Ole Miss Football Game Notes

Nov. 23, 2003

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GAMEDAY INFO
DATE: Thursday, November 27, 2003

TIME: 6:45 p.m.

SITE: Davis Wade Stadium (55,082); Starkville, Miss.

TV: ESPN (Mike Tirico, play-by-play; Lee Corso, analyst; Kirk Herbstreit, analyst; Dr. Jerry Punch, sideline reporter).

RADIO: Ole Miss Radio Network (David Kellum, play-by-play; Harry Harrison, color analyst; Stan Sandroni, sideline reporter; Gary Darby, pregame host). Live audio will also be available on the official Ole Miss athletic website, www.OleMissSports.com.

POLLS: Ole Miss dropped two spots to No. 17 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 and slipped four spots to No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25. Mississippi State is unranked.

SERIES INFO: Thursday night's game will be the 100th meeting of one of the nation's most-played rivalries. Ole Miss holds a 56-37-6 advantage in the series dating back to 1901. The Ole Miss-Mississippi State series is listed as tied for the 16th most-played in NCAA Division I-A history. The series is also listed as the 10th longest uninterrupted series, as the NCAA considers Thursday's game the 88th consecutive year that the two schools have faced each other. Neither team, however, fielded a squad in 1943 due to World War II. Thursday's game will be the 76th "Battle of the Golden Egg," as the two schools started playing for the trophy in 1927. Ole Miss holds a 50-20-5 advantage in the "Egg Bowl." The home team has won four straight in the series since the visiting team reeled off five consecutive wins from 1994-1998. Ole Miss has won two of the last three meetings, while Mississippi State has taken three of the last five since 1997. The Bulldogs hold a 7-5 advantage since the series returned to campus sites in 1991, after being played yearly in Jackson from 1973-1990. In games played in Starkville, Ole Miss is 19-9-3. Mississippi State won the last game played at Davis Wade Stadium in 2001, 36-28. The Rebels' last win in Starkville came in 1997, 15-14. Ole Miss won last year's meeting 24-12 in Oxford.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Ole Miss can clinch at least a share of its first-ever SEC Western Division title with a win Thursday night. However, the Rebels need a win Thursday and an LSU loss to Arkansas on Friday to represent the West at the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 6 in Atlanta ... Senior WR Chris Collins (Gloster, Miss.) is 55 yards shy of tying the Ole Miss season record for receiving yards set by Willie Green with 816 in 1989 ... Senior QB Eli Manning (New Orleans, La.) is 400 passing yards shy of reaching 10,000 for his career.

OLE MISS HEAD COACH David Cutcliffe: David Cutcliffe (Alabama, 1976) is in his fifth season as the Rebels' head coach. He is 38-22 (.633 winning pct.) at Ole Miss and is the only coach in school history to lead the Rebels to at least seven wins in each of his first five seasons. Ole Miss is Cutcliffe's first career head coaching position. Cutcliffe is 2-2 versus Mississippi State and Bulldog head coach Jackie Sherrill.

MISSISSIPPI STATE HEAD COACH JACKIE SHERRILL: Jackie Sherrill is in his 13th season at Mississippi State and has compiled a 75-74-2 (.503 winning pct.) record. He is 180-119-4 (.601 winning pct.) in his 26th season as a collegiate head coach, including stops at Washington State (1976), Pittsburgh (1977-81) and Texas A&M (1982-88).

MISSISSIPPI STATE SCOUTING REPORT: The Bulldogs will enter Thursday's game having dropped five straight after losing 52-6 at Arkansas this past Saturday. Mississippi State is averaging 20.5 points and 332.4 yards of offense per game. Senior QB Kevin Fant has passed for 2,060 yards, connecting on 172-of-323 passes with 14 TDs and 20 INTs. Senior SE Justin Jenkins ranks third in the SEC in both receptions and receiving yards per game, having caught 60 passes for 871 yards and nine TDs. Sophomore tailbacks Nick Turner and Jerious Norwood have rushed for 650 and 589 yards, respectively. Turner has also accounted for 1,580 all purpose yards. He has caught 18 passes for 84 yards and is averaging 11.6 yards on 25 punt returns and 24.2 yards on 23 kickoff returns. Defensively, the Bulldogs are allowing an average of 40.0 points and 483.9 yards per game. Senior MLB T.J. Mahwinney leads the team with 98 tackles (54 solo). Senior DE Tommy Kelly has recorded a team-high 12.0 TFLs and 4.0 QB sacks.Senior PK Brent Smith has made all 19 PAT attempts and is 8-of-10 on field goals this season.

2003 MISSISSIPPI STATE SCHEDULE/RESULTS
(2-9 OVERALL, 1-6 SEC)

AUG. 31	OREGON	L, 34-42
Sept. 13	at Tulane	L, 28-31
Sept. 20	at Houston	L, 35-42
SEPT. 27	LSU*	L, 6-41
OCT. 4	VANDERBILT*	W, 30-21
OCT. 11	MEMPHIS	W, 35-27
Oct. 18	at Auburn*	L, 13-45
Oct. 25	at Kentucky*	L, 17-42
NOV. 8	ALABAMA*	L, 0-38
Nov. 15	at Tennessee*	L, 21-59
Nov. 22	at Arkansas*	L, 6-52
*NOV. 27*	*OLE MISS*	*6:45 P.M.*

* - SEC game.
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