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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Postgame Notes
9/1/2001 | Football
Sept. 1, 2001
,MANNING BREAKS SCHOOL SINGLE-GAME MARK FOR TD PASSES: Sophomore QB Eli Manning, making his collegiate starting debut, threw five TD passes to break the Ole Miss single-game record of four, previously held by five others. Manning tied the previous record of four in the first half with TD passes of 17 and 21 yards to sophomore WR Chris Collins, 23 yards to senior WR Omar Rayford and a five-yard pass to Collins. He threw his record-setting fifth TD pass with a 6-yard pass to redshirt freshman TE Bo Hartsfield.
MANNING COMPLETES 18 STRAIGHT: Sophomore QB Eli Manning completed 18 consecutive passes from the first to the third quarter, after his first two passes of the game were incomplete. The 18 straight completions is an Ole Miss single-game record and the third longest such streak in SEC history, behind Tennessee's Tee Martin with 24 (1 vs. Alabama, 23 vs. South Carolina) in 1998 and Ole Miss' Kent Austin (5 vs. Tulane and 15 vs. Tennessee) in 1982. Austin's 15 straight completions to start the game against the Volunteers on Nov. 13, 1982 was the previous Ole Miss single-game record.
MANNING RECORDS THIRD-BEST COMPLETION PERCENTAGE: Eli Manning connected on 86.9-percent of his passes in tonight's game, completing 20-of-23 for 271 yards and five TDs. His 86.9 completion percentage ranks as the third-best single-game completion percentage in Ole Miss history, with a minimum of 16 attempts. Kent Austin holds the record at 94.7-percent when he hit 18-of-19 against Tulane on Nov. 6, 1982.
ELI VS. ARCHIE: Sophomore QB Eli Manning completed 20-of-23 for 271 yards and five TDs tonight against Murray State in his Ole Miss starting debut. Eli's father, Ole Miss legend Archie Manning, connected on 8-of-14 passes for 116 yards with two TDs and one interception in his Rebel starting debut while leading Ole Miss to a 21-7 win over Memphis State in Jackson on Sept. 21, 1968. Archie also rushed for 67 yards on eight carries and a score to generate 183 yards of total offense on 22 plays.
COLLINS TIES RECORD, RECORDS FIRST CAREER 100-YARD RECEIVING GAME: Sophomore WR Chris Collins caught six passes for 100 yards and three TDs - all in the first half -- to tie an Ole Miss single-game record for TD receptions and register his first career 100-yard receiving game. Collins shares the record for TD receptions in a game with three others: Johnny Brewer (1960 vs. Tulane), Louis Guy (1962 vs. Houston) and Pat Coleman (1989 vs. Arkansas State). He is also the first Rebel receiver to record 100 yards receiving since Grant Heard caught seven passes for 169 yards last year against UNLV.
GUNN 56 YARDS SHY OF 2,000-YARD MARK: Senior RB Joe Gunn gained 65 yards on 15 carries tonight to move within 56 yards of the 2,000-yard mark for his career. Gunn now has 1,944 career rushing yards, ranking fifth on the Ole Miss career list.
REBEL QUICK NOTES
∙, Murray State scored a touchdown on a five-play, 55-yard drive on its opening possession. Last year, Ole Miss allowed opponents to score just one touchdown on a game-opening drive. That was by West Virginia in the 2000 Music City Bowl.
∙, Senior WR Omar Rayford caught his first career TD pass with a diving 23-yard catch of an Eli Manning pass with 11:05 left in the second quarter.
∙, Junior Jason Armstead's 93-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter is the fifth-longest kickoff return in school history, and is the first by an Ole Miss player since Robert Williams returned a kickoff 97 yards last year at Arkansas.
∙, Junior LB Eddie Strong unofficially recorded four tackles (two solo) while drawing the start tonight at SLB. It was Strong's first action since the 1999 Independence Bowl against Oklahoma as he missed all of last season with a stress fracture in his left foot.
∙, Ole Miss is now 80-22-5 (.771 winning percentage) in season opener and has won six straight openers. The Rebels' last season-opening loss was against Auburn on Sept. 2, 1995, 46-13 at Auburn.
∙, Tonight's victory marked the Rebels' 14th consecutive home-opening win, and they are now 90-12-4 (.868 winning percentage) in home-openers, including those played in Memphis and Jackson. In home-openers played in Oxford, Ole Miss is now 67-5-3 (.913 winning percentage).
∙, When Ole Miss' home and season openers are one in the same, the Rebels are 56-3-3 (.944 winning percentage).
∙, Tonight's game with Murray State marked Ole Miss' first against a school that currently competes in the Ohio Valley Conference. It was also the Rebels' first versus an NCAA Division I-AA school since opening the 1996 season against Idaho State. The Rebels defeated the Bengals 38-14 in Oxford.
DEBUTS: The following is an unofficial list of Ole Miss players that made their career debuts tonight. An official participation list from tonight's game will be available Tuesday: Jason Armstead (Jr., WR), Daniel Booth (RFr., OL), Doug Buckles (RFr., OL), James Campbell (RFr., OL), Shawn Clark (Sr., WB), Clifton Collins (Jr., LB), Bill Flowers (RFr., WR), Trey Fryfogle (RFr., WR), Matt Grier (Jr., DB), Bo Hartsfield (RFr., TE), Brandon Jacobs (Fr., RB), Kerry Johnson (RFr., DB), Marcus Johnson (RFr., OL), Chris Knight (Jr., DB), Germain Landrum (Jr., DE), Travis Macon (Sr., OL), John Meeks (Sr., RB), Brad Nichols (Fr., LB), Jonathan Nichols (RFr., K), Eric Oliver (Fr., DB), Chad Pilcher (RFr., WR), Don Prince (So., OL), Rick Razzano (RFr., FB), Cody Ridgeway (RFr., P), Rob Robertson (RFr., LB), Cory Robinson (RFr., DL), L.P. Spence (Jr., LB) and Shelby VanEvery (RFr., OL).
FIRST-TIME STARTERS: Ole Miss had 12 players - seven on defense and five on offense - make their first career starts tonight: DEFENSE- Charlie Anderson (So., LE), Josh Cooper (So., RE), Von Hutchins (So., FS): Kenny Jackson (Sr., RT), Desmon Johnson (Jr., LCB), L.P. Spence (So., WLB), Marcus Woodson (So., SS) OFFENSE- Doug Buckles (RFr., OL), Chris Collins (So., WR), Trey Fryfogle (RFr., WR): Marcus Johnson (RFr., RG), Eli Manning (So., QB).
