University of Tennessee Athletics
#FridayFlashback: Manning Faces Ole Miss
October 17, 2014 | Football
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
Peyton Manning heard all his life about Ole Miss football.
And for good reason. His father, Archie, was the greatest quarterback in Rebel history. Older brother Cooper had gone to Oxford as a wide receiver, only to have his football career cut short by a neck injury. But the first time Manning suited up for an Ole Miss football game, he was in the other locker room.
The meeting between Tennessee and Ole Miss in Memphis was a meaningful game for both teams beyond the Manning saga. The Volunteers and Rebels had met in all but two seasons from 1956-1991, but the SEC's expansion in 1992 ended the yearly meetings.
The Liberty Bowl in Memphis played host to the game, the first Thursday night contest for the Volunteers since a win at Louisville in 1991.
The Manning show started slowly. After a 12-yard completion to Joey Kent on the first play of the game, Tennessee went to the ground, trying to establish a running game that had not materialized a week earlier against Florida. The ground game led the Volunteers inside the 5-yard line in the first quarter, but a Jay Graham fumble stopped the scoring threat. Jeff Hall broke through on the next drive with a 24-yard field goal to give UT the 3-0 lead after a quarter.
After an Ole Miss field goal, runs from Graham and Eric Lane accounted for 58 of the 80 yards on a six-play UT touchdown drive capped by Lane's 31-yard score for a 10-3 lead.
The Rebels appeared well on their way to tying the game just before halftime. Then, Leonard Little happened. The junior forced a fumble on a crushing sack of quarterback Paul Head, setting up a Graham touchdown six plays later for a 17-3 halftime advantage for UT.
Little continued to wreak havoc after the break, his pressure forcing an intentional grounding call against Head a play before an interception that set up a Manning-to-Nash TD connection.
Less than a minute later, Little sacked Ole Miss backup QB Stewart Patridge, forcing another fumble in the process, this one pounced on By Bill Duff in the end zone for another UT score. Suddenly, it was 31-3 UT with much of the second half still to be played.
The ground game continued to pound away at the Ole Miss defense. Mark Levine added a 7-yard score later in the third quarter, a score that ended the day for Manning and most of the Tennessee starters. Hall's fourth-quarter field goal filled out the 41-3 final score.
Little finished with five tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles, stats that earned him the SEC Defensive Player of the Week award. Manning was 18-of-22 through the air for 242 yards and a TD.
Establishing the ground game worked well for Tennessee. The Vols rushed 45 times for 221 yards en route to outgaining the Rebels 503-184.
