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The University of Mississippi Athletics
GAME PREVIEW: Ole Miss vs. Samford
9/8/2008 | Football
The Rebels enter the weekend following a heartbreaking 30-28 loss at No. 20 Wake Forest Saturday. Ole Miss held a 28-23 lead with just over a minute remaining after Rebel quarterback Jevan Snead lead an 80-yard drive and converted on a fourth down play inside the five yard line to give Ole Miss the lead.
“I really loved how hard our young men played,” Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt said. “As tough as that was, you know you have to go to work and realize that you’re close and there is such a fine line between winning and losing.”
Snead finished the afternoon with 253 yards passing and tossed four touchdowns to up his SEC-leading total to six. Snead is the first Rebel quarterback to throw four TDs in a game since Eli Manning accomplished the feat against
“Our team now knows that Jevan is our quarterback and our leader,” Nutt said. “I thought he took giant steps. He is going to be something when that fifth, sixth, seventh game rolls around. We are going to keep building on that and we are going to get better.”
Overall, the Rebel offensive attack is averaging 399.0 yards per game, which is the most since Ole Miss ended the 2003 season with 433.2 yards per game. In addition, the Rebels have scored a total of 69 points over the first two games to mark the most points over a two-game stretch since piling up 97 in wins over
Led by second-year head coach and 1971 Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan, Samford is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2003 and just the second time since 1996 after a 62-0 home win over Faulkner Saturday. The win marked the first shutout posted by the Samford defense since 1999 and was the biggest win for the program since 1987.
The Bulldog running game tallied 374 yards on the night. Marcus Rice led the group with 10 rushes for 81 yards and a touchdown, while Chris Evans rushed eight times for 66 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half. The Bulldogs have outrushed the opposition 591 yards to 35 through two games.
Saturday’s contest marks the third meeting all-time between Ole Miss and Samford, which was known as
Ole Miss owns a 40-11 overall record in its last 51 non-conference games that date back to a 38-0 blanking of Tulane in 1994. The Rebels also boast an impressive 17-1 all-time record against teams hailing from the Southern Conference.
OleMissSports.com will provide live audio through RebelVision, live stats and an in-game blog for the matchup. The official Rebel athletics website will also supply a full game recap, photo gallery and live postgame video afterwards.
