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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Football Notes
9/24/2002 | Football
Sept. 24, 2002
Ole Miss Football Update in PDF Format | Ole Miss Season Statistics |
SEC Release in PDF Format | Weekly Press Conference Transcript |
Listen To "Reb Talk With Coach Cutcliffe
REBELS HAVE OFF WEEK BEFORE HOSTING GATORS: Ole Miss will have an off-week before playing host to the Florida Gators (3-1, 1-0 SEC), currently ranked No. 7 by The Associated Press and No. 9 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25, on Saturday, Oct. 5. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m., at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field, and the contest will be televised by CBS. Florida plays host to Kentucky this Saturday at 2:30 p.m., from "The Swamp" in Gainesville.
POLLS: Florida is ranked No. 7 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 and No. 9 in the current ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25. Ole Miiss is unranked but did receive one vote in The AP poll.
SERIES INFO: Next Saturday's game will be the 20th all-time between Ole Miss and Florida, and the first since a 28-10 Gator victory at Gainesville in 1995. The series is even at 9-9-1, but the Gators hold a 4-1 edge in games played in Oxford. Overall, Florida has won five of the last six meetings since 1980, with Ole Miss' last win coming in 1989 at Gainesville, 24-19. The last time the two teams met in Oxford was 1994, with Florida winning 38-14.
OLE MISS HEAD COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE: David Cutcliffe (Alabama, 1976) is in his fourth full season as the head coach of the Rebels. He was named the 34th head coach at The University of Mississippi on Dec. 2, 1998 after 17 seasons as an assistant at Tennessee. He coached his first game four weeks later in the 1998 Independence Bowl, and guided the Rebels to a 35-18 win over heavily-favored Texas Tech. Cutcliffe has a 26-14 record at Ole Miss, guiding the Rebels to at least seven wins in each of his first full three seasons to become the only coach besides Harry J. Mehre to win at least seven games in each of his first three seasons at the school.
FLORIDA HEAD COACH RON ZOOK: Ron Zook (Miami of Ohio, 1976) is in his first season as the head coach of the Gators. A former Florida assistant from 1991-1995, Zook spent the last six seasons as an NFL assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1996-1998), Kansas City Chiefs (1999) and New Orleans Saints (2000-2001). Zook was the defensive coordinator for the Saints. Florida is his first career head coaching assignment.
FLORIDA SCOUTING REPORT: The Gators have outscored their opponents 131-63 on the season, including 115-32 in their three wins over UAB (51-3), Ohio (34-6) and Tennessee (30-13). Florida's lone loss was to defending national champion Miami (FL), 41-16, on Sept. 7 in Gainesville. Junior QB Rex Grossman leads an offense that is averaging 445.0 yards per game. Grossman is averaging 263.5 yards passing per game, having completed 73-of-136 passes for 1,054 yards with six TDs and six interceptions. His favorite target has been senior Taylor Jacobs, who has caught 24 passes for 466 yards and four TDs. Senior RB Earnest Graham has gained 373 yards rushing on 60 carries and has six TDs. Defensively, the Gators are allowing an average of 15.8 points and 330.5 yards per game.
2002 FLORIDA SCHEDULE/RESULTS
(3-1, 1-0 SEC)
| AUG. 31 | UAB | W, 51-3 |
| SEPT. 7 | MIAMI (FL) | L, 16-41 |
| SEPT. 14 | OHIO | W, 34-6 |
| Sept. 21 | at Tennessee* | W, 30-13 |
| SEPT. 28 | KENTUCKY* | 2:30 P.M. |
| Oct. 5 | at Ole Miss* | 11 a.m. |
| OCT. 12 | LSU* | TBA |
| OCT. 19 | AUBURN* | TBA |
| Nov. 2 | Georgia* (Jacksonville, FL) | TBA |
| Nov. 9 | at Vanderbilt* | TBA |
| NOV. 16 | SOUTH CAROLINA* | TBA |
| Nov. 30 | at Florida State | 7 p.m. |
HOME GAMES IN BOLD CAPS
All times are Central.
NICHOLS NAMED SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore PK Jonathan Nichols (Greenwood, Miss.) was named the SEC's Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday, for his performance in last weekend's 45-38 win over Vanderbilt. Nichols scored a career-high 13 points, connecting on all four PAT attempts and all three field goal tries. The field goals were from distances of 40, 42 and 28 yards. The 13 points is tied for the fourth-highest single-game total by a kicker in school history. Nichols is the second Rebel in the past three weeks to earn the award. Senior Jason Armstead (Moss Point, Miss.) was named the SEC's Special Teams Player of the Week after setting a school record with 157 punt return yards against Memphis on Sept. 7.
BACK IN SYNC: After recording his two lowest totals for passing yards as a starter in the first two games of the year against UL-Monroe (192) and Memphis (174), junior QB Eli Manning (New Orleans, La.) has rebounded to record career highs in passing yards in back-to-back weeks versus Texas Tech (374) and Vanderbilt (386). His 386 yards against the Commodores last weekend ranks as the third-highest single-game total in school history. He is also the first quarterback in Ole Miss history to record back-to-back 300-yard passing games. In the last two games against the Red Raiders and Commodores, Manning is a combined 58-of-98 for 760 yards with five TDs and one interception.
NOTING ELI
* Named to the American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team on Sept. 18.
* The 386 yards against the Commodores marked his fourth career 300-yard passing game, setting a new Ole Miss career record. He entered last week's game tied with Archie Manning (1968-1970), Stewart Patridge (1994; 1996-1997) and Romaro Miller (1997-2000) for the record with three.
* Two TD passes versus Vanderbilt extended his school record streak to 16 games with at least one TD pass dating back to the 2000 Music City Bowl ... Has thrown at least two TD passes in 13-of-16 games during the streak.
* Became just the second quarterback in school history to reach 40 TD passes in a career, and enters the Florida contest needing three TD passes to tie Romaro Miller's school record of 43.
* Surpassed the 4,000-yard mark in career passing yards against the Commodores, and currently ranks sixth on the school's career list with 4,244 yards. Next on the list is his father, Archie, with 4,753 career passing yards.
* Currently leads the SEC in passing yards per game (281.5) and total offense per game (286.5) ... Ranks 13th nationally in total offense per game.
REBEL RAMBLINGS:
* The 45-38 win over Vanderbilt snapped a streak of nine consecutive losses in SEC openers. Prior to last week, the last time Ole Miss won its conference opener was 1992, defeating Auburn 45-21 in Oxford.
* With a 3-1 record in September, Ole Miss has posted a winning record in seven straight Septembers, and finished September with at least a .500 record for the 14th consecutive year.
* The Rebels are 17-14 (.548 winning percentage) against the SEC Eastern Division since the conference started divisional play in 1992, including 0-2 versus Florida.
* Jonathan Nichols' (Greenwood, Miss.) 40-yard field goal in the first quarter last weekend marked the first points scored by the Rebels during the first quarter this season. Ole Miss entered the Vanderbilt game having been outscored 20-0 in the first quarter this season.
BEST IN THE WEST: Since David Cutcliffe's first full season in 1999, Ole Miss has more wins (25) and the best winning percentage (.641) than any other team in the SEC Western Division. The Rebels are also the only SEC Western Division team to have recorded five straight seasons with at least seven wins since 1997. The following chart shows the overall standings of the SEC Western Division since 1999 (records include bowl games):
| School | W-L | Pct. |
| Ole Miss | 25-14 | .641 |
| Arkansas | 23-15 | .605 |
| Auburn | 24-16 | .600 |
| LSU | 23-16 | .590 |
| Mississippi State | 22-16 | .579 |
| Alabama | 23-17 | .575 |
CLAXTON NOMINATED FOR POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP: Ole Miss has nominated senior center Ben Claxton (Dublin, Ga.) for one of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame National Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship Awards. Each year the Awards Committee selects 15 scholar-athletes from across the country for graduate fellowships, granting each $18,000 towards their postgraduate studies. The recipients will be selected from Division I-A, I-AA, II, III, and the NAIA. The college football Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be awarded the HealthSouth Draddy Trophy, a $25,000 fellowship dedicated in memory of the Foundation's former chairman.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
* Redshirt freshman WR Mike Espy (Madison, Miss.) caught his first career TD pass on a 78-yard pass from Eli Manning (New Orleans, La.) in the third quarter last Saturday against Vanderbilt. The 78-yard pass is tied for the eighth-longest in school history.
* Ole Miss did not allow a sack in last Saturday's game and has not allowed a sack in four games this season.
CHRIS COLLINS (JR., WR, GLOSTER, MISS.)
* Caught two passes for 88 yards and a score against Vanderbilt to extend his streak to 13 consecutive games with at least one reception.
* Surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in career receiving yards against the Commodores, becoming the 19th player in school history to do so.
* The 79-yard TD reception in the third quarter was tied for the sixth-longest in school history.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
* The 257 rushing yards allowed to Vanderbilt was more than Ole Miss allowed in its first three games of the season combined. The Rebels allowed a total of 218 yards in games versus UL-Monroe, Memphis and Texas Tech.
* Junior LB L.P. Spence (Corinth, Miss.) was credited with 10 stops (four solo) against Vanderbilt to tie his career high. He also had 10 tackles in last year's contest against Arkansas.
SPECIALTY NOTES
* Sophomore PK Jonathan Nichols' (Greenwood, Miss.) five field goals this season already surpasses his total of three from last season ... Nichols is 3-of-3 on field goals of 40 yards or longer this season, including hitting a career-long 47-yarder in the season opener versus Louisiana-Monroe.
* Redshirt freshman Travis Johnson's (Shannon, Miss.) tackle on Vanderbilt punt returner Grant Brigham in the first quarter on a punt forced a fumble that was recovered by snapped A.J. Kiamie (Oxford, Miss.), marking the Rebels' first takeaway on special teams this season.
