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The University of Mississippi Athletics
GAME NOTES: Ole Miss Celebrates Homecoming With Gamecocks
9/29/2008 | Football
SITE (CAPACITY): Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/ Hollingsworth Field (60,580); Oxford, Miss.
TV: There is no live TV for this game. The CSS replay of the game will be Sunday at 1 p.m. CT (Richard Cross, play-by-play; Harry Harrison, color analyst).
RADIO: Ole Miss Radio Network (David Kellum, play-by-play; Pete Cordelli, color analyst; Stan Sandroni, sideline reporter). XM Satellite Radio channel 201.
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, a photo gallery and live postgame video.
POLLS: Neither Ole Miss nor South Carolina appear in the top-25 rankings. The Rebels are receiving votes in both polls, including 13 votes in the AP poll. Ole Miss last earned votes, three to be exact, in the 2006 preseason poll.
SERIES INFO: This game will be the 14th meeting between Ole Miss and South Carolina dating back to 1947, and the fifth since the Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1992. The Rebels lead the series 8-5 and have won five straight dating back to a 20-13 win at Columbia in 1981. Ole Miss has won the four SEC meetings: 30-28 at Oxford in 1998, 36-10 in 1999 at Columbia, 43-40 in Oxford in 2003 and 31-28 in Columbia in 2004. The Rebels are 4-2 in home games against the Gamecocks, including one game each in Memphis and Jackson, and own a 3-1 mark in Oxford. This marks the second time Ole Miss has faced Carolina on homecoming (1974).
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: This game will be the 81st Homecoming game at Ole Miss since 1924 ... The Rebels are 65-13-2 (.825 winning pct.) all-time in Homecoming games and are riding an 11-game win streak on Homecoming ... The Rebels are shooting for back-to-back SEC victories for the first time since 2004 ... Ole Miss is off to its best start since 2003 and looking to equal its most wins since that season ... The Rebels are facing their third and final SEC Eastern Division foe of the regular season ... The Ole Miss offense is third in the SEC with 386.4 yards per outing ... Jamarca Sanford is this week's SEC Defensive Player of the Week.
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 7-3 against South Carolina as a head coach and upset the 23rd Gamecocks 48-36 last year at Arkansas.
SOUTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH STEVE SPURRIER: Steve Spurrier (Florida, 1967) is in his fourth season as the head coach at South Carolina. He recorded the most wins by a Carolina head coach in his first three years. Now in his 19th collegiate season, Spurrier has compiled a 166-58-2 won-loss record as a head coach, including a 24-18 mark with the Gamecocks. He led the Duke Blue Devils to the 1989 ACC championship before returning to his alma mater, Florida, as head coach in 1990. During his 12 seasons with the Gators, Spurrier's teams won seven SEC championships, one national title and finished ranked in the nation's top 10 nine times. Spurrier, who won the 1966 Heisman Trophy as a quarterback for the Gators, most recently was head coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins (2002-03). Spurrier is 2-0 against Ole Miss with wins in 1994 and 1995.
SOUTH CAROLINA SCOUTING REPORT: After a 34-0 blanking of N.C. State in the opener, the Gamecocks rose to the No. 24 in the national polls before falling to Vanderbilt on the road, 24-17. Carolina also lost by a touchdown to Georgia for its sixth straight SEC loss. The Gamecock offense is averaging 220.2 passing yards per game, and three different QBs have been behind center. Sophomore Chris Smelley leads the pack with 77-of-125 passing for 844 yards, six TDs and six interceptions. Redshirt freshman Stephen Garcia saw the most action last time out, completing 13-of-20 passes for 131 yards and rushing for another 86 against UAB. The junior tandem of TE Jared Cook and WR Moe Brown are the top targets with 19 catches for 262 yards and 18 for 267, respectively. The leading rusher has been senior TB Mike Davis with 54 carries for 254 yards and a TD. The USC defense is allowing just 105.0 passing yards per game. Junior SS Emanuel Cook has been the top tackler with 37, including 33 solos.
GAME CHANGING PERFORMANCE: With the Gators driving for the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter, the Rebel defense stopped Tim Tebow on 4th and 1 to seal the win and a Pontiac Game Changing Performance nomination. Now it is up to Ole Miss fans to determine if the Rebels will earn a Pontiac Game Changing Performance for week five of the 2008 NCAA Football Season. Ole Miss fans can go to pontiac.com/ncaa, where they can view video clips of the four finalists and vote for the Rebels. Voting runs until midnight on Wednesday. ESPN will announce this week's Pontiac Game Changing Performance winner on Thursday night, during the Pontiac G6 Halftime Report.
600 CLUB: Ole Miss' mammoth victory at Florida not only ended a number of streaks, it also marked the 600th win for the Rebel football program. With a 600-462-35 all-time record, Ole Miss became the 34th FBS school and eighth SEC member to reach 600 victories.
HISTORIC WIN: With Saturday's upset of No. 4 Florida, 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 are 11-23 all-time vs. teams ranked in the top five. The Rebels' last road win over a top-five team was a 15-7 triumph over LSU on Nov. 3, 1962, when Ole Miss was ranked No. 6 and LSU was No. 4. Ironically, Ole Miss' last victory over a ranked foe had also been the last meeting with South Carolina, a 31-28 road win against the No. 25 Gamecocks in 2004. The Rebels snapped a 15-game skid to ranked teams.
HOUSTON & GOLIATH: Knocking off the nation's best is nothing new for head coach Houston Nutt. Saturday's victory over Florida was his fifth career win over a top-five opponent as a head coach. Nutt is 5-7 all-time against top-five teams, including a 50-48 over No. 1 LSU last year. In all five wins, Nutt's team entered the game unranked.
REBEL NOTEBOOK
The last time Ole Miss was 3-2 after five games was 2003, when the Rebels started 8-2 and finished with a 10-3 record and an SEC Western Division title.
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.
OLE MISS VS. SEC EAST.
Since the SEC started divisional play in 1992, Ole Miss is 26-24 versus the SEC Eastern Division.
Ole Miss is 13-8 against the SEC East at home ... The Rebels are 13-16 against the Eastern Division on the road.
Ole Miss is 4-0 against South Carolina since the SEC began divisional play in 1992.
In 2003, the Rebels recorded their first three-game sweep of their SEC East opponents with wins over Vanderbilt, Florida and South Carolina.
CAROLINA COACHING TIES: Before joining the Rebels, defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Tyrone Nix spent three seasons at South Carolina 2005-07. Last year, he coached inside linebackers in addition to coordinating a Gamecock defense that topped the SEC and ranked fifth nationally in pass defense, allowing just 168.8 yards through the air. Under Nix's watch, the USC defense in 2006 was sixth in the SEC and 29th in the country in scoring defense, surrendering 18.7 points per game, 4.5 fewer than in 2005 despite returning just one starter. In his first year in Columbia, Nix served as co-defensive coordinator and tutored the defensive line.
SIBLING RIVALRY: For the first time in his college career, senior fullback Jason Cook will face off against his younger brother, Carolina tight end Jared Cook. A preseason third-team All-SEC pick by the coaches, Jared tops the Gamecock receivers with 19 catches for 262 yards and a touchdown.
SEC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior safety Jamarca Sanford was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week, as announced Monday by the league office. A native of Batesville, Miss., Sanford registered a game-high 11 total tackles, including four solos. The effort marked his ninth career double-figure tackle game. He is fourth in the SEC, averaging 8.6 stops per game, and is the league's active career leader in tackles with 248. Sanford helped direct a Rebel defense that stopped the Gators on downs twice and held Florida to three-plays-and-out five times. Ole Miss forced five Gator fumbles, recovering three. Sanford is the third Rebel to earn weekly accolades from the conference this season. Peria Jerry was the Defensive Lineman of the Week following Vanderbilt, and Brandon Bolden was the week's top freshman after Memphis.
SHAY'S BIG DAY: After five career games of 77 or more receiving yards, junior WR Shay Hodge finally cracked the century mark Saturday 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 No. 4 Florida, 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. Hodge's TD grab was his SEC-leading fourth of the year. He also tops the team and ranks fourth in the league in receiving yards per game (65.0).
SEC'S TOP TD TOSSER: Sophomore QB Jevan Snead continues to be the SEC leader in TD passes, as his two against Florida raised his season total to eight scoring tosses. He also ranks third in the conference in passing average at 205.8 yards per game. At Wake Forest, he 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: After a career-high receiving day against Vanderbilt, junior Dexter McCluster led the team in rushing against Florida with 11 carries for 60 yards and his second rushing TD of the year. He averages 97.4 all-purpose yards including 62.4 receiving yards, which ranks sixth in the SEC. The Largo, Fla., native recorded a career-high 132 receiving yards and equaled his career-best of seven receptions against Vanderbilt. McCluster posted 176 all-purpose yards against the Commodores and 125 vs. Memphis. McCluster leads the team in receptions (19) and ranks third in rushing yards (175).
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 386.4 yards per outing, which ranks third 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' 30.2 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.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
Junior RB Cordera Eason has scored a touchdown in three of the last four games ... He hauled in his second career TD pass Saturday on an 18-yard screen pass ... Eason set a career-best in rushing against Vanderbilt, totaling a game-high 88 yards on 12 attempts.
Freshman RB Brandon Bolden rushed for 56 yards on a team-high 13 carries at Florida ... He leads the rushing attack with 261 yards and two TDs.
The Rebel offensive line has allowed only four sacks this year, which is tied for second in the SEC ... Leading the charge is Preseason First Team All-American tackle Michael Oher, who ranks third among SEC active players in career starts with 39.
Junior OL Reid Neely made his first start of the year Saturday ... The left guard started all 12 games a year ago.
IN THE BACKFIELD: The Rebel defense posted seven tackles for loss against Florida and boasts 38 TFLs in the last four games. Sophomore NT Ted Laurent leads the team and is tied for third in the SEC with six TFLs, and on Saturday, he notched his first career sack in one of three by the Rebel defense of Tim Tebow. Senior DT Peria Jerry has posted 4.5 TFLs, while Jonathan Cornell and Greg Hardy 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 two 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
After recovering only one fumble in the first three games, the Ole Miss defense has forced and recovered five in the last two games ... The Rebels' three fumbles at Florida marked the Gators' first turnovers of the year.
Junior S Kendrick Lewis equaled his career high with nine total tackles along with a fumble recovery at Florida ... He has posted nine tackles on three occasions this season ... Lewis also tops the team in passes defended with four, after only two in 2007.
Senior LB Tony Fein was credited with a season-high 10 stops on Saturday ... It was his fourth career game with double-digit tackles.
Junior LB Patrick Trahan earned his first start as a Rebel at Florida.
After allowing an average of 400.5 yards in the first two games, the Ole Miss defense rebounded to hold Samford to 198 yards and Vanderbilt to 202.
TRULY SPECIAL TEAMS: The Rebels' special teams has provided at least one major highlight in each of the last three games. 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: After one of the SEC's finest special teams performances ever last week, senior WR Mike Wallace had no letdown in his encore at Florida. 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 single-game record (Marshay Green's 159 against Florida in 2007) and notching the fourth-highest total in SEC history. Wallace registered the second kickoff return TD of his career and the fifth-longest in school history with his 98-yarder. On Saturday, 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. He is second in the SEC in kickoff returns and is percentage points behind the leader (31.1 ypr to 31.2).
SPECIALTY NOTES
After no touchbacks on kickoffs last year, the Rebels have registered eight in the first five games, courtesy of junior Justin Sparks.
Junior K Joshua Shene was perfect at Florida, converting all four PATs and connecting on a 33-yard field goal ... He is 6-for-7 on field goals this year, missing only a 47-yarder against Vanderbilt.
Shene is a perfect 19-for-19 on PATs this year to extend his streak to 41 consecutive extra points converted ... He has connected on 63-of-64 career PATs.
SEC COMMUNITY SERVICE TEAM: Senior TE David Traxler was featured as last week's SEC Community Service Team Player of the Week. 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.
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).
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 FB 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.
