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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Football Update
11/10/2003 | Football
Nov. 10, 2003
- Listen To Reb Talk With David Cutcliffe (Thursday 6-7 p.m.)
- Watch the Ole Miss Football Press Conference on OleMissSports.tv (Monday 11:30 a.m.)
NEXT GAME: NOVEMBER 22 VS. (#3/#3) LSU (8-1, 4-1 SEC)
REBELS HAVE OFF WEEK BEFORE HOSTING LSU IN SEC WEST SHOWDOWN: #17/#19) Ole Miss (8-2, 6-0 SEC) will be idle this Saturday before hosting third-ranked LSU (8-1, 4-1 SEC) on Nov. 22 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field. A win over the Tigers will clinch the Rebels' first-ever SEC Western Division championship and secure them a spot in the SEC Championship Game, scheduled for Dec. 6 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. An Alabama win over LSU this Saturday in Tuscaloosa will clinch Ole Miss at least a tie for the SEC West, though, it will not automatically give the Rebels the SEC Championship Game berth.
IN THE POLLS: Ole Miss moved up three spots to No. 17 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 and jumped five places to No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25.
AUBURN GAME RECAP: Sophomore RB Brandon Jacobs' (Long Beach, Miss.) one-yard TD run with 2:39 left capped off a 10-play, 80-yard drive to put the Rebels in front, and Ole Miss then held off a last-minute Auburn threat to pull off a 24-20 win at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Following Jacobs' TD run, Ben Obomanu's 51-yard reception and run off a screen pass gave the Tigers a first-and-goal at the Ole Miss 10 with about a minute remaining. Auburn moved to the three before two Jason Campbell passes fell incomplete and Ole Miss took over with 29 seconds left.
NOTING ELI: Senior QB Eli Manning (New Orleans, La.) engineered his seventh fourth-quarter win (either tied or trailing in the fourth) of his career last Saturday at Auburn ... It was also his third fourth-quarter win of the season as he also engineered fourth-quarter wins over Vanderbilt (24-21) and Florida (20-17) ... On the game-winning, 10-play, 80-yard drive, was 4-of-5 passing for 72 yards, including completions of 16 and 48 yards on third-and-11 and third-and-five ... Also converted a third-and-one with a two-yard sneak to set-up Brandon Jacobs' one-yard TD run ... Recorded the 75th TD pass of his career with a 15-yard strike to Mario Hill (Meridian, Miss.) in the second quarter ... Moved into fifth-place on the SEC's career lists for TD passes (75), passing yards (9,400) and total offense (9,286), and into sixth place in career TDs responsible for (79) ... Is now 22-12 (.647 winning pct.) as a starter, including 13-1 when not throwing an interception ... Enters the week ranked first in the SEC in passing yards per game (288.1), completions (218), TD passes (23) and total offense per game (287.4).
REBEL RAMBLINGS: Ole Miss is 6-0 in the SEC for the first time since 1962 when the Rebels finished the year with a 6-0 conference mark ... 1962 was also the last time Ole Miss won six SEC games in the same year ... The Rebels' current six-game win streak is their longest since winning seven straight in 1990 ... At 8-2, Ole Miss has recorded eight regular-season wins for the first time since going 8-3 in 1992 before capping the year with a Liberty Bowl win over Air Force to finish 9-3 ... Dating back to last year's 24-12 win over Mississippi State in the "Egg Bowl," the Rebels are 10-2 in their last 12 games.
OFFENSIVE NOTES: Ole Miss has scored on its opening possession in eight straight games after going 43 yards in five plays, resulting in Eli Manning's two-yard TD pass to Chris Collins (Gloster, Miss.) last Saturday versus Auburn ... The Rebels are still leading the SEC in scoring (36.6 ppg), passing (299.9 ypg) and total offense (459.6) ... Ole Miss is 25 points shy of the school's single-season scoring record of 391 points set in 2001 ... The Rebels are 67 yards shy of the school season total offense mark of 4,663 yards set in 13 games last year, and their average of 459.6 yards per game is on pace to break the Ole Miss season mark of 419.2 set in 1961 ... With an SEC-leading 241 first downs, the Rebels are 32 shy of the school season mark of 273 set last year.
COLLINS SETS SCHOOL SEASON RECEPTION RECORD: Senior WR Chris Collins caught three passes last Saturday at Auburn to give him 58 for the season and break the Ole Miss season record of 56 set by LeMay Thomas in 1995. Collins' three receptions also extended his streak to 32 straight games with a reception, the second-longest known streak in school history behind Willie Green's 37. His 722 yards receiving this season is 94 shy of Green's Ole Miss single-season mark of 816 set in 1989. Collins also holds school career records for receptions (179), receiving yards (2,394), TD receptions (23) and 100-yard receiving games (10).
DEFENSIVE NOTES: Auburn's TD on its first offensive series marked just the second time in 10 games this season that the opposition has scored against Ole Miss on its first offensive possession. Memphis also scored on its first offensive series when the Tigers took advantage of a Rebel turnover to go 26 yards in three plays for a TD ... True freshman DB Charles Clark (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) registered his first career sack against Auburn to extend the Rebels' streak to 26 straight games with at least one sack ... After Auburn's Carnell "Cadillac" Williams rushed for 74 yards on seven carries in the first quarter, Ole Miss limited him to 29 yards on 13 carries the rest of the afternoon.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES: Senior Chris Collins' 50-yard kickoff return to open the game was a career-long and the longest by a Rebel this season ... Junior P Cody Ridgeway (Jackson, Tenn.) extended his streak to six consecutive games with at least one punt of 50 yards when he hit a 55-yard kick on his first attempt against Auburn ... Junior PK Jonathan Nichols (Greenwood, Miss.) made all three of his PAT attempts against Auburn to extend his school-record streak to 88 consecutive PATs made.
NICHOLS BECOMES OLE MISS' CAREER SCORING LEADER; TIES FIELD GOAL MARK: Jonathan Nichols became Ole Miss' career scoring leader on a 42-yard FG with 14:40 left in the fourth quarter versus Auburn last Saturday. The field goal was Nichols' 248th career point to break current New Orleans Saints RB Deuce McAllister's (1997-2000) mark of 246. The field goal was also Nichols' 41st career field goal to tie the Ole Miss career mark set by Brian Lee (1989-1992).
NICHOLS STILL LEADS NATION IN FIELD GOALS; SEC IN SCORING: Jonathan Nichols enters the week averaging a national-best 2.30 field goals made per game, and his average of 10.8 points per game leads the SEC and ranks third nationally.
