Ole Miss Football Update

Sept. 15, 2003

REBELS HAVE OFF WEEK BEFORE HOSTING TEXAS TECH: Ole Miss (2-1) will be idle this upcoming Saturday and will return to action on Saturday, September 27 with a non-conference home game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders (2-0), of the Big 12 Conference. The Rebels rebounded from a 44-34 loss at Memphis, on September 6, with a 59-14 win over the Louisiana-Monroe Indians in Ole Miss' home opener this past weekend. The Red Raiders opened their season with wins over SMU (58-10) and New Mexico (42-28) and will visit North Carolina State this weekend.

ULM GAME RECAP: Ole Miss scored 45 unanswered points from the second quarter until ULM scored with 9:38 left in the game to cruise to a 59-14 win. Ole Miss recorded 612 yards of total offense to go over the 600-yard mark in a game for the first time since 1971. The 612 yards was also the second-highest single-game total in school history, 11 shy of the record of 623 set against Auburn in 1951. Senior QB Eli Manning (New Orleans, La.) broke a 7-7 tie with a three-yard TD run early in the second quarter and finished 21-of-26 passing for 353 yards and three TDs. Freshman RB Jamal Pittman (Columbia, Miss.) and senior Tremaine Turner (Springfield, Tenn.) combined for 144 yards rushing as the Rebels grounded out 225 yards on the ground.

NOTING ELI: Senior QB Eli Manning (New Orleans, La.) recorded his seventh career 300-yard passing game with the 353-yard performance against UL-Monroe ... It was also his fourth career game of over 350 yards passing - a school record ... The 353 yards passing is the seventh highest single-game total in school history ... Manning holds four of the top seven single-game passing marks in school history ... The three TD passes versus ULM gives him 60 for his career and marked the 17th time in 27 career starts that he has tossed at least two TD passes ... Also had five yards rushing versus ULM to total 358 yards of total offense and surpass the 7,000-yard mark in career total offense ... Manning will enter the Texas Tech contest with 7,334 yards of career total offense ... Manning holds 32 Ole Miss single-game, season and career marks.

REBEL RAMBLINGS: Last Saturday's 59-14 win was the 575th win in the program's history. Ole Miss has an all-time record of 575-426-35 (.571 winning pct.) ... Ole Miss is now 24-4 (.857 winning pct.) in home night games since lights were installed at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium prior to the 1990 season, including 14-0 versus non-conference ... The Texas Tech contest will mark the first-ever visit by a Big 12 school to Oxford ... Ole Miss is 6-14 (.300 winning pct.) all-time versus teams that currently compete in the Big 12 Conference, including 2-1 against the Red Raiders ... The Rebels need a win over Texas Tech to extend their streak to eight consecutive years with a winning record in September and to 15 consecutive seasons with at least a .500 record. Ole Miss is currently 1-1 in September this year ... The Rebels are 5-3 following an off-week under head coach David Cutcliffe.

COLLINS TIES CAREER RECEPTIONS MARK: With nine catches against UL-Monroe, senior WR Chris Collins (Gloster, Miss.) moved into a first-place tie with Grant Heard (1996-2000) on the Ole Miss career list for receptions with 142. He entered the ULM contest fourth on the list with 133. Collins also surpassed Cory Peterson (1996-1999) for fourth place on the school's career list for receiving yards with 1,937. The 121 yards receiving against the Indians was also Collins' eighth career 100-yard receiving game, and he extended his streak to 25 consecutive games with at least one reception.

OFFENSIVE NOTES: Ole Miss' 225 yards rushing against ULM was the Rebels' highest total since recording 229 yards on the ground versus Kentucky in 2001 ... Sophomore WR Taye Biddle (Decatur, Ala.) caught three passes for a career-high 105 yards to team with senior WR Chris Collins (Gloster, Miss.) and give the Rebels' their first pair of 100-yard receivers in the same game since LeMay Thomas (1992-1995) and Ta'Boris Fisher (1993-1996) both went over the 100-yard mark against Vanderbilt in 1995 ... Senior RB Ronald McClendon's (Ponchatoula, La.) 20-yard run in the second quarter is the longest by a Rebel this season ... Redshirt freshman RB Jamal Pittman (Columbia, Miss.) carried the ball on the Rebels' final 13 plays from scrimmage to finish with a game-high 75 yards. Pittman scored his first career TD on a one-yard run with 5:01 left in the game to cap the scoring.

DEFENSIVE NOTES: Ole Miss limited ULM to 29 yards rushing, the fewest since holding Memphis to 18 yards on 42 carries in last year's game in Oxford ... The 45-yard interception return for a TD by sophomore CB Travis Johnson (Shannon, Miss.) in the third quarter was the first by a Rebel since Matt Grier (2001-2002) returned a pick 24 yards for what proved to be the game-winning TD in last year's 17-14 upset of Florida ... Ole Miss has recorded at least one sack in 19 straight games, and in 36 of the last 37 contests.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES: Junior PK Jonathan Nichols made all eight of his PAT attempts against ULM to tie the Ole Miss single-game record, set by Tim Montz (1994-1996) against Southern Illinois in 1994 ... Nichols is now 100-of-102 on PATs in his career, setting new school career marks for PATs made and attempted ... Nichols has converted on 62 straight PATs to break the Ole Miss record of 59 set by Steve Lavinghouze (1973-1975) ... Nichols' 30-yard field goal to end the first half extended his streak to nine straight field goals made since having a 32-yard attempt blocked in the second quarter in last year's Egg Bowl versus Mississippi State.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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