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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Roberson Remembers: Brian Lee’s Five Field Goals vs. Tulane
9/17/2021 | Football
Lee Set Single-Game Record 30 Years Ago
After the Battle for the Golden Egg in 1992 in Oxford, won dramatically by Ole Miss 17-10, Brian Lee walked out of "Doc" Knight Field House and looked out over Vaught-Hemingway Stadium where he had kicked for the last time.
The Citronelle, Alabama, senior had just become the all-time leading scorer in Ole Miss football history, and an interesting four-year career was worthy of a few moments of quiet reflection after a rough and raucous few hours of intense arch-rival football.
"We'd stayed on the field a long time after the game," Lee said, recalling the moment, "and after we went into the field house and changed, I went back and just stood there for a few minutes."
The Rebels still had one more game, which would be a 13-0 victory in Memphis' Liberty Bowl vs. Air Force on New Year's Eve, but that was icing on the 9-3 season's cake. It was the Egg Bowl win that meant so much and would never be forgotten.
Lee's final points tally was 207 for his four years. He had passed the guy who had kicked the four seasons prior to him - Bryan Owen with 206 points from 1985-88. That's because kickers are normally at or near the top of a program's scoring chart.
Even now, the top spot belongs to Gary Wunderlich (2014-17) with 350 points. Seven of the top eight career leading scorers in Ole Miss football history are placekickers.
The exception? The player who passed Brian Lee eight years after that 1992 season – running back Deuce McAllister and his 246 points from 1997-2000.
"Deuce scored a lot of touchdowns," Lee chuckled a bit and said. Lee is currently No. 8 on the list.
But it wasn't always easy for Lee throughout his four seasons. A solid freshman campaign unfortunately led into a dismal sophomore season. From a made field goal against Tulane in Oxford on the last Saturday in September of 1990, Lee missed every field goal attempt until New Year's Day, 1991.
"With the benefit of 30 years of hindsight, I would say 100 percent mental," Lee said of his sophomore issues.
But on January 1, 1991, things shifted - not necessarily for the team but for Brian Lee.
Lee's 51-yard field goal that day accounted for the only points for Ole Miss in a 35-3 Gator Bowl loss to Michigan. And when Lee and the Rebels rolled into New Orleans to face Tulane in the season opener of 1991, that day he would be the best he'd ever been.
His 5-for-5 field goal game helped lead the Rebels to a 22-3 win over the Green Wave in the Superdome.
"That was a great day," Lee said recently. "I really haven't thought of that in quite a while." And the 51-yard field goal in the Gator Bowl 30 years ago?
"I can't believe that record is still standing," Lee said of the longest field goal in the history of that bowl, which began in 1946. "But I guess when it's played only once a year, there are less chances."
One of the more unusual aspects of his career is that between his sophomore and junior seasons, the NCAA reduced the width of goalposts from high school width to NFL width.
His last one with the old, wide goal posts was the 51-yarder against Michigan. His first game with the narrower goal posts was the day he made five against Tulane.
Lee continues to be proud that not only did he play for the late Billy Brewer but the veteran head coach, who spent a lot of time coaching special teams, stuck with him through the thick and the thin.
"Coach Brewer, to his credit, tried a little bit of everything," said Lee of his coach's efforts to get him through the sophomore slump. "He was always supportive. Sometimes it would be a pep talk, and sometimes it would be to stay away and let me figure it out. Every now and then he would be more stern like 'Get with it.' He stuck with me, and I don't know if I would have done that. I will always owe a huge debt to Coach Brewer for believing that I could do it."
The era in which Lee played was quite successful for Ole Miss Football. There were two nine-win seasons and an eight-win season along with three bowl appearances.
Another Tulane moment was huge for the 8-4 team his freshman season. Ole Miss trailed in the Superdome 28-25 as the clock wound down. Lee thought he might be sent in for a game-tying field goal, and there was no overtime until a few years later.
But Brewer chose to keep the offense on the field, and quarterback John Darnell connected with tight end Rich Gebbia on a 24-yard touchdown pass with four seconds left in the game.
The final score was 32-28, and the Rebels had literally grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat in dramatic fashion.
The bonds of those teams remain strong, and some of it has to do with what they went through. The winning helped, but Lee's freshman year on homecoming against Vanderbilt was the day Chucky Mullins was injured. Mullins lived a year and a half afterward, but died on May 6, 1991,
"That was a great day," Lee said recently. "I really haven't thought of that in quite a while." And the 51-yard field goal in the Gator Bowl 30 years ago?
"I can't believe that record is still standing," Lee said of the longest field goal in the history of that bowl, which began in 1946. "But I guess when it's played only once a year, there are less chances."
One of the more unusual aspects of his career is that between his sophomore and junior seasons, the NCAA reduced the width of goalposts from high school width to NFL width.
His last one with the old, wide goal posts was the 51-yarder against Michigan. His first game with the narrower goal posts was the day he made five against Tulane.
Lee continues to be proud that not only did he play for the late Billy Brewer but the veteran head coach, who spent a lot of time coaching special teams, stuck with him through the thick and the thin.
"Coach Brewer, to his credit, tried a little bit of everything," said Lee of his coach's efforts to get him through the sophomore slump. "He was always supportive. Sometimes it would be a pep talk, and sometimes it would be to stay away and let me figure it out. Every now and then he would be more stern like 'Get with it.' He stuck with me, and I don't know if I would have done that. I will always owe a huge debt to Coach Brewer for believing that I could do it."
The era in which Lee played was quite successful for Ole Miss Football. There were two nine-win seasons and an eight-win season along with three bowl appearances.
Another Tulane moment was huge for the 8-4 team his freshman season. Ole Miss trailed in the Superdome 28-25 as the clock wound down. Lee thought he might be sent in for a game-tying field goal, and there was no overtime until a few years later.
But Brewer chose to keep the offense on the field, and quarterback John Darnell connected with tight end Rich Gebbia on a 24-yard touchdown pass with four seconds left in the game.
The final score was 32-28, and the Rebels had literally grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat in dramatic fashion.
The bonds of those teams remain strong, and some of it has to do with what they went through. The winning helped, but Lee's freshman year on homecoming against Vanderbilt was the day Chucky Mullins was injured. Mullins lived a year and a half afterward, but died on May 6, 1991,
which was between the Michigan game in the Gator Bowl and the Tulane game when Lee kicked five field goals.
"We were not really a star-driven group (in those seasons)," Lee said. "There were a lot of emotional things that put us all on the same page."
Since finishing at Ole Miss, Lee got a MBA degree from Memphis while he was kicking for the former arena team, the Memphis Pharaohs. He lived in Atlanta for a number of years but for the past four years has lived with wife Amy and 16-year-old son Watson, a high school junior, in the Birmingham suburb of Homewood. Lee's parents, Ronnie and Linda, are in Alabama as is his youngest brother Steven and his family. Middle brother Russ and family live in Hattiesburg.
When the Rebels kick it off against Tulane Saturday night on ESPN2, Brian Lee will be thinking of a lot of things from his time at Ole Miss - and for sure the day he made those five field goals to help lift the Rebels to victory. For him personally it was an important day to get back on track, still only halfway through his four years as a Rebel.
"I still had to come to terms that even with the one make in the Gator Bowl, that was just one swing of the leg. I still might have kicked my last one, and I might not get a chance to do this again," he said, reflection clearly in his voice. "You stare that in the face and you think you might just be a backup and stay here to get your degree. I came to terms with the fact that I could. I could handle that if I had to."
But he didn't have to, and a couple of years later was at the top of the scoring list, and still today remains among the best kickers to ever suit up for the Ole Miss Rebels.
Wednesday, April 29
Tuesday, April 28
Tuesday, April 28
Monday, April 27