Vanderbilt-Ole Miss Postgame Notes

VANDERBILT POSTGAME NOTES

QB- GREG ZOLMAN
Quarterback Greg Zolman completed 23-of-41 pass attempts for 286 yards, three touchdowns and one interception ... Zolman's 28-yard touchdown toss to Jason Mathenia with 10:47 remaining in the game tied him with Whit Taylor (1979-82) for most in school history with 41. Zolman now holds or shares every career passing record at Vanderbilt, including passing yards (7,981), completions (596) and attempts (1,156).

WR- DAN STRICKER
Wide receiver Dan Stricker recorded 11 receptions for 169 yards with one touchdown. He became the third Commodore in school history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a single season (1,079) when he caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Zolman ... It also marked the ninth 100-yard receiving game of his career - tying for first among receivers in school history (Boo Mitchell, 1985-88) ... His 65 receptions on the year were a single-season high.

RB- RODNEY WILLIAMS
Senior running back Rodney Williams rushed 16 times for 96 yards. He became the seventh Commodore in school history to surpass 2,000 rushing yards (2,021) in a career.

CAREER NOTES
The Commodre defense registered three interceptions against the Rebels -- all in the second quarter. Safety Jerrol Jackson picked off two Eli Manning passes with 4:51 and 1:23 remaining in the quarter. Linebacker Nate Morrow started the defensive flurry with his interception at the 6:15 mark. Jackson became the second Commodore this season to pull down multiple interceptions in a game. Justin Giboney grabbed two interceptions against Duke (10/27). Vanderbilt set a season-high with four interceptions against the Blue Devils ... Freshman wide receiver Jason Mathenia's 28-yard touchdown reception with 10:47 remaining in the game was the first of his career ... Junior cornerback Rushen Jones, out since the fourth game of the season with a broken right hand, entered the game at the 3:28 mark of the first quarter. Jones had registered 26 consecutive starts before suffering the injury in practice leading up to the Georgia game.

OLE MISS POSTGAME NOTES

SERIES NOTES
* Today's game marked the 76th all-time meeting between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt dating back to 1894.
* The Rebels lead the series 42-32-2, and hold a 19-3 advantage in Oxford.
* Ole Miss has won eight of the last nine meetings.
* Today's game was originally scheduled for Sept. 15 but was postponed to Dec. 1 following the nation's tragedy on Sept. 11.

TEAM NOTES
* Today's game is Ole Miss' first regular-season contest played in December since the 1970 season. That year, Ole Miss closed with a Dec. 5 contest at LSU. The last time the Rebels played a regular-season game in December at home was the 1964 season. That year Ole Miss finished with a Dec. 5 home game against Mississippi State. Since 1947, the Rebels are 7-2 in regular-season games played in December.
* The Rebels snapped their three-game losing streak, their longest since dropping the final three regular season game in 1998.
* Today's win was Ole Miss' seventh of the season to secure the Rebels' fifth straight seven-win season. It is Ole Miss' longest such streak since stringing together 12 consecutive seven-win seasons from 1952-1963.

NOTING ELI (MANNING)
23-of-40 passing, 286 yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs
* Became Ole Miss' single-season leader for passing yards on Ole Miss' first play of the game, breaking Stewart Patridge's 1997 record of 2,667. Manning entered the game needing six yards to break the mark, and was 2-of-4 for 11 yards on the Rebels' opening possession. He finishes the regular season with 2,948 yards.
* With four TD passes today, Manning breaks Charlie Conerly's 1947 Ole Miss single-season record for TDs responsible with 31. Conerly was responsible for 27 TDs in 1947.
* Finishes the regular season with a 144.84 pass efficiency rating to break Glynn Griffing's 1962 school single-season record of 136.4.
* Set a total of 13 school records during the regular season.
* Has now thrown a TD pass in 12 consecutive games dating back to last December's Music City Bowl.
* Extended his streak of 200-yard passing games to 11.
* Was 13-of-20 for 206 yards and four TDs in the second half, including 8-of-9 for 151 yards and three TDs during the fourth quarter.
* The fourth-quarter comeback was the third Manning engineered this season. He also led the Rebels to fourth-quarter comeback wins against Alabama and LSU.

OFFENSIVE NOTES
* Junior WR Jason Armstead caught six passes for a season-best 91 yards receiving.
* Sophomore WR Chris Collins caught three passes to finish the regular season with 54, two shy of LeMay Thomas' 1995 Ole Miss single-season record of 56. Collins finishes tied for second on the single-season list with Floyd Franks.
* With four receptions by senior Jamie Armstrong, Armstrong and sophomore Chris Collins become the sixth receiving duo in school history to record at least 40 receptions each in a season. The pair combined to catch 94 passes for 1,162 yards this season.
* The Rebels set a new school single-season record for first downs. Ole Miss recorded 32 first downs today and finishes the regular season with 268 to break the old mark of 245 set in 1980.
* The last time the Rebels had at least 30 first downs in a game was versus Southern Illinois, 31, in 1994.

JOE GUNN, SENIOR RB
* Set career-highs for rushing attempts and rushing yards, rushing 32 times for 157 yards and a TD.
* He finishes (possible bowl game would not count in career records) his career second on the Ole Miss all-time rushing list with 2,749 yards.
* With 32 rushing attempts today, Gunn broke Deuce McAllister's Ole Miss career record for rushing attempts. Gunn finishes his career with 630 career rushing attempts to break McAllister's record of 616.
* The 157-yard performance was his 12th career 100-yard rushing game.

DEFENSIVE NOTES
* Justin Wade's interception in the second quarter was the first of his career.
* The 286 yards passing by Vanderbilt was the most by an Ole Miss opponent this season.
* The 119 yards rushing by the Commodores was the fewest the Rebels have allowed this season.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
* Jonathan Nichols' 39-yard FG in the first quarter was his career long. His previous long was 32 yards vs. Arkansas on Nov. 3.
* Nichols' finishes the regular season 47-of-49 on PATs, setting new school single-season records for both PATs made and attempted.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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