Vanderbilt-Ole Miss Postgame Notes

Sept. 18, 2004

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes

VANDERBILT POSTGAME NOTES
Starting Lineup: Vanderbilt started the same offensive unit as it did in the season opener against South Carolina... On defense, freshman Lamar Divens earned his first career start and collegiate action at defensive end. Divens did not play in the Commodores' first game... Divens' teammate at Lincoln County (Tenn.) High School, Theo Horrocks, also was inserted early in the game at defensive end...

First Half Notes:

Sophomore Patrick Johnson's conversion of a 37-yard field goal at 11:58 of the first quarter was the first time the Commodores scored on their opening offensive possession since Jay Cutler connected with Erik Davis on a 19-yard scoring pass at Florida (Nov. 8, 2002).
Three true freshmen - Lamar Divens, Theo Horrocks and David Carter - saw action during the first half at defensive end... Another true freshman, Jeff Jennings, earned his first collegiate action at tailback... On the final play of the first quarter, quarterback Jay Cutler scored on a six-yard carry, his first rushing TD since scoring against Chattanooga on Sept. 6, 2003. It was Cutler's 11th career rushing touchdown... At the 9:26 mark of the second quarter, Cutler connected on his first passing touchdown of the season, hitting Erik Davis from 15 yards. It was Davis' 9th career TD reception. The score came after Dominique Morris returned a punt 21 yards to give the Commodores excellent field possession. This marked the first game that Morris has served as the Commodore punt returner...
A pass deflection by cornerback Lorenzo Parker at the 5:53 mark of the second quarter halted a Rebel drive. Ole Miss did not score on the possession after Jonathan Nichols missed a field goal from 36 yards... Senior Abtin Iranmanesh hit a season-long 60-yard punt to pin the Rebels at their 11-yard line with 3:30 left... Sophomore Steven Bright earned his first action of the season as a holder on kick attempts and at quarterback for the final play of the half.
Cutler accounted for 128 yards of total offense, including 56 rushing yards, in the first half. He was four of six passing for 72 yards... Iranmanesh averaged 50.5 yards on two punts... The Commodore defense limited Ole Miss to 88 first-half rushing yards... Vanderbilt converted on all three red-zone possessions.

Second Half Notes

Vanderbilt entered second half play with a lead for the first time since holding a 14-3 margin over Kentucky on Nov. 15, 2003. The Commodores went on to defeat Wildcats, 28-17.
Defensive tackle Matt Clay opened the half with a two-yard tackle for loss, helping the Commodore force a three-and-out by the Rebels... Erik Davis left the game at 12:34 of the third quarter after making a superb 24-yard reception of a Cutler pass... At 10::24 of the third quarter, linebacker Kevin Joyce caused a turnover by forcing Rick Razzano to fumble. Lorenzo Parker recovered the loose ball... The turnover led to a six-play touchdown drive capped by fullback Matthew Tant's 3-yard rush.
Moses Osemwegie stopped an Ole Miss fourth-quarter drive with a seven-yard sack of quarterback Ethan Flatt. The sack, which came at the 11:10 mark, knocked the Rebels out of field goal range trailing by 10 points.

General Notes

The Commodores are now 2-3 in overtime games. It was the Commodores' first overtime since losing 24-17 to Georgia Tech on Sept. 9, 2003. It is the second overtime game with Ole Miss - in 1999, the Commodores defeated Ole Miss 37-34 in one overtime.
Vanderbilt rushed for 183 yards against Ole Miss, the most against a I-A opponent since the Commodores gained 221 yards in a 28-24 victory over Connecticut on Oct. 26, 2002.
Senior tailback Norval McKenzie rushed for 99 yards, his highest total since rushing for a career-high 102 yards against Chattanooga.

Next Game
The Commodores remain on the road next Saturday, traveling to Annapolis, Maryland to play the United States Naval Academy. Navy captured a 37-27 victory over Vanderbilt last years in Nashville en route to a postseason appearance in the EV1.net Houston Bowl. The overall series is tied 2-2-2.

OLE MISS POSTGAME NOTES
SERIES NOTES

Today's game marked the 79th meeting between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt dating back to 1894.
Ole Miss leads the series 45-32-2 and has now won 11 of the last 12 meetings in the series since 1992.
The Rebels' 26-23 win extended their win streak to five games in the series.
The Rebels are now 21-3 all-time against the Commodores in Oxford, and have won six of the last seven meetings between the two teams in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
This afternoon's game marked the second overtime game in the series. Vanderbilt beat Ole Miss 37-34 in overtime in 1999 in Oxford.

REBEL NOTEBOOK

Ole Miss' rally from a 23-10 deficit was the Rebels' largest come-from-behind win since coming from 17 points down to defeat the Commodores 38-27 on Dec. 1, 2001 in Oxford. Vanderbilt led 20-3 midway through the third quarter in the 2001 contest before the Rebels scored 35 of the game's final 42 points.
Ole Miss is now 6-3 all-time in overtime games, and today's contest was the Rebels' first overtime game since the 58-56 seven-overtime loss to Arkansas in 2001.
With the 26-23 win, Ole Miss avoids its first 0-3 start since 1983, and its first 0-2 SEC start since 1988.
Ole Miss is now 22-15 (.595 winning pct.) against SEC Eastern Division opponents since the SEC began divisional play in 1992.
The Rebels have now won four straight against SEC Eastern Division opponents, and seven of their last eight versus the SEC East since a 45-38 win over Vanderbilt in the 2001 regular-season finale.

KEY STATS

Ole Miss held a 10:56-to-4:04 advantage in time of possession during the fourth quarter.
The Rebels out-gained the Commodores 119-37 in the fourth quarter in scoring 10 points to tie the game at 23-23.
Sophomore QB Ethan Flatt was 8-of-10 for 64 yards in the fourth quarter.
The Ole Miss defense held Vanderbilt to 0-for-3 on third-down conversions and 0-of-1 on fourth-down conversions in the fourth quarter.

FLATT DRAWS FIRST CAREER START: Sophomore QB Ethan Flatt made his first career start in this afternoon's game against Vanderbilt. Flatt completed 21-of-32 passes for 187 yards, with a 29-yard long completion to junior WR Mario Hill in the third quarter. He also had four rushes for nine yards.

FIRST-TIME STARTERS: Ole Miss had five first-time starters in today's line-up:

OFFENSE: RG- Tony Bonds (Jr.); QB- Ethan Flatt (Soph.); RB- Brandon Jacobs (Jr.); TE- Lawrence Lilly (Soph.)DEFENSE: DT- Andrew Wicker (Soph.)

OFFENSIVE NOTES

Senior Marcus Johnson made his first career start at right tackle this afternoon and has now made 40 consecutive career starts. Johnson started the season's first two games at right guard.
Senior WR Bill Flowers caught 10 passes today, one shy of his career high, to move into fifth-place on the school's career list for receptions with 133 ... Flowers also moved into ninth-place on the school's career list for receiving yards with 1,553.
Junior RB Vashon Pearson recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game, rushing for 111 yards on 17 carries. Pearson's previous career high was 66 yards last year against Texas Tech.
Pearson's 111 yards gives Ole Miss its first 100-yard rusher this season and the Rebels' first since Tremaine Turner rushed for 133 yards on 20 carries in the 2004 SBC Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma State.
Pearson's 54-yard TD run in the first quarter is the Rebels' longest play from scrimmage this season.
Ole Miss' 365 yards of total offense this afternoon was a season high and 67 yards shy of the Rebels' total output in their first two games against Memphis (240) and Alabama (192).
Senior FB Lorenzo Townsend scored his first career TD on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter to pull Ole Miss to within 23-20.
Ole Miss QBs Ethan Flatt and Micheal Spurlock have thrown a combined 93 passes without an interception this season.
Jonathan Nichols' 40-yard FG in the first quarter marked Ole Miss' first points scored in the first quarter this season.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

The Rebels recorded six QB sacks this afternoon after having failed to record a sack in the first two games of the season.
The six sacks was the most by Ole Miss since recording seven against Mississippi State in 2000.
Senior LB Rob Robertson and sophomore LB Patrick Willis both recorded their first career sacks.
Sophomore DB Trumaine McBride intercepted his second pass of the season and returned it 23 yards in the fourth quarter.
The defense recorded 8.0 TFLs in today's game, after recording 14 in the previous two games versus Memphis and Alabama.
Ole Miss allowed a season-low for total yards (314) and total plays (64) in today's game against Vanderbilt. The Rebels' previous low for yards allowed was 390 by Alabama, and the previous low for total plays was 69 by the Crimson Tide.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

Senior P Cody Ridgeway had a 51-yard punt today to give him at least one punt of 50 yards in 11 of the last 12 games.
Senior PK Jonathan Nichols made both of his PAT attempts to extend his streak to 102 consecutive PATs made, which currently is the longest active streak in the nation.
Nichols was also 4-of-6 on field goal attempts this afternoon to record 14 points scored and give him 287 on his career.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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