University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Mississippi
Tigers Put Up a Hard Fight Versus Ole Miss
Sep 23, 1999 | Football
Sept. 4, 1999
MEMPHIS -
GAME 1
MISSISSIPPI 3, MEMPHIS 0
Ole Miss place kicker Les Binkley connected on a 40-yard field goal with 7:47 to play as the Rebels shutout the University of Memphis 3-0 in both teams' season opener before a Liberty Bowl crowd of 57,523.
Binkley, a Memphis native, capped Mississippi's longest drive in terms of plays as the Rebels moved the ball 39 yards over 14 snaps to move into field goal range.
Ole Miss running back Joe Gunn had a pair of short-yardage runs to sustain the game-winning drive. He moved the chains with a one-yard run on fourth-and-one from the Memphis 35 and later was credited with a three-yard run when he fumbled out of bounds on third-and-three. Gunn had 114 yards on 25 carries.
Memphis' offense had three opportunities after the field goal starting each of its final three series from inside its own 30.
The Tigers' best opportunity came on their final series of the game when a Neil Suber pass deep down the Tiger sideline was bobbled and dropped by receiver Ken Coutain.
The opener was a defensive standoff.
Two first-half Mississippi drives which ended in fumbles accounted for 100 of the Rebels' 291 yards of total offense but the drives of 49 and 51 yards were exceptions to the rule. No other series by either team in the game accounted for more than 40 yards.
Memphis' defense forced five turnovers in the game, four coming inside the U of M 25.
Tiger defensive back Fred Powell came up to force an Ole Miss turnover inside the 10 with 6:19 left in the third quarter. Idres Bashir pounced on the ball at the one for the recovery a play after the Rebels recovered the ball at the Tiger 10 after the ball touched by a U of M defender on a punt return.
Memphis' best scoring threat ended when Ryan White's 38-yard field goal attempt on the Tigers' second series of the game went wide. White was perfect in kicking attempts a year ago as a freshman and had never missed from inside the 40 in his career as a place kicker, including his years in high school.
The field goal attempt had been set up after Gunn had fumbled on the end of a 22-yard run. Reggie Howard recovered the Pat Willis-forced fumble at the Mississippi 45. It was one of two fumble recoveries for Howard.
Memphis converted on a fourth-and-four during the series as Suber completed a 21-yard pass to Coutain to the 21. But the Rebel defense would not allow the U of M inside the 20.
Suber finished the game completing 14 of 31 passes for 123. Memphis was held to minus-eight yards on the ground and 115 yards of total offense as Suber was sacked five times by the Ole Miss defense.
Coutain had five receptions for 52 yards while senior running back Gerard Arnold accounted for all of the Tigers' positive rushing yards finishing with 46 yards on 18 carries.
While Memphis' average starting field position for the game was its own 25 and 10 of the Tigers 15 drives accounted for single-digit gains in yardage, Memphis was able to play the field position game with the Rebels as U of M punter Jim Cande averaged 43.5 yards on 11 punts.
In addition to his two fumble recoveries, Howard had a late, third-quarter interception to stop another Ole Miss drive inside the Tiger 20 and also had two tackles. Michael Stone and Kamal Shakir each led the Tiger defense with 10 tackles while Demorrio Shank had eight stops.
Mississippi quarterback Romero Miller completed 11 of 24 passes for 87 yards.
There were few flags for a season opener as the two teams were penalized a combined eight times for 74 yards.
Scoring Summary
Mississippi 0 0 0 3 3 Memphis 0 0 0 0 0 Mississippi (7:47 re 1st) Binkley 40 FGTEAM STATS UM MEM First Downs 15 8 Rushes-Yds 47-192 62-(-8) Passing Yds 99 123 KO Return Yds 1-26 2-48 Passes 12-26-1 14-32-1 Punts-Avg 7-38.4 11-43.5 Fumbles-Lost 5-4 5-1 Penalties-Yds 5-40 3-34 Time of Poss. 32:15 27:45 Sacks by 5-25 0-0
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: UM-Gunn 25-114-0, McAllister 7-43-0, Williams 8-32-0. MEM-Arnold 18-46-0.
Passing: UM-Miller 11-24-1-87-0. MEM-Suber 14-31-1-123-0.
Receiving: UM-Flournoy 4-45-0, Peterson 2-20-0, Armstrong 2-14-0. MEM-Coutain 5-52-0, Rooney 2-25-0, Sermon 1-12-0, Kendall 1-11-0, Nesbitt 1-10-0.
Interceptions: UM-Strickland 1-0-0. MEM-Howard 1-5-0.
A-57,523 (91, Wind NNE-5, Weather: Partly Cloudy)
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)