AUSTIN, Texas — No. 7 Ole Miss goes on the road Saturday night to play Texas in Austin, and for the first time in nearly three decades the Rebels will see a Manning lined up on the other side.
Arch Manning, the grandson of Rebel great Archie Manning, is the Longhorns’ starting quarterback. Ole Miss last faced a Manning in 1997, when Peyton Manning threw for 324 yards in a 31-17 Tennessee win. A year earlier he had beaten the Rebels 41-3. Kickoff at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
The family ties run deep in Oxford. In his Ole Miss career Eli Manning piled up 10,119 passing yards with 81 touchdown throws, won the Cotton Bowl in 2003 and placed third for the Heisman. His older brother Cooper, Arch’s father, signed with the Rebels to play football, but a spinal condition ended his career before he ever took a snap. Eli said on a podcast in September that he would root for his nephew in this one game and go back to backing the Rebels after that.
Texas comes in on a two-game losing streak, and Manning has turned the ball over late in both defeats, including a strip-sack fumble in the fourth quarter against Florida. Coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday that his quarterback has shown an edge in practice this week and hinted that Manning will start. Manning is 14-5 as the full-time starter.
The Ole Miss defense will have its hands full. The Rebels rank 10th in the SEC in scoring defense at 29.71 points allowed per game and last in the league in total defense at 390 yards per game. Saturday’s game is a chance for the Rebels to protect their top-10 ranking against a Texas team that still has College Football Playoff hopes despite two losses, and a win in Austin would give Ole Miss one of the biggest road victories of its season.
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