Ole Miss Host Vanderbilt on Senior Day

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

No. 10 Ole Miss plays host to the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday night in the 2021 season finale at the Vaught. The kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2 SEC) is coming off a 29-19 victory over then No. 11 Texas A&M last week. 

This season, Ole Miss leads the FBS in fourth-down attempts (38) and is second in conversions (25).

Junior quarterback Matt Corral is one of only two FBS QBs with more than 15 passing touchdowns and at least 10 rushing TDs.

Head coach Lane Kiffin is 13-7 through his first 20 games on the Rebels sidelines. He’s only the seventh coach in program history (39 total coaches) to reach the 13-win plateau within their first 20 games at Ole Miss.

Ole Miss will go 7-0 at home for the first time in program history with a win. The last time the Rebels went undefeated at home was in 1992 as they played six home games. 

Vanderbilt’s (2-8, 0-6 SEC) only two victories this season are over Colorado State and UConn and they are coming off a 34-17 loss to Kentucky.

The Commodores have had Mike White and Ken Seals see action at quarterback this season. Seals has thrown for 1,173 yards and five touchdowns, while White has accounted 603 yards through the air and 305 on the ground with seven touchdown passes. However, the two signal-callers have combined for 12 interceptions. 

Vanderbilt’s running backs Patrick Smith and Rocko Griffin have each rushed for nearly 300 yards on the season. Out wide, Chris Pierce and Will Sheppard are the two leading receivers with 496 and 466 yards through 10 games this season. In the red zone, Cam Johnson has also been a top target with four touchdown catches. 

This season the Commodores opponents are outgaining the Commodores 4581-2976 and are averaging 20 more points per game.

On the defensive side of the ball, Vanderbilt is led by linebackers Anfernee Orji and Ethan Barr with 71 and 69 tackles, respectively. 

Saturday’s game will serve as Senior Day and student-athletes will be honored before the game.

These two programs are meeting for the 96th time on the gridiron. Ole Miss leads the all-time series at 51-40-2. The original record vs. the Commodores is 53-40-2, with wins in 2013 and 2014 by Ole Miss vacated due to NCAA ruling.