.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
GAME NOTES: Upset-Minded Rebels Head To No. 2 Alabama
10/13/2008 | Football
Ole Miss (3-3, 1-2) vs. #2/2 Alabama (6-0, 3-0)
TIME: October 18, 2008, 2:30 p.m. CT
SITE (CAPACITY): Bryant-Denny Stadium (92,138)
TV: CBS (Verne Lundquist, play-by-play; Gary Danielson, color analyst; Tracy Wolfson sideline reporter). The CSS replay of the game will be Sunday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m. CT.
RADIO: Ole Miss Radio Network (David Kellum, play-by-play; Pete Cordelli, color analyst; Stan Sandroni, sideline reporter). The in-stadium frequency in Tuscaloosa will be 89.7 FM. The Alabama radio feed will be available on satellite radio on XM 199 and Sirius 215.
WEB: OleMissSports.com will provide live audio through RebelVision, live stats and an in-game blog. The official Rebel athletics website will also provide a full game recap and a photo gallery at the game's conclusion.
POLLS: Alabama is ranked second in the latest AP and USA Today Coaches polls. The No. 2 ranking is the highest for Alabama since 1993. Ole Miss does not appear in the polls. The Rebels received votes in both week 5 rankings, including 13 votes in the AP poll. Ole Miss last earned votes, three to be exact, in the 2006 preseason poll.
SERIES INFO: This meeting will be the 56th all-time between Ole Miss and Alabama dating back to 1894. The Crimson Tide holds a 44-9-2 advantage in the series, including a 45-8-2 lead on-the-field. Ole Miss received a win by forfeit for Alabama's 19-14 victory in 1993. Alabama has won 18 of the last 21 on-the-field meetings and four straight since Ole Miss' 42-28 triumph in Oxford in 2003. The Tide has escaped each of the last three meetings by three points including last year's 27-24 result in Oxford. The Crimson Tide own a 22-1 advantage in the series in games played in Tuscaloosa, with Ole Miss' only win coming in 1988 when they prevailed 22-12. Alabama pulled out a 26-23 overtime win in the last meeting at Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2006.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The last three meetings between Ole Miss and Alabama have all been decided in the final minute in three-point wins for the Crimson Tide ... Houston Nutt is 5-7 against top-five teams, including this year's win at No. 4 Florida ... This will mark the Rebels' third TV appearance of the season and first on CBS, which has aired the Ole Miss-Alabama game two of the last three years ... Ole Miss will be facing its first SEC Western Division foe of the year ... Ole Miss has matched its best start since 2003 and looking to equal its most wins since that season ... The Ole Miss offense is fourth in the SEC with 382.2 yards per outing.
OLE MISS HEAD COACH HOUSTON NUTT: Houston Nutt (Oklahoma State, 1981) is in his first season at the Ole Miss helm, after being named the University's 36th head football coach on Nov. 28, 2007. During his 10 years as the head coach at Arkansas, Nutt guided the Razorbacks to eight bowl berths, three SEC Western Division titles, two SEC Championship game appearances and an average of more than seven wins per season. He also served head coaching stints at Boise State and Murray State, where he captured two OVC Championships. Nutt is 5-5 against Alabama as a head coach.
ALABAMA HEAD COACH NICK SABAN: Nick Saban is in his second year as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Saban has compiled a 104-48-1 (.683) record as a collegiate head coach, including an 13-6 (.684) mark at Alabama. Saban led LSU to a 13-1 record and the BCS National Championship in 2003. Overall, Saban has coached three conference championship teams (1990 Mid-American, 2001 SEC and 2003 SEC) and nine of his 12 teams have played in postseason bowl games. Saban is 5-1 against Ole Miss, and the average margin of victory has been 5.3 points with an average of 2.5 points in the final four meetings.
ALABAMA SCOUTING REPORT: The Crimson Tide also has the week off before returning to action against Ole Miss. Alabama tops the SEC in both rushing offense (226.3 ypg) and rushing defense (50.8 ypg). Junior RB Glenn Coffee ranks second in the SEC on the ground at 118.0 yards per outing with five TDs and ran for a career-high 218 against Kentucky last time out. Senior QB John Parker Wilson has completed 76-of-127 passes for 853 yards for six TD and two interceptions. Freshman WR Julio Jones has hauled in 19 passes for 278 yards and four scores. Sophomore LB Rolando McClain leads the defense with 44 tackles with 3.5 TFLs and three pass break-ups. In the secondary, senior Rashad Johnson boasts 30 stops and eight breakups, while junior and Oxford native Justin Woodall has collected three interceptions.
HOUSTON & GOLIATH: Knocking off the nation's best is nothing new for head coach Houston Nutt. The victory over No. 4 Florida was his fifth career win over a top-five opponent as a head coach and second straight. Nutt is 5-7 all-time against top-five teams, including a 50-48 triple OT victory at No. 1 LSU last year. In all five wins, Nutt's team entered the game unranked, and four of the wins came on the road. In addition, a pair of the losses were by three points or less.
OLE MISS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
Ole Miss is 11-23 all-time vs. teams ranked in the top five ... With the 31-30 upset at No. 4 Florida on Sept. 27, Ole Miss earned its first victory over a top-five foe since a 20-13 triumph over No. 3 Notre Dame in 1977 in Jackson ... The Rebels' previous road win over a top-five team had been a 15-7 triumph over LSU on Nov. 3, 1962, when Ole Miss was ranked No. 6 and LSU was No. 4.
The Rebels' win over the Gators snapped a 15-game skid to ranked teams ... Ole Miss' last win over a top-25 foe had been 31-28 road win at No. 25 South Carolina in 2004.
Ole Miss is 54-127-2 all-time versus ranked teams.
ALABAMA REBELS: The Ole Miss roster features six players, all freshmen, from the neighboring state of Alabama, and only two scholarship athletes in redshirt freshman DT Justin Sanders (New Market) and true freshman OL Joshua Tatum (Marbury). Other Rebels from Alabama include redshirt freshman K Ben Meadows (Birmingham) and true freshmen LB Josh Lancaster (Mobile), S Griffin Littlefield (Pike Road) and WR Vincent Moss (Munford).
MISSISSIPPI TIDE: Five members of Alabama's squad hail from Mississippi, including Oxford native Justin Woodall. The junior DB starred in both football and baseball at Lafayette County High School. On the gridiron, Woodall tied the Mississippi state record with 17 interceptions as a junior and was named the "Dandy Dozen" Defensive MVP as a senior. On the diamond, he hit .421 and turned down a contract from the New York Mets to play football.
REBEL NOTEBOOK
The last time Ole Miss was 3-3 after six games was 2004 ... In 2003, the Rebels started 8-2 and finished with a 10-3 record and an SEC Western Division title.
Ole Miss' victory over No. 4 Florida marked the 600th win for the Rebel football program ... Ole Miss became the 34th FBS school and eighth SEC member to reach 600 victories ... The Rebels boast an all-time record of 600-463-35 (.562 winning percentage).
This marks the 114th football season at The University of Mississippi dating back to 1893 ... Ole Miss did not field teams in 1897 due to an epidemic of yellow fever, and also in 1943 when football was abolished at all Mississippi state-supported institutions by the Board of Trustees.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: In the first season of the Houston Nutt era, the Rebels have cranked up the offense and the scoring. Ole Miss is posting 382.2 yards per outing, which ranks fourth in the SEC and is the most since 2003 when the team finished with a school-record 433.2 clip. The Rebels outgained Samford 424 yards to 198 and Vanderbilt 385 to 202. Ole Miss' 29.2 scoring clip is also the highest since 2003. The 31 points against Florida equaled the most against an SEC foe since the 43-40 win over South Carolina in 2003.
SNEAD AMONG SEC LEADERS: Sophomore QB Jevan Snead ranks third in the conference in both passing average (212.0 ypg) and TD passes (9) and is fourth in pass efficiency (132.2) and total offense (214.5 ypg). He set a season-high in completions last time out against South Carolina, finishing 21-of-32 for 243 yards, one TD and one interception. At Wake Forest, Snead became the first Rebel with four TD passes since Eli Manning in the 2003 Memphis game. He finished 20-of-31 for 253 yards with one interception and was named the Scout.com SEC Offensive Player of the Week.
CATCH 22: Whether in the slot or behind center in the "Wild Rebel", junior Dexter McCluster has truly become an all-purpose threat. As a receiver, McCluster is fourth in the SEC in receiving yards per game (68.5 ypg) and seventh in receptions (4.2 per game). Against South Carolina, McCluster just missed his second 100-yard receiving effort in the last three games, finishing with six receptions for a game-high 99 yards. Also, for the second straight game, McCluster topped the team in rushing and ran for a score against the Gamecocks with 40 yards on eight carries and his third TD on the ground. He ran for 60 yards and a touchdown at Florida and 64 and a score against Memphis. A native of Largo, Fla., McCluster posted 176 all-purpose yards against Vanderbilt and 125 vs. Memphis. He recorded a career-high 132 receiving yards and equaled his career-best of seven receptions against the Commodores.
SHAY FOR SIX: Junior WR Shay Hodge is second in the SEC in touchdown receptions with four and ranks fifth in receiving yards per game (62.0 ypg), just behind teammate Dexter McCluster in fourth (68.5). After five career games of 77 or more receiving yards, Hodge finally cracked the century mark at Florida with a career-high 133 yards on three catches. He also stamped his name in the Ole Miss record book, as his 86-yard, fourth-quarter catch was not only the go-ahead score in the upset of the No. 4 Gators, but was also the longest pass play in Rebel history. The previous record was 83 yards, set first in 1961 with Glynn Griffing to Charles Morris and again in 1994 from Josh Nelson to LeMay Thomas.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
Junior RB Cordera Eason has scored a touchdown in four of the last five games ... He rushed for a TD on an eight-yard run in the first quarter of the Carolina game.
Freshman RB Brandon Bolden hauled in his first career TD pass on a 24-yarder against the Gamecocks ... He also registered a career-high three catches for 29 yards ... The Baton Rouge native leads the Rebel rushing attack with 297 yards on the ground.
Ole Miss' 361 yards against South Carolina marked the most surrendered this season by the then top-ranked Gamecock defense, which entered the game giving up 221.4 yards per contest.
The Rebels have scored first in five of the six games this season, including against South Carolina.
IN THE BACKFIELD: After just four TFLs and one sack in the opener, the Rebel defense has totaled 46 TFLs (9.2 per game) and 12 sacks (2.4 pg) over the five games since. Ole Miss posted 12 TFLs against Samford and 11 against Vanderbilt, and sacked Wake's Riley Skinner four times and Florida's Tim Tebow three. Sophomore NT Ted Laurent leads the team and is tied for third in the SEC with 7.0 TFLs and notched his first career sack on Tebow. Senior DT Peria Jerry has posted 4.5 TFLs, while five others boast 3.5 each.
HE'S BACK: Despite missing the majority of preseason and the first three games, junior DE Greg Hardy has picked up right where he left off last year. In just three games, the Millington, Tenn., has taken over the team lead in sacks with 2.5 and has three 3.5 TFLs. He posted 2.5 TFLs and 1.5 sacks against Florida and frequently put pressure on Tim Tebow. In 2007, Hardy was honored on the Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America second team after topping the SEC and tying for sixth nationally in sacks (10.0) and ranking second in the league and fourth in the nation in TFLs (18.5).
DEFENSIVE NOTES
Ole Miss has notched three sacks in each of the last two games ... Against South Carolina, Fon Ingram notched his first career sack, Ashlee Palmer his first of the year and Allen Walker his second of the season.
Senior S Jamarca Sanford led the team and equaled his career high of 13 tackles against South Carolina ... It marks his 10th career game with double-figure tackles and second straight ... Sanford ranks third in the SEC in tackles per game (9.3).
Senior LB Ashlee Palmer posted season highs of nine tackles and 2.5 TFLs, including his first career solo sack, against the Gamecocks ... He also provided a key tackle on the fourth-down defensive stop in the fourth quarter.
Junior LB Lamar Brumfield recorded his first career interception in the South Carolina game.
Senior LB Tony Fein is averaging 8.0 stops over the last three games ... He was credited with eight total tackles against the Gamecocks.
TRULY SPECIAL TEAMS: The Rebels' special teams has provided some major highlights over the last month. Ole Miss registered TDs in the return game on back-to-back Saturdays with Marshay Green's 77-yard punt return against Samford and Mike Wallace's 98-yard kickoff return against Vanderbilt. At Florida, the kickblock unit took its turn, as Kentrell Lockett broke through to block the Gators' potential game-tying extra point with 3:28 left in the game. It was Lockett's first career kick block and the Rebels' first extra point block since John Jerry's block in the 2006 LSU game in Baton Rouge.
MAGNIFICENT MIKE: Senior Mike Wallace is averaging 157.0 per game over the last three games, and each of those performances ranked among the top-11 single-game totals in school history, including the best ever. Against Vanderbilt, the New Orleans native earned his first kickoff returns of the year and responded with 202 KR yards, easily shattering the Ole Miss record (Marshay Green's 159 against Florida in 2007) and notching the fourth-highest total in SEC history. Wallace also registered the second kickoff return TD of his career and the fifth-longest in school history with his 98-yard score. At Florida, Wallace followed up with the seventh-best total ever by a Rebel with five returns for 140 yards against the Gators, including a long of 40. His 129 kickoff return yards against the Gamecocks last time out ranks 11th on the Ole Miss all-time single game chart. Wallace is second in the SEC in kickoff returns (27.7 ypr).
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
Senior P Rob Park notched his third punt of the year of 50 or more yards with his 50-yarder against South Carolina ... Park also pinned a punt on the five yard-line and finished with three punts for an average of 42.7 yards.
Junior K Joshua Shene was perfect against South Carolina, converting all three PATs and connecting on a 37-yard FG ... He is 7-for-8 on field goals this year, missing only a 47-yarder against Vanderbilt.
Shene is a perfect 22-for-22 on PATs this year to extend his streak to 44 consecutive extra points converted ... He has connected on 66-of-67 career PATs.
OLE MISS ON TV
Ole Miss is making its third television appearance of the season and first on CBS ... The Wake Forest game was televised by ABC/ESPN2 and Florida by Raycom.
This game will mark the Rebels' 18th appearance all-time on CBS, and first since last year's LSU game ... Ole Miss is 6-11 all-time on the network after dropping the last four.
A total of 79 Ole Miss games have been on TV over the past 12 seasons ... Last year, the Rebels appeared on TV five times.
All-time, this game will be the Rebels' 164th TV appearance since Ole Miss made its network TV debut in the 1953 Sugar Bowl versus Georgia Tech ... Ole Miss is 71-90-2 all-time in TV games.
The Rebels' only other future game already confirmed for TV this year is the Friday, Nov. 28 Ole Miss-Mississippi State "Egg Bowl" to be played at 11:30 a.m. CT. Raycom Sports will telecast the game from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium as part of the SEC's syndicated package.
GRADUATING REBELS: Four student-athletes on the Ole Miss football team have already received their undergraduate degrees. DE Chris Bowers has earned his B.A. in real estate, while RB Jason Cook has his B.A. in English. OL Darryl Harris has completed his B.S. in exercise science, and TE David Traxler has his B.A. in accountancy. The Ole Miss football team was well represented at the University's graduation ceremonies in May, as 12 Rebels earned degrees in the past year.
DEBUTS: A total of 20 players have made their Ole Miss debuts this season, including seven true freshmen in Brandon Bolden (RB), Enrique Davis (RB), Andrew Harris (WR), Derrick Herman (DB), Justin Smith (DL), Marcus Temple (CB) and Devin Thomas (RB). Other players seeing their first action include Brandon Green (Jr., C); Gerald Harris (Jr., TE); Rishaw Johnson (RFr., OL); Jeremy McGee (So., CB); Jermey Parnell (Sr., DE); Jerrell Powe (So., DT); Garrett Ryan (Jr., DE); Jevan Snead (So., QB); Bradley Sowell (RFr., OL); Emmanuel Stephens (Jr., DE); Billy Tapp (Jr., QB); Patrick Trahan (Jr., LB) and Alex Washington (RFr., OL).
REBELS ADD OSU TRANSFER: Ole Miss picked up a transfer from the Big Ten in September, as sophomore DB James Scott came to Ole Miss from Ohio State. Scott must sit out the 2008 campaign due to the NCAA transfer rule and will have three years of eligibility remaining. The 5-foot-10, 170-pounder saw special teams action as a true freshman for the Buckeyes in 2007, posting six tackles. A native of Dayton Beach, Fla., Scott was ranked as the No. 10 cornerback in the nation and the No. 11 overall recruit in Florida coming out of Seabreeze Senior High School. He totaled 121 tackles and six interception during his junior and senior seasons.
OHER RISING UP DRAFT BOARDS: Senior OL Michael Oher decided to return for his senior season and is already drawing heavy notoriety as a 2009 NFL Draft prospect. Amongst the numerous NFL Draft websites, Oher is commonly a top-five choice for next year, and on Sept. 17, Rivals.com/nationalfootball-post.com projected the Memphis tackle to be the No. 1 overall pick. Defensive lineman Greg Hardy and Peria Jerry are also regarded as players that could be drafted on the first day. NFLDraftDog.com ranks Hardy 10th on its board, while FanNation.com has Jerry in the No. 17 slot.
SEC COMMUNITY SERVICE TEAM: Senior TE David Traxler was featured as the SEC Community Service Team Player of the Week on Sept. 27. A Jackson native, Traxler visits local retirement homes and takes part in "Reading with the Rebels", a program that helps promote reading to area students. He is currently involved in the SEC's "Together We Can" food drive for the second straight year. A two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient, Traxler is an accounting major and a member of Ole Miss' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. In 2005, he received the Scholar-Athlete Award from the Ole Miss Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. After beginning his career as an offensive lineman, Traxler moved to tight end in the spring of 2007. He has appeared in all four of the Rebels' games this season, including three starts.
OLE MISS ANNOUNCES FRESNO STATE SERIES: Ole Miss Athletics Director Pete Boone recently announced a three-game football series with Fresno State, which will mark the first gridiron meetings between the two schools. The first game is scheduled for Oxford on Sept. 25, 2010, while Ole Miss will then return the game to Fresno, Calif., on Oct. 1, 2011. The final game of the series will be in Oxford in 2015, with the date yet to be determined.
