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LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Greetings from Lexington on a bright, clear Saturday morning. A lot of Ole Miss fans at the hotel here.
We investigated the stadium and parking lots Friday evening, saw a little fall baseball at Kentucky, which is doing some construction around its baseball stadium.
Ole Miss volleyball was shown on ESPN just a minute ago. The Rebels won 3-0 at South Carolina, but what attracted ESPN was a clip in which an Ole Miss player drove the ball hard into the head of a South Carolina player that had set up for the dig.
The Gamecocks got the last laugh, scoring when the ball bounced off the player's head, over the net, and landed in bounds.
Football kicks off at 2:30, unless you're over here to watch live where kickoff is 3:30 eastern.
At A Glance
Where: Commonwealth Stadium (67,606), Lexington, Ky.
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m.
Television: ESPNU
Radio: Ole Miss Network, XM 199; Sirius 219.
Records: Ole Miss 2-6, 0-5 SEC, Kentucky 3-5, 0-4 SEC
Series: Ole Miss leads 27-13-1
Coaches: Kentucky – Joker Phillips, 9-12, second year. Ole Miss – Houston Nutt 135-92 19th season; 24-22 fourth season at Ole Miss.
Statistical Leaders: Kentucky – RB Josh Clemons* 65-279 2 TDs; QB Morgan Newton 82-for-172 passing 784 yards, 8 TD, 7 INT; WR La'Rod King 31 catches, 412 yards, 6 TD; LB Danny Trevathan 94 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 3 INT. * - Injured. Ole Miss – RB Jeff Scott 102-472, 6 TD; QB Randall Mackey, 57-for-18 passing, 652 yards, 4 INT, 5 TD; WR Donte Moncrief 19 catches, 338 yards, 4 TD; LB Mike Marry 63 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 2 sacks.
Trends: Ole Miss and Kentucky are a combined 1-16 in their last 17 SEC games. … The win came when Ole Miss defeated Kentucky 42-35 in Oxford last year. … In a seldom-played series Ole Miss has won four of the last five. … The Rebels lost 31-14 on their last trip to Lexington.
Notes: Ole Miss WR Donte Moncrief is tied for fifth in the nation among true freshmen with four touchdown catches. … True freshmen have combined for 18 starts for Ole Miss, redshirt freshmen for 10 starts. … Ole Miss leads the nation in punt returns at 27.75 yards per attempt. … The Ole Miss secondary recorded eight interceptions over its first five games but has not picked off a pass in its last three games. … Kentucky is the second-least penalized team in the SEC, the fourth-least peanlized team in the nation at 30.0 penalty yards a game.
Prediction: Ole Miss 22, Kentucky 21
Finally got through the Lexington traffic and back to the room. Working on print edition. More here later this evening.
College football has become big business for many years now. Money seems to be more important than the game itself. That's the shame in it all. Millions in scholarships, coaches salaries and administration. With all the millions swirling, accountability seems to have lost its identity. Having said that, Mr. Jones its time to clean house. This once proud university has become dysfunctional. The last forty years have been pathetic as a whole. If I could find a spot on this earth to distance myself from this debacle, I would. From a free education to three and a half million to coach football, maybe you should look in the mirror and say I owe it to countless people to give my best effort. Not being done, simply put. For as bad as it has been on the field,the decisions of those in the ivory white tower have been far worse. They have set this program back an untold amount of years. How Boone has a job is beyond me.
From an athletic standpoint Mr. Jones, "How much longer do we have to suffer?" Honest to Goodness Mr. Jones, "How much longer?"
Side note,PA, I will question your intelligence if you don't pick La. Tech to win next week. I'm making the first prediction for next week, heard it hear first.
Ja-Mes Logan in the end zone on third-and-7 from the 14. It would have been a good catch, not an easy one, but scholarship players make scholarship plays. Needed that one.
Randall Mackey has missed open receivers.
The line hasn't given much room for Brandon Bolden to run aside from one long run.
At the half, Ole Miss has actually outgained Kentucky 211-175, but the Rebels haven't gotten it done in the Red Zone.
Kentucky has rushed for 47 yards on 14 carries. The Cats had great success with CoShik Williams on their touchdown drive but they haven't been committed to the run beyond that drive.
Kentucky has had receivers get open a few times but haven't connected.
Rebels have to get better on offense in the second half. After the fast start their last four series in the half included three-straight 3-and-outs, then Mackey's interception that led to a Kentucky field goal.
At the half, Mackey is 6-for-11, 61 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD. Bolden 7 carries, 39 yards.
UK's Smith, freshman QB in his first start, 10-for-22, 128 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT. Rebels have brought pressure but haven't sacked him.
Third quarter about to begin. Ole Miss has been outscored 61-0 in the third quarter over the last three games, UK outscored 47-17 in the third for the season.