Rebels Conquer Memphis!!!

I am going to be perfectly honest with you, I got rather "D" yesterday before, during, and after the game, so this is going to be fuzzy. Kinda the tale of two teams yesterday, where in the first half we were just trying to grease the tracks a little and made some errors that allowed Memphis to hang around for a 17-7 score at the half. The pick right there before the half ended was undoubtedly huge, therefore making it a two score game. The second half was a different story and Snead got hot and the route was on, not only with the score but with the consumption as well.I can remember saying, I think we need to score one more that way we could put up 40 on them. Well, Enrique Davis capped it and the final was 45-14. Its kinda hard to make a real assessment at this point, obviously we did our job considering that we beat them by 31 points, but it is hard to get the whole picture right now. Defense played good and I was glad to see us get some turnovers to combat the ones we gave them. The offense looked strong for a half but then again we were playing Memphis and I am not so sure that the are any real test to anyone. Maybe we are that good or maybe Memphis is that bad. Not sure and far to hungover to try and sort this all out, so enjoy the postgame notes.

SERIES INFORMATION

Today's meeting was the 59th all-time between Ole Miss and Memphis ... It is the Rebels' sixth-most played series and most frequent with any school not currently or formerly in the SEC.

Ole Miss leads the all-time series 47-10-2, including 25-7-2 in Oxford.

The Rebels extend their win streak over the Tigers to five games ... Ole Miss has won 14 of the last 18 meetings dating back to 1988.

The Rebels scored their most points against Memphis since a 61-8 win in 1980.

CAPTAINS (All Seniors): Marshay Green (CB), John Jerry (OT), Kendrick Lewis (FS), Dexter McCluster (WR)

3 FIRST-TIME STARTERS (All Offense): Brandon Bolden (So., RB); Bradley Sowell (So., LT); Ferbia Allen (RFr., TE)

17 DEBUTS: Ferbia Allen (RFr., TE), E.J. Epperson (RFr., TE), Jesse Grandy (Fr., WR), Melvin Harris (RFr., WR), A.J. Hawkins (Fr., OL), Dan Hoffman (So., FB), Jason Jones (RFr., LB), Joel Kight (Fr., LB), Bobby Massie (Fr., OL), Jared Mitchell (RFr., S), Pat Patterson (Fr., WR), Andrew Ritter (Fr., K), Gerald Rivers (RFr., DE), Brandon Sanders (RFr., LB), D.T. Shackelford (Fr., LB), Nathan Stanley (RFr., QB), Julian Whitehead (RFr., CB).

GENERAL NOTES

Today's game marked the start of the 115th football season for Ole Miss and the second under head coach Houston Nutt ... The program boasts an all-time record of 607-464-35.

Today's result gives the Rebels 13 wins in their last 14 season openers, including five straight all against Memphis ... The lone blemish was the 20-13 loss to Memphis in 2004.

In season openers against Memphis, the Rebels are 32-3-2 ... Ole Miss has matched up with Memphis in season openers more than any other foe.

Ole Miss is now 86-24-5 in season openers and 28-20-2 when opening the season on the road.

Dating back to last season, the Rebels have won seven straight games for the first time since the 1990 campaign.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

Junior QB Jevan Snead extended his streak to 10 straight games with a TD pass, completing a pair of fourth-quarter scoring tosses to Markeith Summers (18 yards) and Dexter McCluster (17 yards)... Snead finished 12-of-22 for 175 yards, two TDs and two interceptions ... He had multiple interceptions for the first time in 10 games and for just the third time in his career.

Sophomore RB Brandon Bolden rushed for a TD for the fourth straight game and sixth time in his career ... He topped the team in rushing with 71 yards on nine carries.

Senior Dexter McCluster posted 115 all-purpose yards (nine rushes for 50, six passes for 65) and two TDs (one rushing, one receiving, both in the fourth quarter) ... He rushed for a TD for the third straight game and fourth time in the last five games.

Senior WR Shay Hodge led the team in receiving yards with 77 on three grabs.

Junior WR Markeith Summers hauled in the first TD pass of his career, an 18-yarder in the fourth quarter ... His only other career score was a rushing TD against LSU last year.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

The Rebel defense intercepted two passes ... Dating back to last year, Ole Miss has posted multiple interceptions in six straight games and had an interception return for a TD for the second straight game.

Junior S Fon Ingram notched his second career interception and first touchdown of his career after the 38-yard return.

Making his first start since his freshman year, junior S Johnny Brown recorded his second career interception ... Brown also topped the team with a career-high 15 tackles.

Ole Miss registered 10.0 TFLs, including a career-high 2.0 for junior DT Jerrell Powe ... Junior CB Jeremy McGee posted a pair of sacks after only one previous TFL in his career.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

With six extra points today, junior K Joshua Shene extended his streak of successful PATs to 80, which is second on the all-time Rebel charts ... Shene was 1-for-1 on field goals, connecting from 27 yards out.