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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Football Game Notes
11/19/2000 | Football
Nov. 19, 2000
Ole Miss Weekly Football Press Release
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Depth Chart vs. Mississippi StateDownload Free Acrobat Reader
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 2000
TIME: 7:01 p.m. (CST)
SITE: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field (50,577)
TV: ESPN (Mike Tirico, play-by-play, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit, color analysts, Dr. Jerry Punch, sideline reporter).
RADIO: Ole Miss Radio Network (David Kellum, play-by-play, Pete Cordelli, color analyst, Stan Sandroni, sideline reporter, Gary Darby, pre-game host.).
RECORDS: Ole Miss is 6-4 on the year, 3-4 in the SEC. The Rebels have dropped two straight, losing 20-9 to LSU in Oxford on Nov. 11, and 32-14 to No. 21 Georgia this past Saturday in Athens, Ga. ... Mississippi State fell to 7-3, 4-3 in the SEC, after dropping a 17-10 decision to Arkansas in overtime last weekend in Starkville, Miss.
RANKINGS: Ole Miss received nine votes in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25, marking the 14th straight week they have received votes ion one of the two major polls. The Rebels garnered three votes in last week's Associated Press Top 25. Mississippi State is No. 23 in this week's ESPN/USA Today Top 25, falling 10 spots from No. 13. The Bulldogs were No. 13 in last week's AP Top 25.
COACHES: David Cutcliffe is in his second full season as head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. He is 15-8 at Ole Miss and has guided the Rebels to victories in the 1998 and 1999 Sanford Independence Bowls. He made his Ole Miss debut and recorded his first career win in the Rebels' 35-18 win over Texas Tech in the 1998 Sanford Independence Bowl. Ole Miss is Cutcliffe's first career head coaching assignment. Cutcliffe is 0-1 versus Mississippi State and Bulldog head coach Jackie Sherrill ... Jackie Sherrill is in his 10th season at Mississippi State and has compiled a 66-47-2 record. He is 171-92-4 in his 23rd season as a collegiate head coach, including stops at Washington State (1976), Pittsburgh (1977-81) and Texas A&M (1982-88). Sherrill is 6-3 versus Ole Miss, and 1-0 versus Cutcliffe.
SERIES INFO
Ole Miss leads 54-36-6
Egg Bowl: Ole Miss leads 47-19-5
Last meeting: Mississippi State won 23-20 last year in Starkville, Miss.
In Oxford: Ole Miss 16-10-3
In Starkville: Ole Miss 19-8-3
Other Sites: MSU 20-17** (Clarksdale: MSU 1-0, Columbus: UM 1-0, Greenwood: 0-2, Jackson: UM 16-14)
Largest UM win: 42 (49-7, 1951 in Starkville and 42-0, 1959 in Starkville)
Largest MSU win: 65 (65-0, 1915 in Tupelo)
Longest UM win streak: 6, twice, 1930-35, 1947-52
Longest MSU win streak: 13, 1911-25
** - UM awarded forfeit wins in 1976 and 1977.
NOTES: Thursday's meeting will be the 97th all-time between the two schools dating back to 1901. It is tied for the 16th longest rivalry in NCAA Division I-A history with North Carolina-Wake Forest and Michigan-Ohio State. The NCAA considers it the 10th longest uniterrupted rivalry, with this being the 85th consecutive year the two teams have played, even though neither team fielded a squad in 1943 when football was abolished at all state-supported schools ... This will be the 72nd edition of "The Battle of the Golden Egg" which started with the 1927 contest. Ole Miss holds an "on-the-field" advantage of 52-38-6 in the series, including 45-21-5 in "The Battle of the Golden Egg." The Rebels were later awarded forfeit wins the 1976 and 1977 contests played in Jackson that the Bulldogs won 28-11 and 18-14 ... The visitor has won five of the last six meetings, with Mississippi State breaking a five-game losing streak by the host team with a 23-20 win last year in Starkville ... Since the series returned to campus sites in 1991, Ole Miss is 1-3 versus Mississippi State in Oxford ... Six of the last eight meetings have been decided by seven points or less ... MSU hasn't beaten Ole Miss three straight since doing so four consecutive times from 1939-1942.
DEUCE WATCH:
* Enters Thursday's game 61 rushing yards shy of becoming the first Ole Miss player to rush for 3,000 career yards.
* Needs one TD to break Kayo Dottley's and Archie Manning's Ole Miss single-season TD record of 14, and two points to break Manning's single-season record for total points scored of 86.
* McAllister's 1,304 all-purpose yards is the fifth-highest single-season total in Ole Miss history. Last year, he set the school single-season record with 1,692.
GAME NOTES
SENIOR SALUTE: Ole Miss will honor its 23 senior football players prior to Thursday's regular-season finale against Mississippi State. Heading into the Thanksgiving night encounter, this year's senior class has compiled a four-year record of 29-17 (.630 winning percentage). The 29 victories are the most by an Ole Miss senior class since the 1993 seniors also compiled a 29-17 mark. With a win over Mississippi State, the Class of 2000 can guarantee themselves their fourth straight winning season to become the fourth, four-year senior class -- and the first since 1956 -- to accomplish that feat in the post-World War II era. Freshman were ineligible from 1954-72.
The 2000 seniors have also helped Ole Miss to three straight bowl games, and if the Rebels earn a bowl berth this year, they would also become the first Rebel four-year senior class in the post-World War II era to earn four straight bowl invitations.
This year's senior class includes: PK Les Binkley (Memphis, Tenn.), DE Derrick Burgess (Riverdale, Md.), LB Chad Cook (Calhoun City, Miss.), P Ben Craddock (McComb, Miss.), WR Tom Davis (Batesville, Miss.), DE Shane Elam (Covington, Tenn.), OL Shane Grice (Shannon, Miss.), WR Grant Heard (Lake Jackson, Texas), DE Walker Hunsicker (Oxford, Miss.), LB Demond James (Pontotoc, Miss.), LB Shawn Johnson (Brewton, Ala.), P Reagan King (Ackerman,Miss.), DB Ken Lucas (Cleveland, Miss.), DB Anthony Magee (Collins, Miss.), RB Deuce McAllister (Morton, Miss.), QB Romaro Miller (Shannon, Miss.), C Charlie Perkins (Macon, Miss.), DE John Romm (Costa Mesa, Calif.), DE Antionne Scott (Memphis, Tenn.), WR L.J. Taylor (Clewiston, Fla.), OL Keydrick Vincent (Bartow, Fla.), LB Amzie Williams (Philadelphia, Miss.) and DB Kenny Woods (Grenada, Miss.).
THANKSGIVING EGG BOWLS: Thursday's game will mark the 13th time that the Rebels and Bulldogs have battled for the Golden Egg on Thanksgiving Day, and the 20th time overall the two schools have played on the holiday. This is the third straight year that Ole Miss and Mississippi State have played on Thanksgiving Night with ESPN televising the game nationally. Ole Miss is 7-4-1 versus Mississippi State in Thanksgiving Day Egg Bowl battles and 11-8-1 all-time against the Bulldogs on Thanksgiving. Mississippi State has won the last two Thanksgiving Day Egg Bowl Battles, winning 28-6 in Oxford in 1998, and 23-20 last year in Starkville. The 1998 contest was the first time in 27 years that the game was played on Thanksgiving. The following chart shows the results of the Thanksgiving Day Egg Bowl Battles:
Year Score1927 at Ole Miss 20, Mississippi State 121928 Ole Miss 20, at Mississippi State 191929 at Ole Miss 7, Mississippi State 71930 Ole Miss 20, at Mississippi State 01931 at Ole Miss 25, Mississippi State 141932 Ole Miss 13, at Mississippi State 01937 Mississippi State 9, at Ole Miss 71969 Ole Miss 48, at Mississippi State 221970 Mississippi State 19, at Ole Miss 141971 Ole Miss 48, at Mississippi State 01998 Mississippi State 28, at Ole Miss 61999 at Mississippi State 23, Ole Miss 20
EGG BOWL FAST FACT: Thursday's game will be just the third night game in the Egg Bowl's 72-year history, with all coming in the last three years.
OLE MISS AIMS FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT 7-WIN SEASON: A victory Thursday over Mississippi State would secure Ole Miss' fourth straight season with at least seven wins. The last time the Rebels had four consecutive seven-win campaigns was from 1968-1971 when Ole Miss went 7-3-1, 8-3, 7-4 and 10-2. The Rebels went 8-4 in 1997, 7-5 in 1998 and 8-4 last season. A win Thanksgiving Night would also clinch four straight winning seasons for the Rebels for the first time since they reeled off seven consecutive from 1965-1971.
CUTCLIFFE LOOKING TO JOIN MEHRE AND VAUGHT IN ELITE GROUP: An Ole Miss victory Thursday would make head coach David Cutcliffe the third coach in Ole Miss history to win at least seven games in his first two seasons with the Rebels, joining Harry J. Mehre and the legendary John Vaught. Mehre posted marks of 9-2 and 7-2 in his first two seasons in 1938 and 1939, and Vaught went 9-2 and 8-1 in his first two campaigns in 1947 and 1948.
PACKING THEM IN: Since Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Holl-ingsworth Field's capacity was expanded from 42,577 to 50,577 in 1998, Ole Miss has exceeded the previous capacity in 13 of the 17 home games during that span. In eight of those 17 games, the Rebels have played before a home crowd of over 50,000, including three times this season. Ole Miss set a single-game attendance record of 52,476 for its game against LSU on Nov. 11, breaking the old mark of 52,368 set on Sept. 9 versus Auburn. Ole Miss also drew 51,448 -- the fourth largest home attendance figure in school history -- when Kentucky visited Oxford on Sept. 30. The last time the Egg Bowl was played at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/ Hollingsworth Field on Thanksgiving Night in 1998, 50,412 turned out to watch which was then the second-largest home attendance figure in school history.
UNDER THE LIGHTS: Since lights were installed at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field in 1990, Ole Miss has enjoyed great success in home night games (6:00 p.m. start or later). The Rebels are 19-3 (.864 winning percentage) in home night games, starting with their 23-21 win over Memphis State on Sept. 8, 1990. Ole Miss is 8-3 in SEC home night games. Two of the three losses have come this season with Auburn defeating Ole Miss 35-27 on Sept. 9, and LSU 20-9 on Nov. 11. The other loss came at the hands of Mississippi State, 28-6, on Thanksgiving Night 1998. The following chart shows the Rebels' success in home night games:
Date Opponent Score9/8/90 Memphis State W, 23-219/21/91 Ohio W, 38-149/5/92 Auburn W, 45-219/12/92 Tulane W, 35-910/3/92 Kentucky W, 24-149/11/93 UT-Chattanooga W, 40-79/18/93 Vanderbilt W, 49-79/25/93 Georgia W, 31-149/10/94 Southern Illinois W, 59-39/9/95 Indiana State W, 56-109/23/95 Georgia W, 18-168/31/96 Idaho State W, 38-1410/26/96 Arkansas State W, 38-218/30/97 Central Florida W, 24-23 (ot)9/6/97 SMU W, 23-159/27/97 Vanderbilt W, 15-311/6/97 Arkansas W, 19-911/26/98 Mississippi State L, 6-289/11/99 Arkansas State W, 38-149/9/00 Auburn L, 27-359/30/00 Kentucky W, 35-1711/11/00 LSU L, 9-20
REBELS ON TV: Thursday's game with Mississippi State, to be televised by ESPN, will mark Ole Miss' seventh TV appearance this season, and its second on ESPN. Ole Miss' Oct. 14 game at Alabama was also shown on ESPN. The seven television appearances ties the school record set last year and in 1997. Overall, it will be the Rebels' 111th TV appearance, dating back to Ole Miss' first network TV appearance in the 1953 Sugar Bowl against Georgia Tech. The Rebels are 49-59-2 (.455 winning percentage) in TV games. Ole Miss is 5-5 all-time on ESPN and 8-12 on either ESPN or ESPN2. This will be the ninth time that the "Egg Bowl" has been televised, including the third straight year by ESPN on Thanksgiving. It is also the fifth straight year that the game has been shown on TV, as Jefferson Pilot and ESPN2 carried a split feed in 1996 and 1997. The two teams have split the previous eight meetings that have been shown on TV. The following chart shows the eight TV "Egg Bowl" games:
Year Score (Network)1999 at Miss. State 23, Ole Miss 20 (ESPN)1998 Miss. State 28, at Ole Miss 6 (ESPN)1997 Ole Miss 15, at Miss. State 14 (JP/ESPN2)1996 Miss. State 17, at Ole Miss 0 (JP/ESPN2)1992 at Ole Miss 17, Miss. State 10 (JP)1986 Ole Miss 24, Miss. State 3* (TBS)1984 Ole Miss 24, Miss. State 3* (TBS)1964 Miss. State 20, at Ole Miss 17 (NBC)* - at Jackson, Miss.
DEUCE TIES SINGLE-SEASON TD MARK: With 14 TDs this season, senior RB Deuce McAllister has tied Kayo Dottley's and Archie Manning's Ole Miss single-season TD record. Dottley scored 14 TDs in 1949, and Manning tied the mark in 1969. With 84 total points, McAllister is two points shy of Manning's school single-season standard of 86 (14 TDs, 1 2XP) set in 1969. McAllister has scored 11 of his 14 TDs on the ground this season, putting him three rushing TDs shy of the school single-season record of 14 held by Dottley and Manning (see the Ole Miss Record Book on page 24).
McAllister's 14 TDs this season leads the SEC.
CLOSING IN ON 3,000: Senior RB Deuce McAllister needs 61 yards rushing against Mississippi State Thursday night to become the first Ole Miss player to rush for 3,000 yards in a career, and the 19th player in SEC history to do so. The last SEC player to go rush for over 3,000 yards in a career was Alabama's Shaun Alexander last year, who finished his career ninth on SEC's career rushing list with 3,565 career rushing yards. McAllister currently has 2,939 career rushing yards to rank 19th on the SEC's all-time list.
McALLISTER CRACKS 1,000 ALL-PURPOSE YARD MARK AGAIN: With his 186 all-purpose yards against Arkansas on Nov. 4, senior RB Deuce McAllister became the first player in school history to record three straight seasons with at least 1,000 all-purpose yards. Through 10 games, McAllister has 1,304 all-purpose yards, the fifth-highest single-season total in Ole Miss history. Last year in 10 games, McAllister established a new school single-season record with 1,692 all-purpose yards.
McAllister entered the season as one of five players in school history to record back-to-back seasons with at least 1,000 all-purpose yards. The others to record consecutive seasons with 1,000 all-purpose yards are: Kayo Dottley (1949-50), J.R. Ambrose (1985-86) Pat Coleman (1988-89) and John Avery (1996-97).
For his career, McAllister has totaled an Ole Miss career record of 4,705 all-purpose yards on 702 touches -- an average of 6.59 yards per play. The following charts show McAllister's 2000 game-by-game and year-by-year all-purpose yard totals:
--2000--Opponent Rush Rec. KR PR TotalTulane 29 52 48 6 135Auburn 104 1 56 96 257Vanderbilt 143 47 2 23 215Kentucky 75 5 51 9 140Arkansas St. 85 35 0 9 129Alabama* 10 0 0 0 10UNLV* 5 0 0 0 5Arkansas 131 16 22 17 186LSU 48 34 23 20 125Georgia 16 0 80 6 102Total 646 190 279 189 1,304CHART TOPPER: In addition to becoming Ole Miss' career rushing leader, Deuce McAllister has set five other school career records this season and holds seven total. He entered the 2000 season as the Rebels' career leader in all-purpose yards (4,705). This season, in addition to setting a new career rushing record at Ole Miss, McAllister also set new career marks for rushing attempts (592), 100-yard rushing games (12), rushing TDs (34), total TDs scored (38) and total points scored (228). The 38 career total TDs ranks tied for 10th on the SEC's all-time list.
* - missed majority of the game with a high left ankle sprain.
Number of touches: 185Average per touch: 7.05Touchdowns: 14
--CAREER--Year Rush Rec. PR KR Total1997 402 71 0 0 4731998 1,082 154 0 0 1,2361999 809 201 30 652 1,6922000 646 190 189 279 1,304Total 2,939 616 219 931 4,705
Number of touches: 715Average per touch: 6.58Touchdowns: 38
DEUCE RATED AS TOP SENIOR FOR THE 2001 NFL DRAFT: In addition to all of his numerous pre-season accolades, Deuce McAllister was rated by National Football Scouting, Inc., as the No. 1 rated college senior for next April's NFL Draft. National Football Scouting, Inc., is one of two combine services that provide analysis to 27 NFL teams. The other, Blesto, rated Deuce as the No. 2 college senior. Deuce was also been named as the top collegiate prospect by Lonestar Football.
MEL'S BIG BOARD: ESPN football analyst Mel Kiper, Jr., rated both RB Deuce McAllister and CB Ken Lucas as one of his top 25 collegiate seniors for next April's National Football League Draft in his latest weekly draft column on ESPN.com (Nov. 15). Kiper rated McAllister as the No.1 collegiate senior prospect, and Lucas No. 11, up one spot from No. 12 the previous week. Lucas was also the top corner and defensive back on Kiper's top 25 list. Mel's Big Board is updated every Wednesday.
CHARTING THE POLLS: Ole Miss received nine votes in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25 to mark the 14th straight week that the Rebels have received votes in one of the two major college football polls. Ole Miss garnered three votes in last week's Associated Press Top 25 (see the polls on page 5). Ole Miss spent four weeks this season ranked in the Top 25, including three straight weeks from the pre-season rankings to Sept. 3, and were ranked as high as No. 17 in the Coaches poll on Aug. 28. The last time the Rebels were ranked was in the Oct. 8 ESPN/USA Today Top 25 as they were No. 25. The following chart shows Ole Miss in the polls during the 2000 season:
Date ESPN/USA Today APPre-season 18 18Aug. 28 17 18Sept. 3 18 19Sept. 10 RV (81) RV (54)Sept. 17 RV (27) RV (23)Sept. 24 RV (20) RV (15)Oct. 1 RV (31) RV (15)Oct. 8 25 RV (92)Oct. 15 RV (22) --Oct. 22 RV (20) RV (4)Oct. 29 RV (20) RV (6)Nov. 5 RV (27) RV (11)Nov. 12 RV (32) RV (3)Nov. 19 RV (9) N/A
N/A -- Not available at time of the release.
MILLER TIES CAREER PASSING MARK: Senior QB Romaro Miller passed for 87 yards this past Saturday against Georgia to tie Kent Austin's (1981-85) school career record of 6,184 passing yards. The 6,184 career passing yards is also tied for 20th on the SEC's all-time list. Miller and Austin are the only two Ole Miss quarterbacks to record over 6,000 career passing yards. Miller topped the 6,000-yard mark with a 287-yard passing performance against LSU on Nov. 11 (see the Ole Miss Record Book on page 24).
VETERAN LEADER: Coaches will often tell you that you can't put a value on the price of a veteran quarterback. Well, did you know that Ole Miss QB Romaro Miller is one of 15 NCAA Division I-A QBs to have recorded 24 or more career starts. Last Saturday against Georgia, Miller made his 31st career regular-season start. Including bowl games, Miller has started 33 games, and is 21-12(.636 winning percentage) as a starter. The following chart shows the 15 NCAA Division I-A signal-caller with 24 or more starts through games of Nov. 11 (will be updated Monday afternoon):
Quarterback, School Starts1. Jason McKinley, Houston 40*2. Cleo Lemon, Arkansas State 383. Butchie Washington, Akron 36*T4. Drew Brees, Purdue 35* Jay Stoner, Wyoming 356. Ryan Kealy, Arizona State 32 Mike Bath, Miami (Ohio) 32* Chris Weinke, Florida State 329. Quincy Carter, Georgia 31*10. Pete Shepherd, C. Michigan 3011. Romaro Miller, Ole Miss 29T12.Major Applewhite, Texas 28 Mike McMahon, Rutgers 2814. Wes Counts, Middle-Tennessee St. 2715. Jesse Palmer, Florida 25
*- Consecutive starts.-- compiled by the University of Houston SID Office.
MILLER WITH A SHOT FOR ANOTHER RECORD: Senior QB Romaro Miller needs two TD passes in Thursday's game against Mississippi State to tie Charlie Conerly's 1947 Ole Miss single-season records for TD passes and TD s responsible for, with 18. Miller currently has thrown 16 TDs and has been responsible for 16 this season.
MILLER LOOKING FOR 2,000 IN 2000: Senior QB Romaro Miller needs 115 yards passing versus Mississippi State to become the first passer in school history to record two seasons of at least 2,000 yards passing. He threw for 2,273 yards during his sophomore season in 1998, and last year, narrowly missed the 2,000-yard mark as he registered 1,999 yards in the air. Miller can also become just the second player to have two seasons of at least 2,000 yards of total offense with 88 more yards. John Fourcade (1978-81) is currently the only player in Ole Miss history to do so, recording 2,299 yards (402 rushing, 2,299 passing) in 1980, and 2,014 (493 rushing, 1,521 passing) in 1979. If Miller can pass the 2,000-yard mark in both categories, he would be the first player in Ole Miss history to have two 2,000-yard seasons in both categories in a career.
137 AND COUNTING: Senior WR Grant Heard had three catches against Georgia this past Saturday to move within two of tying Ta'Boris Fisher's (1993-96) Ole Miss career receptions mark of 139. Heard is currently second on the school's career list with 137. He surpassed former teammate Cory Peterson (1996-99) for second-place this past weekend. Peterson had 135 career catches during his four-year career (see the Ole Miss Record Book on page 24).
HEARD LOOKING TO CRACK 2,000-YARD PLATEAU: With 26 yards receiving against Mississippi State Thursday night, senior WR Grant Heard can become the second Rebel to record at least 2,000 yards in career receptions. Heard is currently third in career receiving yards at Ole Miss with 1,974. Willie Green (1986-89) is the school's career leader in receiving yards with 2,274, and J.R. Ambrose (1984-87) ranks second with 2,012 yards (see the Ole Miss Record Book on page 24).
HEARD EXTENDS RECEPTION STREAK: Senior WR Grant Heard had three catches against Georgia this past weekend to extend his streak to 19 straight games with at least one reception, dating back to Sept. 26, 1998. It is the third longest streak in school history. Cory Peterson set a school record when he finished his career with a catch in 22 consecutive games. Ta'Boris Fisher caught a pass in 21 straight games from 1993-1995.
HEARD BREAKS TD RECEPTIONS MARK, NEARS SINGLE-SEASON RECORD: With his 27-yard TD catch from QB Romaro Miller at Arkansas on Nov. 4, senior WR Grant Heard recorded his 14th career TD reception to break the Ole Miss career record held by J.R. Ambrose (1984-87) with 13. Heard has seven TD receptions this season, two shy of the Ole Miss single-season record of nine set by Ken Toler in 1980 (see the Ole Miss Record Book on page 24).
THE O-LINE SHUFFLE: Ole Miss has used four different starting line-up combinations on its offensive line this season, still, Ole Miss is ranked first in the SEC of the fewest sacks allowed with seven. The Rebels have had three different starting centers this season, and have had three offensive lineman miss a combined total of 14 games due to injury. Sophomore Ben Claxton was the Rebels' opening-game starting center but suffered a fractured left fibula in the third quarter of the season-opener against Tulane. He would miss four games with the injury before returning on Oct. 14 against Alabama. Senior Charlie Perkins replaced Claxton at center and started the next four games before suffering a season-ending injury to his right knee against Arkansas State on Oct. 7. Junior Matt Koon then became the Rebels' third starting center of the year, and has started every game since, though, he has shared time with Claxton. In addition, reserve right guard Augustus Carwell has missed five games this season after suffering a knee injury versus Arkansas State.
IRON MEN: Senior DT Antionne Scott will enter Thursday's game against Mississippi State having played in all 46 of Ole Miss' games, including the three bowl games, since coming to the Rebels as a freshman in 1997. Senior LB Chad Cook carries a streak of 43 consecutive games played into Thursday's contest.
LOST PLAYING TIME: Through 10 games, Ole Miss starters and key reserves combined have missed 30 games due to injuries. Senior SS Kenny Woods became the latest addition to that list when he missed this past Saturday's game at Georgia after suffering a knee injury in the game versus LSU on Nov. 11. In addition, senior RB Deuce McAllister has missed nearly nine quarters of action due to injury. He sat out the entire fourth quarter against Vanderbilt (9/16) with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder. He then suffered a high left ankle sprain early in the first quarter against Alabama and played sparingly the rest of the game. Against UNLV on Oct. 28, McAllister missed the entire game but the overtime period. The following chart shows the number of games missed by Rebel starters and key reserves:
Eddie Strong, LB 10*Augustus Carwell, OL 5Charlie Perkins, OL 5Ben Claxton, C 4Anthony Sims, DT 2Shane Elam, DE 1Anthony Magee, SS 1Kenny Woods, SS 1Doug Zeigler, TE 1* -- Will redshirt after suffering a stress fracture in his left foot during pre-season drills.
SEC'S BEST PASS DEFENSE: In the latest SEC and NCAA statistics, Ole Miss leads the conference and ranks eighth nationally in pass efficiency defense with a rating of 95.0 The Rebels are allowing an average of 18.0 yards passing per game, ranking second in the SEC and 19th in the nation. Ole Miss has held the opposition to an SEC-best 47.0 completion percentage on 147-of-313 passing, and has intercepted 17 passes while allowing eight TDs.
Through 10 games a year ago, Ole Miss had a pass efficiency defense rating of 117.37 and was allowing 250.0 yards passing per game. Opponents were completing 55.5 percent of its passes, on 198-of-357 passing with 10 TDs and 11 interceptions.
"BALL HAWKS": Senior CB Ken Lucas and junior FS Syniker Taylor have been two of the main reasons why Ole Miss ranks among the nation's leaders in pass efficiency defense. Lucas has picked off a team-high five passes and has set a new Ole Miss single-season record with 24 passes defensed. In the last NCAA Division I-A Defensive Statistics that were released Oct. 28, Lucas was tied for the nation's lead in passes defensed with Oklahoma's J.T. Thatcher at 18. Lucas had an interception in three straight games against Arkansas State (10/7), Alabama (10/14) and UNLV (10/28), and had four picks in five games when he recorded an "oskie" versus LSU (11/11).
Taylor is currently on a three-game streak of his own with at least one interception. He returned an interception 65 yards for a score this past Saturday at Georgia. For the season, Taylor is second on the team in picks with three, and in passes defensed with 16.