MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2021 By: Senator(s) Michel, Kirby, Blount, To: Rules Chassaniol, Boyd, Sparks, McCaughn, Hopson, Suber, Parks, DeLano, Blackwell, Fillingane, Jackson (32nd) SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 527 1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING COACH 2 LANE KIFFIN AND THE OLE MISS "REBELS" FOOTBALL TEAM FOR THEIR 3 IMPRESSIVE VICTORY OVER THE INDIANA "HOOSIERS" ON JANUARY 2, 2021, 4 IN THE OUTBACK BOWL IN TAMPA AND FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING 2020 5 REGULAR SEASON UNDER ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES. 6 WHEREAS, Ole Miss' football future looks as bright as the 7 Florida sun at the Outback Bowl. In a season filled with 8 uncertainty, fireworks, heartbreak and adversity, the Ole Miss 9 Rebels restored their rich tradition of postseason football, 10 earning their first bowl bid in five years. Coach Lane Kiffin's 11 squad made the most of it, putting together a valiant effort in 12 Raymond James Stadium to defeat the No. 7 ranked Indiana Hoosiers 13 26-20 in the 2021 Outback Bowl, concluding the 2020 football 14 season with their first bowl win since the 2016 Sugar Bowl; and 15 WHEREAS, down four key playmakers on offense, it was back-ups 16 and third string skill position players with key roles in the 17 victory as the Rebels (5-5, 4-5) gained 493 yards of total offense 18 against one of the nation's top defenses. Matt Corral completed 19 30 of 44 passes for 342 yards and two scores through the air. He S. C. R. No. 527 *SS08/R616* ~ OFFICIAL ~ N1/2 21/SS08/R616 PAGE 1 (rdd\lr) 20 became the fifth in school history to eclipse the 3,000-yard mark 21 and tied Eli Manning for third in school history with 29 touchdown 22 passes in a single season; and 23 WHEREAS, on the receiving end, Dontario Drummond had a 24 season-high six catches for 110 yards and a score. In his first 25 action at receiver, John Rhys Plumlee had five catches for 73 26 yards, two of which led to the go-ahead score with minutes left to 27 play. Casey Kelly added 49 yards on six catches and a score—all 28 career-highs. On the ground, Henry Parrish, Jr., and Snoop Conner 29 combined for 106 yards on 33 carries and a score coming from 30 Conner; and 31 WHEREAS, as strong as the Rebels were offensively, it was the 32 defense that sealed the deal in the end. Ole Miss claimed the 33 lead on a Corral-to-Drummond touchdown connection with 4:12 left 34 in the game. The Rebel defense locked down as a key 35 tackle-for-loss by Keidron Smith and a sack by freshman Cedric 36 Johnson put Indiana behind the sticks on their final drive, 37 ultimately leading to a game-sealing fourth-down stop. 38 Defensively, Jacquez Jones led the Rebels with 13 tackles, 39 followed by nine tackles each from Otis Reese and A.J. Finley. As 40 a unit, the defense gave up a season-low 20 points to go along 41 with a season-low 201 yards through the air. The Hoosiers went 42 7-for-17 on third down, and failed on fourth down in the 43 game-winning stop, capping off year one of the Lane Kiffin era 44 with an Outback Bowl Championship; and S. C. R. No. 527 *SS08/R616* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/SS08/R616 PAGE 2 (rdd\lr) 45 WHEREAS, Outback Bowl notes include the following: 46 • The Rebels' .648 winning percentage in bowl games ranks 47 first nationally among teams with at least 25 appearances; 48 • This game marked the first meeting all-time between Ole 49 Miss and Indiana; 50 • The Rebels faced a current Big Ten opponent for the third 51 time in their bowl history; 52 • The 2021 Outback Bowl appearance marked Ole Miss' 37th 53 all-time bowl appearance, which is 25th on the all-time NCAA 54 Division I list. It was the Rebels' first-ever time playing 55 in the Outback Bowl; 56 • Ole Miss is 24-13 in bowl games, with the 24 wins ranked 57 tied for 14th-most in history; 58 • Ole Miss is 12-2 on the field in its last 14 bowl games 59 dating back to a 13-0 win over Air Force in the 1992 Liberty Bowl; 60 • The Rebels' 18 play touchdown drive in the second quarter 61 was the longest scoring drive of the season; 62 • Matt Corral tallied 379 yards of total offense, passing 63 Chad Kelly (375 vs. Oklahoma State, 2016 Sugar Bowl) for the 64 most-ever by an Ole Miss player in a bowl game; 65 • Matt Corral became the fifth Rebel ever to pass for more 66 than 3,000 yards in a season, joining Eli Manning (2002 and 2003), 67 Bo Wallace (2012 and 2014), Chad Kelly (2015) and Jordan Ta'amu 68 (2018). He finished the season with 3,337 yards, No. 6 on Ole 69 Miss' single-season chart; S. C. R. No. 527 *SS08/R616* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/SS08/R616 PAGE 3 (rdd\lr) 70 • Corral also moved into the top 10 in passing at Ole Miss 71 with 4,938 career yards, surpassing Archie Manning (4,753, 72 1968-70) for 10th all-time; and 73 • Corral's 29 touchdown passes this season are tied with Eli 74 Manning (2003) for the third-most touchdowns thrown in a single 75 season; and 76 WHEREAS, with the Rebels making their first bowl appearance 77 in five seasons, Ole Miss has agreed on a new contract for Head 78 Football Coach Lane Kiffin, as announced by Vice Chancellor for 79 Intercollegiate Athletics Keith Carter. Kiffin's first season in 80 Oxford produced offensive fireworks while Ole Miss earned four 81 Southeastern Conference wins and a berth in the Outback Bowl. 82 Under Kiffin's leadership, the Rebel offense immediately rewrote 83 the record book, shattering the Southeastern Conference record for 84 total offense in conference games (562.4 ypg). The Rebels rank 85 top 20 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 10 separate categories, 86 including total offense, scoring offense (40.7), rushing offense 87 (217.7), passing offense (344.8), passing yards per completion 88 (14.99), team passing efficiency (183.5), completion percentage 89 (.714), first downs (249), third down conversions (.504) and kick 90 return defense (17.1); and 91 WHEREAS, the 2020 Football Roster: Lakia Henry, LB; Jonathan 92 Mingo, WR; Matt Corral, QB; Jalen Jordan, DB; Tylan Knight, DB; 93 Jon Haynes, DB; Dannis Jackson, WR; Miles Battle, DB; LeDarrius 94 Cox, DL; Jerrion Ealy, RB; Brandon Mack, OLB; John Rhys Plumlee, S. C. R. No. 527 *SS08/R616* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/SS08/R616 PAGE 4 (rdd\lr) 95 QB; Dontario Drummond, WR; Austin Keys, LB; Jakivuan Brown, LB; 96 Kinkead Dent, QB; Braylon Sanders, WR; Sam Williams, OLB; Daylen 97 Gill, LB; Derek Bermudez, DB; Sellers Shy, WR; Jordan Jernigan, 98 WR; Luke Knox, OLB; Demon Clowney, OLB; Jadon Jackson, WR; Brice 99 Johnson, WR; Jamar Richardson, DB; Keidron Smith, DB; A.J. Finley, 100 DB; Kentrel Bullock, RB; Tariqious Tisdale, DL; Jakorey Hawkins, 101 DB; Nevin Wells, WR; Snoop Conner, RB; Deane Leonard, DB; Henry 102 Parrish, Jr., RB; Tavario Standifer, DB; Otis Reese, DB; Isaiah 103 Woullard, RB; Marc Britt, II, Ath; Brandon Pierre, LB; D'Vaughn 104 Pennamon, TE; Jay Stanley, DB; Campbell Klein, RB; Zikerrion 105 Baker, LB; Seth Hunter, DB; Jacquez Jones, LB; Cedric Johnson, 106 OLB; Zavier Miller, DB; Jakwaize Walker, DB; Mark Robinson, LB; 107 Urriah Shephard, RB; Ashanti Cistrunk, LB; DJ Beckum, DB; Jaylon 108 Jones, DB; Jake Springer, DB; Jalen Denton, DB; C.J. Terrell, DB; 109 Brooks Brock, DB; Daniel Newman, DB; Payton Rogers, OLB; Amani 110 Johnson, DL; MoMo Sanogo, LB; TY Rocconi, DB; Andrew Griffith, LB; 111 Jared Lawrence, LS; Jalen Cunningham, OL; Patrick Lucas, Jr., DT; 112 Luke Shouse, OL; Carter Craig, LB; Caleb Warren, OL; Ben Brown, 113 OL; KD Hill, DT; Reece McIntyre, OL; John Bergeron, LS; Sam Plash, 114 OL; Nick Broeker, OL; Peyton Cox, OL; Carter Colquitt, OL; Tobias 115 Braun, OL; Royce Newman, OL; Eli Acker, OL; Bryce Ramsey, OL; 116 Cedric Melton, OL; Hamilton Hall, OL; Jeremy James, OL; Jonathan 117 Hess, TE; Josh Ricketts, WR; Casey Hall, TE; Jared Farlow, WR; 118 Damarcus Thomas, TE; Chase Rogers, TE; Owen Stayer, TE; Jack 119 White, WR; Drake Beck, WR; Sam Murphey, TE; Jack Propst, LS; Ryder S. C. R. No. 527 *SS08/R616* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/SS08/R616 PAGE 5 (rdd\lr) 120 Anderson, DL; Jacob Carter, WR; Casey Griffith, K; Hal Northern, 121 DT; Luke Logan, K; Sincere David, DT; Cale Nation, K; Quentin 122 Bivens, DL; Walker Thompson, P; Tavius Robinson, OLB; Mac Brown, 123 P; Land Gebhart, K; Clayton Ladd, DL; and Desanto Rollins, DL; and 124 WHEREAS, the Football Coaching Staff: Lane Kiffin, Head 125 Coach; Terrell Buckley, Assistant Coach/Cornerbacks; Randy 126 Clements, Assistant Coach/Running Game Coordinator/Offensive Line; 127 D.J. Durkin, Assistant Coach/Co-Defense Coordinator/Linebackers; 128 Joe Jon Finley, Assistant Coach/Passing Game Coordinator/Tight 129 Ends; Blake Gideon, Assistant Coach/Special Teams Coordinator; 130 Jeff Lebby, Assistant Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks; 131 Derrick Nix, Assistant Coach/Wide Receivers; Chris Patridge, 132 Assistant Coach/Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties; Kevin Smith, 133 Assistant Coach/Running Backs; Alec Abeln, Graduate Assistant - 134 Offense; Jarred Gray, Graduate Assistant - Defense; Matt Holecek, 135 Graduate Assistant - Offense; and Marquise Watson, Graduate 136 Assistant - Defense; and 137 WHEREAS, it is a tribute to Coach Kiffin and the University 138 of Mississippi Athletic Department that they were able to 139 implement a successful 2020 football season in the face of 140 COVID-19 restrictions with minimum health concerns for players and 141 fans, and we compliment the administration and staff of the 142 University for bringing pride to their campus, their community and 143 to the State of Mississippi: S.