Ole Miss rolls over Crimson Tide

By By Will Bardwell/staff writer
October 19, 2003
OXFORD If Ole Miss is not for real, Alabama is now living a lie.
The Rebels scored 24 points in the first quarter alone and quarterback Eli Manning threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns on 14-of-22 passing en route to a 43-28 Ole Miss win over the Crimson Tide.
The win gives Ole Miss a 5-2 record and its first 3-0 start in Southeastern Conference play since 1970 when another Manning quarterback, Archie, took snaps for the Rebels.
On Saturday, it was his youngest son, Eli, who gave Ole Miss its third straight win with the Rebels' biggest win over Alabama since who else Archie Manning led Ole Miss past the Crimson Tide 48-23 in his senior campaign.
The Rebels jumped out to a quick double-digits lead in the first quarter. After a 51-yard field goal by Johnathan Nichols on the team's first drive, Ole Miss quickly regained possession when Travis Johnson intercepted Alabama quarterback Brodie Croyle's first pass.
On the next play, Manning found wide receiver Taye Biddle with a high-arcing fade pass in the back of the end zone. The touchdown gave Ole Miss a 10-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
The Rebels scored two more first-quarter touchdowns another scoring strike from Manning to Biddle and a 10-yard Brandon Jacobs run on their way to a 24-0 first-quarter lead.
The Crimson Tide finally came to life in the second quarter. Shaud Williams opened the scoring for Alabama with a 32-yard touchdown run, and the Tide put together a nine-play drive on their next possession before settling for a 32-yard field goal.
It was Williams' only successful venture against the Ole Miss defense. The senior running back was held to 69 yards on 18 carries his second-lowest rushing output of the season, just ahead of his 58-yard performance against Georgia on Oct. 4.
Croyle also struggled for Alabama. The sophomore quarterback finished 21-of-29 with 248 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions against the Rebels.
Alabama, a team that rushed for 234 yards last year against the Rebels, was held to 152 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Rebels' own running game continued to show improvement. Ole Miss entered the game with the SEC's third-best running game, averaging 170 yards per game, and the Rebels put up 233 yards on the ground against an Alabama team that was giving up an average of just 95 yards per game.
Manning threw less than 25 passes for only the third time in his career, and is 3-0 in such efforts.
Though Alabama never quit driving, the team's efforts were never enough to keep up with Manning. After a Crimson Tide 32-yard field goal in the second quarter made the score 24-10, Alabama seemed to have a chance to score again before halftime.
The Rebels' ensuing drive appeared to stall near midfield after a clipping penalty. But on third down and 16, Ole Miss' senior quarterback rolled right to avoid the Crimson Tide pass rush and threw a 41-yard strike to Kerry Johnson in the end zone.
The throw on the run looked more like the mobile, elder Manning than his drop-back style son.
The two teams seemingly reversed their roles from last year's contest in Tuscaloosa. Where the Tide kept Manning on his back a year ago en route to a 42-7 Alabama win, the Ole Miss defense out-worked a bigger, stronger Crimson Tide squad on both sides of the ball Saturday.
Even when the Tide seemed to gain momentum, the Rebels stole it quickly. Alabama blocked a punt late in the third quarter and ran it back for a touchdown, but the extra point attempt failed, leaving the Crimson Tide behind 38-16.
Ole Miss went three and out on its next drive, and on the first play of its new possession, Alabama moved inside Rebels territory with a 41-yard rush by Kenneth Darby.
On the next play, though, Williams coughed the ball up near the Ole Miss 20-yard line. The Rebels recovered and increased their lead to 41-16 on a field goal early in the fourth quarter. Two fourth-quarter Alabama touchdowns were too little, too late.