. Representing the police will be former Rebel flanker Michael Harmon (1979-82), now a member of the University Police Department. Joe Pace, from the Oxford Fire Department, will represent the nation's fire and rescue departments.
CUTCLIFFE LOOKS FOR WIN NO. 20:Third-year Head Coach David Cutcliffe will be aiming for his 20th win at Ole Miss Saturday against Alabama. If the Rebels win Saturday, Cutcliffe will become the third fastest coach in school history to win 20 games at Ole Miss. Harry J. Mehre is the fastest, having won 20 of his first 24 games from 1938-to-1940, and legendary coach John Vaught is second on the list, needing 28 games to reach 20 wins from 1947 to 1949. Saturday's game will be Cutcliffe's 30th as head coach of the Rebels. The following chart shows the five fastest head coaches in school history to reach 20 wins at Ole Miss:
Coach, Years Games W-L-T Pct.Harry J. Mehre, 1938-40 24 20-4-0 .833John Vaught, 1947-49 28 20-7-1 .732Tommy Tuberville, 1995-98 35 20-15-0 .571Homer Hazel, 1925-28 37 20-16-1 .554Billy Brewer, 1983-86 42 20-19-3 .512WELCOME HOME: Saturday's game with Alabama will mark Ole Miss' first home game since the Sept. 1 season opener against Murray State, ending a 41-day span between home games. The Rebels were scheduled to play Vanderbilt in Oxford on Sept. 15 but that game was postponed to Dec. 1 when all NCAA Division I-A schools postponed games that weekend following the events of Sept. 11.
WILLIAMS OUT INDEFINITELY: Junior RB Robert Williams (Gadsden, Ala.) is out indefinitely after having arthoscopic surgery on his left knee to remove a partial meniscus tear on Friday, October 5. Williams sustained the injury during Ole Miss' Sept. 29 game at Kentucky, and did not play in last weekend's game at Arkansas State. At the time of the injury, Williams was the Rebels' second-leading rusher, having carried 24 times for 101 yards while serving as a back-up to senior Joe Gunn (Amory, Miss.). Williams also had one reception for seven yards, had four kickoff returns for 84 yards, and returned two punts for 10 yards.
TAYLOR NAMED TO SEC GOOD WORKS TEAM: Senior DB Syniker Taylor (Gulf-port, Miss.) will be featured today on Jefferson-Pilot's telecast as the SEC Good Works Team Player of the Week. Among his community service activities was his participation in "Reading with the Rebels," a program where student-athletes go to local elementary schools and read to classes. Last year, Taylor was involved in a special program at Camp Hopewell, where he visited with cancer survivors and their families. Other projects Taylor has participated in include being part of a community effort to build a new playground at Avent's Park, an after-school mentoring program at Oxford's Bramlett Elementary School, and speaking to middle school students about alcohol and drug awareness.
REBELS ON TV: Saturday's telecast by Jefferson-Pilot of the Alabama-Ole Miss game is the second of three Rebel games scheduled to be televised this season. JP carried Ole Miss' game at Auburn on Sept. 8, and was scheduled to carry the Rebels' Sept. 15 home game with Vanderbilt, before that contest was postponed. No decision has been made whether the rescheduled Dec. 1 contest with Vanderbilt will be carried by JP or another network. ESPN is also slated to televise the Rebels' regular-season finale against Mississippi State on Thanksgiving Night, Nov. 22 (6:30 p.m.).
Last year, Ole Miss made a school record eight TV appearances, including two on JP. All-time, this will be the Rebels' 114th televised game, including the 21st on JP. Ole Miss has a 50-61-2 (.451 winning percentage) in TV games, and is 10-10 (.500 winning percentage) on JP. This will be the fourth time in the last five years that the Ole Miss-Alabama game has been televised. Overall, this will be the 14th time Ole Miss and Alabama has played on TV, with the Crimson Tide holding an 11-2 advantage in TV games.
FEW TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR OCT. 20 HOMECOMING GAME: The Ole Miss Ticket Office has announced that it has a few hundred tickets remaining for next Saturday's homecoming game against Middle Tennessee. The contest was originally announced as a sellout, but MTSU recently returned unsold tickets from their allotment.
ALABAMA REBELS: Ole Miss has eight players on its 2001 roster that hail from the state of Alabama: freshman WR Taye Biddle (Decatur, Ala.), freshman C Tony Bonds (Russellville, Ala.), freshman DL McKinley Boykin (Bessemer, Ala.), freshman DL Mike Gibson (Gadsden, Ala.), junior QB David Morris (Mobile, Ala.), freshman DB Eric Oliver (Jasper, Ala.), sophomore OL Don Prince (Huntsville, Ala.), and junior RB Robert Williams (Gadsden, Ala.).
REBELS STILL LAST TO BEAT OKLAHOMA: Ole Miss still holds the distinction of being the last team to defeat defending national champion Oklahoma as the Sooners extended their winning streak to 18 with a 14-3 win over Texas last weekend in Dallas. The Rebels handed the Sooners their last loss, 27-25 in the 1999 Sanford Independence Bowl when Les Binkley booted a 39-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.
OFFENSIVE NOTES:
* Ole Miss' 147 points in the first four games of the 2001 season is the most ever in school's modern era (since 1947) through four games. It is also the Rebels' highest total since Ole Miss scored 178 points in the first four games of the 1935 season.
* The Rebels are second in the SEC and 11th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 36.8 points per game.
* With 35 points against Arkansas State, Ole Miss has scored 30 or more points in five of its last six games dating back to the Rebels' 45-30 win over Mississippi State in the regular-season finale.
* Ole Miss is tied for first in the SEC and tied for third in the nation for the fewest sacks allowed, having allowed two in four games.
* Senior WR Omar Rayford (Holly Springs, Miss.) caught one pass against Arkansas State last Saturday to extend his consecutive games with a reception streak to 14.
* Sophomore QB Eli Manning (New Orleans, La.) threw two TD passes against Arkansas State last Saturday, and has now thrown at least one TD in the last five games, dating back to last December's Music City Bowl with West Virginia. During that five-game span, Manning has thrown 13 TD passes. The school record for consecutive games with a TD pass is eight, held by Eli's father, Archie Manning, and Romaro Miller.
* With 22 yards rushing, senior RB Joe Gunn can tie Leon Perry (1976-79) for fourth place on the Ole Miss career rushing list with 2,135 yards.
* Sophomore WR Chris Collins is four TD receptions shy of the school single-season record of nine set by Ken Toler in 1980 and Grant Heard in 2000.
GUNN AMONG SEC ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS: Senior RB Joe Gunn is the SEC's active career leader in rushing yards with 2,113, 281 yards ahead of South Carolina junior Derek Watson with 1,832, and is among the conference's active leaders in all-purpose yardage and TDs scored and scoring. Gunn is fifth among active SEC players in career all purpose yards with 2,459, is fifth in TDs scored with 17, and tied for ninth in scoring with 102 points.
REBELS AMONG SEC'S MOST EFFICIENT OFFENSES: Ole Miss enters today's game with Alabama tied with LSU as the SEC's most efficient offense inside the red zone, and second in the conference in drive efficiency. The Rebels have scored on 88.2 percent (15-of-17) of its trips inside the opponents' 20-yard line, and have scored on 42.6-percent 20-of-47) of its offensive series this season (see Rebels in the "Red" Zone chart above). Florida is first in the SEC in drive efficiency, scoring on 55.1-percent (38-of-69) of its offensive possessions.
STACKHOUSE BECOMES WORKHORSE AGAINST INDIANS: Senior Charles Stackhouse (West Memphis, Ark.) became the Rebels' workhorse in the running game last Saturday at Arkansas State. Stackhouse carried a career-high 18 times for a career-best 71 yards, and also scored the Rebels' first points of the game with a 10-yard run in the first quarter. He also had three receptions, tying another career-best, for 15 yards to establish new personal highs for all-purpose plays, 21, and all-purpose yards, 86.
After starting at fullback the first three games of the season, Stackhouse made his first career start at tailback against Arkansas State, and played both the tailback and fullback spots against the Indians. Stackhouse saw his first action at tailback at Kentucky, rushing six times for 22 yards on Ole Miss' last possession of the game, to help the Rebels run out the clock in their 42-31 win.
SANFORD EMERGING AS REBELS' GOAL-LINE SPECIALIST: Junior Toward Sanford (Batesville, Miss.) has found a knack for getting the job done in short-yardage situations in the Rebels' past two games against Kentucky and Arkansas State, especially near the goal line. Sanford has rushed 16 times in the past two games, finding the end zone five times, with all five scores coming from no farther than two yards out. Sanford scored on three, one-yard runs against Kentucky, and scored on runs of one and two yards at Arkansas State. He also scored on a two-yard pass from Eli Manning against the Indians to give him six TDs in the past two games.
SANFORD, COLLINS AMONG SEC SCORING LEADERS: Sophomore WR Chris Collins (Liberty, Miss.) and junior RB Toward Sanford are tied for second in the SEC in scoring, averaging 9.0 points per game. They are also tied for 26th in the nation in scoring. Both have scored six TDs this season for 36 points (see Rebels in the SEC/NCAA Statistics on page 5).
MANNING BECOMES FASTEST TO 1,000 YARDS: With 269 yards passing against Arkansas State last Saturday, sophomore QB Eli Manning became the fastest player in Ole Miss history to reach 1,000 passing yards in a season, doing so in the fourth game of the season. The previous record was five, set five times previously by Archie Manning in 1970, Josh Nelson in 1994 and 1995, Stewart Patridge in 1997, and most recently, Romaro Miller in 1998. Manning surpassed the 1,000-yard mark on his first pass attempt of the third quarter, connecting with senior Jamie Armstrong (Plantersville, Miss.) for an 18-yard completion. Through four games this season, Manning has completed 65.4-percent of his passes, completing 83-of-127 for 1,073 yards with 10 TDs and one interception. The following chart shows Manning's game-by-game statistics for 2001:
Opponent (Date) Att-Cmp-Int Yds TDMurray State (9/1) 23-20-0 271 5at Auburn (9/8) 39-24-1 265 1at Kentucky (9/29) 36-19-0 268 2at Arkansas St. (10/6) 29-20-0 269 2Totals 127-83-1 1073 10MANNING AMONG NATION'S MOST EFFICIENT PASSERS: Sophomore QB Eli Manning enters the weekend ranked second in the SEC and ninth in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 160.7. Florida's Rex Grossman leads the SEC and the nation with a rating of 199.8. Manning also enters the week ranked 16th in the nation in total offense, averaging 268.2 yards per game. He is second in the SEC in total offense, and is also second in the conference in passing yards per game at 268.2 (see Rebels in the SEC/NCAA Statistics on page 5).
BELLO RETURNS: Junior OL German Bello (Pompano Beach, Fla.) saw his first action of the season last weekend at Arkansas State. Bello was sidelined the first three games after having surgery on Aug. 21 to repair a meniscus tear in his knee.
METCALF ON LOMBARDI AWARD AND OUTLAND TROPHY "WATCH LISTS": Senior OT Terrence Metcalf (Clarksdale, Miss.) has been named to both the Lombardi and Outland Trophy "watch lists." Metcalf is one 52 preliminary candidates for the 32nd annual Rotary Lombardi Award, presented to the nation's top lineman (offense or defense). The winner will be selected from a list of 12 semifinalists on Dec. 5 in Houston.
The Outland Trophy is awarded to the nation's top interior offensive or defensive lineman. Metcalf is one of 26 players to be named to the award's watch list. The 2001 Outland Trophy winner will be named Dec. 6 on the ESPN College Football Awards Show from Orlando, Fla.
METCALF RATED BY THE SPORTING NEWS AS TOP OFFENSIVE GUARD FOR THE 2002 NFL DRAFT: Senior OT Terrence Metcalf was rated by The Sporting News as the nation's top prospect at offensive guard for the 2002 NFL Draft, in its 2002 NFL Draft Preview. Metcalf has played both guard and tackle during his career at Ole Miss, and has started at left tackle in all four of the Rebels' games this season. In its preview, The Sporting News said Metcalf could go as high as some of the top offensive tackles.
METCALF INVITED TO POSTSEASON ALL-STAR GAME: Senior OT Terrence Metcalf is one of 37 SEC players that has been invited to participate in the 4th annual Rotary Gridiron Classic presented by Tyco. The game is scheduled to be played Saturday, Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. (CST) at the Orlando Citrus Bowl.
STRONG NAMED TO BUTKUS AWARD "WATCH LIST:" Junior LB Eddie Strong (Batesville, Miss.) is one of 69 players to be named to the "watch list" for the 2001 Butkus Award, given annually to the nation's top linebacker. The list will be pared to 10 semi-finalists on Oct. 18 and then to three finalists on Nov. 8. The winner will be announced Fri., Dec. 7 at the Butkus Award Gala in Orlando, Fla. Strong was ranked by Lindy's as the nation's fifth-best outside linebacker heading into 2001. Lindy's also tabbed Strong as a first team preseason All-SEC selection, and he earned second team preseason All-SEC honors from The Birmingham News and at SEC Media Days.
Strong recorded a career-high 13 tackles (six solo) last weekend at Arkansas State, including one QB sack, and caused one fumble. He ranks third on the Ole Miss team in tackles with 34 (18 solo), and leads the Rebels in TFLs with four for nine yards. The following chart shows Strong's game-by-game statistics in 2001:
TFL- Sacks-Opponent (Date) UT-AT TT Yds Yds PDMurray State (9/1) 2-3 5 0-0 0-0 0at Auburn (9/8) 6-5 11 2-2 0-0 0at Kentucky (9/29) 4-1 5 1-4 1-4 1at Arkansas St. (10/6) 6-7 13 1-4 1-4 0Totals 18-16 34 4-8 2-84 1
TAYLOR NAMED TO JIM THORPE AWARD "WATCH LIST": Senior DB Syniker Taylor was one of 38 players across the country named to the 2001 preseason "watch list" for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is presented to the nation's top defensive back. A screening committee will narrow the field to 10 semifinalists, which will be announced the first week in November. That list will be submitted to a national selection committee consisting of coaches, journalists and former players from around the nation. Three finalists will then be announced the Monday before Thanksgiving and be invited to ESPN's College Football Awards Show at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., where the winner will be announced Dec. 6.
Taylor was creditd with four tackles (three solo) and one pass break-up last Saturday against Arkansas State. For the season, he has 17 hits (14 solo) and leads the Rebels in interceptions with two, and passes defensed with four. The chart on the following page shows Taylor's game-by-game 2001 statistics:
TFL-Opponent (Date) UT-AT TT Yds INT PBUMurray State (9/1) 4-2 6 0-0 1 0at Auburn (9/8) 5-0 5 1-2 1 0at Kentucky (9/29) 2-0 2 0-0 0 1at Arkansas St. (10/6) 3-1 4 0-0 0 1Totals 14-3 17 1-2 2 2DEFENSIVE NOTES
* Ole Miss improved to 12-0 under Head Coach David Cutcliffe when holding opponents to less than 20 points with its 35-17 win over Arkansas State last Saturday in Jonesboro.
* Junior LB Lanier Goethie (Baxley, Ga.) is tied for the SEC lead in fumble recoveries with two.
* Sophomore DB Von Hutchins (Natchez, Miss.) tallied a career-high nine stops last weekend at Arkansas State while making his first career start at strong safety. Hutchins had started the three previous games at free safety but moved over to strong safety in place of the injured Marcus Woodson (Moss Point, Miss.).
* Ole Miss had three first time starters on defense last Saturday at Arkansas State. Junior Ryan Hamilton (Miami, Fla.) started at defensive end, junior Germain Landrum (Detroit, Mich.) drew a start at WLB and true freshman Eric Oliver (Jasper, Ala.) started at free safety.
* Ole Miss has recorded a sack in all four games this season and in six straight dating back to last season.
OLE MISS FIRST IN NATION IN PASS DEFENSE: Ole Miss ranks first in the nation in pass defense, allowing an average of 130.8 yards per game. Opponents have completed 50-of-97 passes against Rebels for 523 yards. Ole Miss has allowed just one TD passing while intercepting four passes. The Rebels are also first in the SEC and ninth nationally in pass efficiency defense with a rating of 92.0 (see Rebels in the SEC/NCAA Statistics on page 5).
THOMAS WEARING CHUCKY MULLINS' NO. 38: Senior LB Kevin Thomas (Courtland, Miss.) received the 2001 Chucky Mullins Courage Award this spring, and as a result, is wearing the late Mullins' No. 38 this season. Thomas appeared in all 12 games last season, drawing 11 starts. This season, Thomas has played in all four games, tallying 14 tackles, nine solo, and has recorded one TFL.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES:
* Ole Miss attempted its first field goal of the season last weekend at Arkansas State, as redshirt freshman PK Jonathan Nichols (Greenwood, Miss.) missed on a 46-yarder. The attempt was also the first of Nichols' career.
* Jonathan Nichols was 5-of-5 on extra points against the Indians and is perfect on 21 attempts this season.
* Ole Miss is ranked first in the SEC and sixth nationally in kickoff returns, averaging 27.9 yards per return.
* Ole Miss has returned a kickoff for a touchdown three straight years. JUCO transfer Jason Armstead (Moss Point, Miss.) returned a kickoff 93 yards for a score in the season opener against Murray State.
