Arkansas State at Ole Miss Postgame Notes

Oct. 11, 2003

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NOTING ELI
23-of-36 passing, 306 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT

Completed eight straight passes to open the game before throwing an incompletion on the first play of the second quarter.
Recorded his third 300-yard passing game of the season and the ninth of his career.
Had 312 yards of total offense to climb into eighth place on the SEC's all-time list with 8,315 yards, passing Steve Taneyhill (1992-1995) of South Carolina at 8,164 and Tim Couch (1996-1998) of Kentucky with 8,160 yards.
Moved into eighth place on the SEC's career list for completions with 692, passing Florida's Rex Grossman (2000-2002) with 677 and LSU's Tommy Hodson (1986-1989) at 674.
With three TD passes today, has thrown at least one TD pass in 26-of-30 career starts and has thrown two or more TD passes in 19-of-30 career starts.

SERIES NOTES

Today's game was the 22nd meeting all-time between Arkansas State and Ole Miss.
Ole Miss is now 19-1-2 all-time against the Indians and holds a 20-game unbeaten streak in the series, including tie games in 1917 (0-0) and 1986 (10-10).
The Rebels have won the last 11 meetings overall dating back to 1987, winning by an average of 23.5 points per game.
Today's game marked the sixth straight season the Rebels and Indians have met and Ole Miss has outscored Arkansas State 245-65 during those games.
Today's 55-0 win marked the eighth time in the series that Ole Miss has shutout Arkansas State, including a scoreless tie back in 1917. It is the Rebels' first shutout of the Indians in 12 games since a 28-0 win in 1926.
The 55-point margin is the largest margin of victory in the series and the 55 points by Ole Miss is the most-ever scored in the series. The previous largest margin of victory was 53 points by the Rebels in a 53-0 win in 1925.
Chris Collins' eight receptions and 146 yards receiving are the most by a Rebel against Arkansas State in the series.

REBEL NOTEBOOK

This afternoon's contest marked Ole Miss' 76th Homecoming game since 1924. The Rebels are 61-13-2 (.816 winning pct.) all-time in Homecoming games and have won seven straight and 19 of the last 22 Homecoming games.
Today's 55-0 win over Arkansas State improved the Rebels to 28-1-2 (.935 winning pct.) all-time versus teams that currently compete in the Sun Belt Conference. The only loss Ole Miss has suffered against a current Sun Belt Conference member was back in 1915, 10-0 to Arkansas State in Oxford.
The 55-point victory is Ole Miss' largest margin of victory since a 59-3 win over Southern Illinois on Sept. 10, 1994.
The 55-point margin is the largest in a shutout since blanking Chattanooga 58-0 in 1959.
Ole Miss has won 30 of its last 34 non-conference games dating back to a 38-0 win over Tulane on Nov. 12, 1994.

KEY STATS

Ole Miss scored on its first three possessions to build a 17-0 lead after the first quarter, and the Rebels scored on five of their six second-half possessions.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

Ole Miss has scored on its opening possession in four straight games after scoring a touchdown on its opening series in today's game. The Rebels went 41 yards in three plays with Vashon Pearson scoring from one-yard out to give Ole Miss a 7-0 lead.
Senior WR Chris Collins caught eight passes to extend his streak to 28 straight games with at least one reception. It is the second longest known streak in school history behind Willie Green's (1986-1989) streak of 37.
Collins finished the afternoon with eight receptions for 146 yards to record his second 100-yard receiving game of the year and the ninth of his career. He had 121 yards receiving on nine receptions against Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 13. The 146-yard performance is the eighth highest single-game total in school history.
With his 146 yards receiving, Collins moved to within 67 yards of Green's school career record of 2,274 receiving yards.
Senior RB Tremaine Turner had a career-long 33-yard rush to score his first touchdown of the season in the first quarter to extend the Rebels' lead to 14-0.
Junior TE Eric Rice scored his first career TD on a 19-yard pass from Eli Manning with 5:26 left in the third quarter to put the Rebels up 34-0.
Ole Miss' 582 yards of total offense this afternoon is the eighth-highest single-game total in school history, but only the second-highest total this season behind the Rebels' 612-yard output versus Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 13. The Rebels have totaled over 500 yards of offense in three of the last four games, gaining a total of 2,257 yards - an average of 564.3 yards per game.
The 55 points by Ole Miss marked the second time this season the Rebels have topped the 50-point mark, and the fourth time under head coach David Cutcliffe. Ole Miss scored over 50 points in a 59-14 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 13.
Ole Miss recorded a season-high 33 first downs, three shy of the school single-game mark of 36 against Chattanooga in 1971. The Rebels gained a season-high 20 first downs through the air. It is the third time this season Ole Miss has recorded at least 30 first downs in a game. The Rebels also did so versus Louisiana-Monroe (30) and Texas Tech (31).
The Rebels' 83 offensive plays tied their season high set against Texas Tech on Sept. 27.
Ole Miss' 21 points in the third quarter tied its high for the most scored in a quarter this season as the Rebels also scored 21 points in the third quarter versus Louisiana-Monroe. The 35 points by the Rebels in the second half also tied their season-high for the most points in a half this season, which was also set in the second half versus UL-Monroe.
Junior WR Bill Flowers had four receptions this afternoon to become the 10th player in Ole Miss history to reach 100 career receptions.
Junior WR Kerry Johnson caught a 12-yard TD pass from Manning in the third quarter and now has a streak of 10 straight games with at least one reception dating back to last season.
Sophomore WR Mario Hill's 22-yard TD pass from Micheal Spurlock with 12:02 left in the game marked the longest reception of his career and his first career TD scored. Hill also set career highs for receptions (4) and receiving yards (65).
Sophomore QB Micheal Spurlock scored his first career TD on a one-yard sneak with 7:30 remaining in the game.
Junior Marvin Vaughan went for 36 yards on his first career carry in the fourth quarter.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

The 55-0 shutout was the Rebels' first since a 3-0 shutout win over Memphis on Sept. 4, 1999 in head coach David Cutcliffe's regular-season debut. It is Ole Miss' first shutout at home since blanking Tulane 38-0 on Nov. 12, 1994.
The Rebels limited the Indians to 235 yards of total offense, the fewest yards the Rebels have allowed this season. The previous low was 336 yards by Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 13.
The 235 yards of offense by Arkansas State also marks the first time in 13 games that Ole Miss has limited the opposition to less than 300 yards, since holding the Indians to 264 yards in last year's game in Oxford.
Ole Miss allowed 181 yards through the air this afternoon, 196.8 yards below their season average of 377.8 yards passing allowed entering today's game.
Senior DE Charlie Anderson recorded his third sack of the season to extend Ole Miss' streak to 22 straight games with a sack. The Rebels have also registered at least one sack in 39 of their last 40 games.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

Jonathan Nichols kicked two field goals to tie Hoppy Langley (1976-1979) for fourth place on the Ole Miss career list for field goals made with 34.
Nichols made all seven of his PAT attempts to extend his streak to 74 consecutive PATs made.
The 13 points scored by Nichols today marks the fifth time in six games this season that he has scored 10 or more points in a game.

NICHOLS SETS KICKING SCORING MARK: Junior PK Jonathan Nichols' 31-yard field goal with 42 seconds left in the second quarter moved him past Brian Lee (1989-1992) and into first place on the Ole Miss career list for points by a kicker. Lee held the record with 207 points. Nichols scored 13 points in today's game (2 FGs, 7 PATs) to give him 214 career points, which also ranks second on the school's overall career scoring list. Deuce McAllister (1997-2000) is Ole Miss' all-time career scoring leader with 246.

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