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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss To Open 2003 Campaign At Vanderbilt
8/25/2003 | Football
Aug. 25, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss will open its 2003 schedule on the road with a Southeastern Conference tilt against the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville Saturday. Kickoff is set for 11:30 a.m., at Vanderbilt Stadium and will be televised by Jefferson Pilot Sports.
The Rebels, beginning their fifth season under head coach David Cutcliffe, is coming off a 7-6 season in which they defeated Nebraska in the MainStay Independence Bowl. Cutcliffe is 30-19 at Ole Miss and is the only coach in school history to win at least seven games in each of his first four seasons.
Senior quarterback Eli Manning is back under center for his third year as the Rebels' starter. The All-America candidate set school season records for completions (279) and passing yards (3,401) last year, while also tossing 21 touchdowns.
Manning, who owns 24 school records, will enter Saturday's game with a shot at adding three more career marks to his name. He needs 12 completions to tie Kent Austin's career mark of 566 and is 301 yards of total offense shy of equaling John Fourcade's record of 6,713. Manning's 54 touchdowns responsible for is two shy of the Ole Miss career record of 56, currently held by his father and former All-American quarterback Archie Manning, who played for the Rebels from 1968-1970.
Manning will have plenty of options to throw to as Ole Miss returns 13 players from last year that caught at least one pass, including seven players that caught 10 or more passes. Headlining that group is senior Chris Collins, who caught 55 passes for 812 yards and 10 TDs last season to become the first Rebel to have back-to-back 50-catch seasons. Collins' 10 TD receptions established a new Ole Miss single-season mark and his 17 career TD catches entering the season is a school record as well.
Senior WR Chris Collins is sixth on the Ole Miss career receptions list with 121.  | |
While the offense should once again be potent through the air, Ole Miss will look to improve a rushing attack that averaged 3.0 yards per carry a year ago. Senior Tremaine Turner and Ronald McClendon, and sophomore Vashon Pearson should all see time in the backfield Saturday.
McClendon led the Rebels with 378 rushing yards last season. Turner had 300 yards on 79 carries with three scores as he came on strong at the end of last season. Turner rushed for 212 yards in the season's last four games against Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State and Nebraska, including a career-high 89 yards against Georgia.
Pearson netted 236 yards on 78 carries and led the team with five rushing touchdowns.
"We will play a number of people at tailback," Cutcliffe said. "I have an idea in my mind who we will go to, but I'm not ready to make that decision just yet. I do expect everybody to play. This week's practice will help make things clear."
Defensively, Ole Miss returns five of its seven leading tacklers from last season, including junior free safety Eric Oliver, who led the team with 129 stops.
Senior nose tackle Jesse Mitchell returns to anchor a defensive line that improved over the course of last season. Mitchell had 77 stops, including 11 tackles-for-loss and three sacks.
Senior cornerback Von Hutchins intercepted a team-high six passes a year ago and tallied 66 tackles.
"Our defense has been more aggressive all the way through spring practice," Cutcliffe said. "They are a more veteran unit and they know what to do. We do have some areas that are a little thin, so hopefully everybody will stay healthy."
The Rebel defense will carry a streak of 15 straight quarters without allowing a rushing touchdown into Saturday's game, dating back to last year's game at Georgia on November 9.
That streak will be put to the test by a Vanderbilt rushing-attack that averaged 173.5 yards per game in 2002.
Sophomore Kwane Doster gained a team-high 798 yards on 160 carries and scored three TDs last season. In last year's meeting, he tallied 344 all purpose yards, rushing for 101 yards on 15 carries and returning eight kickoffs for 243 yards.
Dual-threat quarterback Jay Cutler will be back under center for his sophomore season. As a freshman, Cutler passed for 1,433 yards and 10 TDs, while adding 393 yards and nine TDs on the ground.
"They are very versatile on offense and have a lot of weapons," Cutcliffe said. "You have to be prepared to play both the option and passing game."
Defensively, Vanderbilt allowed an average of 405.8 yards and 30.7 points per game en route to a 2-10 season under first-year head coach Bobby Johnson. The Commodores lost four games, however, by a touchdown or less.
"Vanderbilt is going to have a good football team," Cutcliffe said. "They were a team that got better every week a year ago. They played some close games last year, and they are extremely well-coached."
Saturday's contest will mark the earliest game between SEC teams in the conference's history. Ole Miss leads the all-time series 43-32-2 and has nine of the last 10 meetings since 1992. The Rebels won last year's meeting 45-38 in Oxford to snap a streak of nine straight losses in conference openers.
