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Game #12 * at Mississippi State * November 27, 2003 * Davis Wade Stadium * Starkville, Miss.
NOTING ELI
19-of-27 passing, 260 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs
1 yards rushing; 261 yards of total offense
Is now 23-13 as a starter for the Rebels, including going 2-1 against Mississippi State.
Improved to 14-1 as a starter when not throwing an interception.
With three TD passes tonight, Manning has recorded at least one TD pass in 32-of-36 starts and has thrown two or more TD passes in 23-of-36 career starts.
Now has 9,860 career passing yards and will enter either the SEC Championship Game or bowl game needing 140 yards to reach 10,000 for his career.
Now has 79 career TD passes to rank third on the SEC's career list. He passes Kentucky's Jared Lorenzen, who is now in fourth place with 78. Lorenzen and Kentucky play host to Tennessee this weekend.
With 19 completions, passed the 800-mark for his career and now has 807 career completions to rank fourth on the SEC's career list.
Now has 83 career TDs responbile for to move into a tie for fourth place on the SEC's career list with Florida's Rex Grossman (2000-2002).
Tonight's 260-yard passing effort was his eighth 250-yard passing game of the season to tie his own school season record set in 2001.
With 261 yards of total offense tonight, Manning now has 3,312 yards of total offense this season to break his school season record of 3,281 set last year.
Was 9-of-11 for 118 yards with a TD in the first quarter.
KEY STATS
Ole Miss out-gained Mississippi State 268-59 in the first half. The Rebels averaged 7.1 yards on 38 offensive plays, while limiting the Bulldogs to a 2.1 average on 28 plays.
The Rebels also held a 14-2 advantage in the first downs during the first half.
After the Bulldogs recorded two first downs on its opening offensive series, Ole Miss held the Bulldogs without a first down for eight straight series until Jerious Norwood's 23-yard run in the third quarter.
Ole Miss did not allow Mississippi State to convert a third down on 10 straight attempts until the Bulldogs converted on a 3rd-and-4 in the fourth quarter.
Mississippi State did not go over the 100-yard mark in total offense until Nick Turner's 39-yard run with 12:27 left in the game. The Rebels limited the Bulldogs to 96 yards through three quarters.
SERIES NOTES
Tonight's game was the 100th in the series dating back to 1901.
Ole Miss leads the series 57-37-6 and has won three of the last four meetings since 2000.
The Ole Miss-Mississippi State series is tied for the 16th most-played NCAA Division I-A rivalry, along with the North Carolina-Wake Forest series.
The NCAA also considers the series the 10th-longest uninterrupted series in NCAA Division I-A history. This is considered the 88th consecutive year the two schools have met, however, neither school fielded a team in 1943 due to World War II.
Tonight's game was also the 76th "Battle of the Golden Egg" since the two schools started playing for the trophy back in 1927.
The Rebels now lead the "Egg Bowl" series 51-20-5.
With tonight's victory, Ole Miss retains the Golden Egg for the second straight year for the first time since holding the trophy for three consecutive seasons from 1988-1990.
Tonight's win by Ole Miss was the first by the visiting team in the series since Mississippi State's 28-6 win in Oxford in 1998.
The Rebels' 31-point win was the largest margin of victory in the series by either team since a 37-point Ole Miss win in 1972 (51-14 in Oxford).
The 31-0 win was the Rebels' first shutout in the series since a 48-0 win in 1971 at Starkville.
Tonight's shutout by Ole Miss was the first in the series since Mississippi State's 17-0 win at Oxford in 1996.
Tonight's game was the 25th Thanksgiving meeting between the two schools. Ole Miss is now 15-9-1 against Mississippi State on Thanksgiving, including 10-5-1 in "Egg Bowl" games.
REBELS STAKE SHARE OF FIRST-EVER WEST TITLE: With tonight's win, Ole Miss clinched a share of its first-ever Western Division championship. If Arkansas defeats LSU tomorrow afternoon in Baton Rouge, then the Rebels will be the Western Division representative at the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 6 in Atlanta. If LSU wins tomorrow, then the Tigers will represent the West due their 17-14 win over Ole Miss last weekend in Oxford.
TEAM NOTES
Tonight's win gives Ole Miss its first nine-win regular season since 1990.
Ole Miss went 4-1 on the road this season, marking the first time since 1999 that the Rebels won four road games in a season.
The Rebels went 3-1 in November after entering the year having gone a combined 1-6 in the month the past two seasons.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
With 31 points tonight, Ole Miss has now scored 411 points on the season to break the school season record of 391 set in 2001.
Senior WR Chris Collins had eight receptions to extend his streak to 34 straight games with at least one reception. It is the second-longest known streak in school history behind the 37-game streak by Willie Green (1986-1989).
Senior RB Tremaine Turner caught his first career TD pass on a 25-yard pass from Eli Manning in the first quarter to give the Rebels a 7-0 lead with 3:28 remaining.
COLLINS SETS RECEIVING MARK: Senior WR Chris Collins recorded 113 yards receiving to set a new Ole Miss season record for receiving yards. Collins now has 874 yards receiving on the season, and entered the game 55 yards shy of the previous record of 816 set by Willie Green in 1989. Collins broke the mark on a six-yard reception in the first quarter to set-up Eli Manning's 25-yard TD pass to Tremaine Turner.
Collins now holds nine Ole Miss, single-game, season and career records. He has also set school records for TD receptions in a game (3), receptions in a season (69), career receptions (190), career receiving yards (2,546), TD receptions in a season (10), career TD receptions (24), 100-yard receiving games in a season (4) and career 100-yard receiving games (11).
COLLINS RECORDS 4TH 100-YARD RECEIVING GAME OF 2003: Senior WR Chris Collins' 113 yards receiving tonight marked his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season to tie his own Ole Miss season record set in 2001. He also had 100-yard receiving efforts this season against Louisiana-Monroe (121), Arkansas State (146) and South Carolina (125).
DEFENSIVE NOTES
Junior LB Rob Robertson's interception in the second quarter was his first of the season and the second of his career. He recorded his first career interception against Georgia in 2001.
Ole Miss recorded three sacks to extend its streak to 28 straight games with at least one sack. The Rebels have also picked up at least one sack in 45 of their last 46 games.
The Rebels' three sacks tonight tied their season high set against Louisiana-Monroe, Alabama and LSU.
The seven first downs allowed by Ole Miss tonight marked the first time the Rebels have allowed less than 10 first downs in a game since holding Memphis to 8 in 1999.
The 192 yards of total offense by Mississippi State marked a season-low for total offense allowed by Ole Miss, and marked the first time since holding Arkansas State to 192 yards in 2000 that the Rebels have allowed less than 200 yards of offense in a game.
Tonight's game marked the Rebels' second shutout of the year, marking the first time since 1993 that Ole Miss has pitched two shutouts in the same year. Ole Miss also blanked Arkansas State 55-0 back on Oct. 11.
The 91 yards passing by Mississippi State was the fewest allowed by Ole Miss since allowing 79 yards to Arkansas last season. It was also the first time Ole Miss has allowed less than 100 yards passing in a game since limiting Nebraska to 93 in last year's Independence Bowl victory.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
Junior PK Jonathan Nichols' 32-yard FG with 5:40 left in the second quarter was the 42n
d of his career to take sole possession of first place on the Ole Miss career list for field goals made. He entered tonight's game tied with Brian Lee (1989-1992) for first place with 41.
The 32-yard FG was also Nichols' 24th of the season to put him in a tie for third-place on the Southeastern Conference single-season list with Tennessee's Carlos Reviez and Alabama's Philip Doyle. He is now three field goals made of SEC season mark of 27 set by Tennessee's Fuad Reveiz in 1982.
Nichols converted all four of his PAT attempts to extend his school-record streak to 94 straight.
<>Cody Ridgeway recorded a 52-yard punt to extend his streak to eight straight games with at least one punt of 50 yards.
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