2006 VANDERBILT FOOT BALL VANDERBILT SCHEDULE Sept. 2 @ Michigan (ESPN) (L) 7-27 Sept. 9 @ Alabama (FSN) (L) 10-13 Sept. 16 (LF) (L) 19-21 ANDERBILT ARKANSAS V Sept. 23 Tennessee State (W) 38-9 Sept. 30 Temple (W) 43-14 Oct. 7 @ Ole Miss 1 p.m. Oct. 14 @ Georgia TBA GAME NOTES Oct. 21 SOUTH CAROLINA 2 p.m.^ Oct. 28 @ Duke TBA Nov. 4 FLORIDA 1 p.m.^ COMMODORE GAME 6 Nov. 11 @ Kentucky TBA TORYLINES Nov. 18 TENNESSEE 1 p.m.^ S VANDERBILT (2-3, 0-2) All Kickoff Times CST ^ Subject to Change ★ Vanderbilt-Ole Miss gridiron history. AT OLE MISS (1-4, 0-2) - The Vanderbilt-Ole Miss series...Pages 2-3 VANDERBILT-OLE MIss MEETING Vanderbilt and Ole Miss will be playing ★ Statistical comparison of the for the 36th consecutive year this Saturday. Commodores and Rebels. - How VU and Ole Miss compare...Page 4 Though the Commodores captured the 2005 meeting between these annual rivals, Ole Miss ★ The Commodore rushing attack gets has won eight of the last 10 encounters. untracked in recent games, averaging In recent years, the outcome between more than 200 yards for last three games. Vanderbilt and Ole Miss has been close. Since - Vanderbilt's rushing game..Page 6 DATE: Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006 a 37-34 overtime win by Vanderbilt in 1999, KICKOFF: 1:00 p.m., Central Time only once has the margin of victory reached ★ Vanderbilt defense limiting points in STADIUM: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium defensive-minded SEC. more than eight points. - Commodore defensive production...Page 7 LOCATION: Oxford, Mississippi RADIO: Vanderbilt Radio Network; COMMODORES IN COMING WEEKS ★ See where Vanderbilt rates in the Flagship station is 104.5 “The Zone” Southeastern Conference and NCAA. The Commodores remain on the road in Sirius Radio: Channel 107 - Vanderbilt in SEC/NCAA statistics...Page 5 Southeastern Conference action for the next COMMODORE RADIO CREW: two weeks, traveling to Oxford to play Ole Miss ★ Bennett reaches milestone; Bright & Joe Fisher, play-by-play; this Saturday and going to Athens, Ga., on Oct. Benoist post career outings. John Gromos, color; 14 to meet the Georgia Bulldogs. - More on Bennett, Bright & Benoist...Page 7 The Commodores' next home game is Kevin Ingram, sideline reporter Saturday, Oct. 21 against South Carolina. The ★ Nearly 30 freshmen and redshirt TV: None live; Available taped-delay on CSS, game serves as homecoming for Vanderbilt. freshmen are contributing to Commodore Channel 27, Oct. 8, 1 p.m. Prior to the USC game, 1,000 Jay Cutler season. WEB: vucommodores.com (subscription) bobblehead dolls will be distributed while - More on Vanderbilt's newcomers...Page 9 supplies last from a booth near the team's Star Walk stadium entrance. QUICK FACTS ON THE UNIVERSITIES VANDERBILT MEDIA RELATIONS INFO VANDERBILT OLE MISS LARRY LEATHERS - Primary Football Contact Location Nashville, Tenn. Oxford, Miss. (615) 343-6437 (office) (615) 480-8226 (cell) Founded 1873 1848 [email protected] Enrollment 6,402 16,928 ROD WILLIAMSON - Sports Information Director Conference Southeastern Southeastern CHRIS WEINMAN - Football Assistant/ Nickname Commodores Rebels Women’s Basketball Colors Black & Gold Cardinal Red & Navy Blue ANDRE FOUSHEE - Men’s Basketball/Golf Home Field Vanderbilt Stadium Vaught-Hemingway THOMAS SAMUEL - Baseball/Women's Soccer Capacity 39,773 60,580 BRANDON BARCA- Athletic Website Coordinator Field Surface natural grass AstroPlay KATY HAMLETT - Intern, Cross Country/Tennis Head Coach Bobby Johnson (5th) Ed Orgeron (2nd) PHONE: (615) 322-4121 Alma Mater Clemson, 1973 Northwestern State, 1984 FAX: (615) 343-7064 Coaching Record 73-74 (.497) 4-12 (.333) PRESS BOX PHONE: (615) 320-0436 Website vucommodores.com olemisssports.com WEB: www.vucommodores.com 1 GAME NOTES 2006 VANDERBILT FOOT BALL Game Notes VANDERBILT LOOKING FOR THREE STRAIGHT WINS COMMODORES FROM MISSISSIPPI For the first time in more than a year, the Commodores are looking Two Commodores – redshirt senior Chris Booker and freshman to put together a three-game win streak when they travel to Oxford Jonathan Massey – hail from Mississippi. and play Ole Miss. Booker attended Northwest Rankin H.S. in Brandon, Miss., just east The last time Vanderbilt posted three consecutive wins was last of Jackson. Massey was a four-year starter at Gautier H.S., located in September when they defeated Arkansas in Fayetteville (28-24, Sept. a coastal community between Biloxi and Pascagoula that sustained 10), Ole Miss in Nashville (31-23, Sept. 17) and Richmond in Nashville major damage from the winds and tidal surge of Hurricane Katrina. (37-13, Sept. 24). Booker has been a solid performer for the Commodores. He ranks Vanderbilt started the 2005 season with four straight wins, the first third among the defensive line corps with 16 total tackles and has one time since 1991 that the Commodores have pieced together four con- tackle for loss. He has started 16 consecutive games at defensive end secutive victories. – tied for third most on the team – and has 25 career starts, also third The Commodores have won three consecutive games just twice in most by an active Commodore. the last decade (1999, 2005) and only four times in the last 20 years Massey has not played during his first year on the Vanderbilt (1987, 1991, 1999, 2005). campus. THE VANDERBILT & OLE MISS FOOTBALL SERIES VANDERBILT COACH FISHER HAS TIES TO OLE MISS ★ Meeting between schools: 81st Charlie Fisher, the Commodores' receivers coach and passing game ★ Series record: Vanderbilt trails, 33-45-2 co-coordinator, served two seasons as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss. ★ Last Meeting: Vanderbilt 31, Ole Miss 23 (2006) Fisher worked with the Rebel offense under Ole Miss Head Coach ★ First Meeting: Vanderbilt 40, Ole Miss 0 (1893) Billy Brewer during the 1983 and 1984 seasons. In 1983, the Rebels ★ Last Game at Oxford: Vanderbilt 23, Ole Miss 26 (OT) (2004) made their first bowl appearance in 12 years, playing Air Force in the ★ Last Game in Nashville: Vanderbilt 31, Ole Miss 23 (2005) Independence Bowl. One year earlier, the Commodores met Air Force in ★ Last Vanderbilt win in series: 31-23 (2005) the 1982 Hall of Fame Bowl. ★ Last Vanderbilt win at home: 31-23 (2005) ★ Vanderbilt record @ Nashville: 24-21-2 PREP TEAMMATES SQUARING OFF SATURDAY ★ Vanderbilt road record @ Oxford/Memphis: 8-24 ★ Longest Vanderbilt win streak: 19 Commodore redshirt freshman Justin Wheeler and Rebel redshirt ★ Longest Vanderbilt losing streak: 10 sophomore linebacker Brandon Thomas attended the same school, Vanderbilt is looking for its first victory in Oxford since 1999 when North Augusta (S.C.) H.S., but never played on the same team. the Commodores claimed a 37-34 overtime win. The teams have Wheeler concentrated on basketball at North Augusta until his senior played two overtime games in the series, in 1999 and 2004, both in season, one year after Thomas graduated following a four-year starting Oxford, with the outcome knotted at 1-1. career at nose guard and linebacker. The Commodores also are looking for their second consecutive win versus Ole Miss. The last time Vanderbilt registered consecutive wins LARGEST CROWD OF SEASON WATCHES WIN OVER TEMPLE in the series was 1991 (30-27 in Oxford) and 1992 (31-9 in Nashville) The largest home crowd of the season, 34,418, watched the VANDERBILT & OLE MISS – FREQUENT OPPONENTS Commodores defeat Temple 43-14 last Saturday in Nashville. Through its three home games (Arkansas, Tennessee State and Vanderbilt and Ole Miss will square off for the 81st occasion on Temple), Vanderbilt is averaging 31,327 spectators. The Commodores' Saturday. The only school that Vanderbilt has played more often first two games, against Arkansas and Tennessee State, attracted than Ole Miss is Tennessee (100). Earlier this season, Vanderbilt and crowds of 32,103 and 27,460, respectively. Alabama also contested the 81st meeting of their series. Attendance through the first three games is the team's second best The Vanderbilt-Ole Miss series is one of the SEC’s most played result in the last five years, behind only 2005 when Vanderbilt opened rivalries. Only 12 other SEC matchups, topped by the Auburn-Georgia its home season undefeated after wins at Wake Forest and Arkansas. series (109), have been played more than Rebel-Commodore The attendance figures this season also reflect the TSU game that encounters. was affected by inclement weather that forced a 40-minute delay. The five teams Vanderbilt has played most often follows: Vanderbilt home attendance figures through three games for the VU OPPONENT TOTAL GAMES LAST MEETING, RESULT last five years follows: Tennessee 100 2005, 28-24 VU win YEAR AVG. ATTN. FIRST THREE HOME OPPONENTS Alabama 81 2006, 13-10 VU loss 2006 31,327 Arkansas, Tenn. State, Temple Ole Miss 80 2005, 31-23 VU win 2005 36,850 Ole Miss, Richmond, MTSU Kentucky 78 2005, 48-43 VU loss 2004 29,768 South Carolina, Miss. State, Rutgers Georgia 66 2005, 34-17 VU loss 2003 31,097 Ole Miss, Chattanooga, Auburn 2002 30,544 Furman, South Carolina, MTSU 2 GAME NOTES 2006 VANDERBILT FOOT BALL Vanderbilt-Ole Miss Series History VANDERBILT-OLE MISS NOTES GAME 3 • SEPTEMBER 17, 2005 VANDERBILT STADIUM – NASHVILLE, TENN. ★ Vanderbilt trails in the series with Ole Miss, 33-45-2. In the last 25 games played between the schools, the Commodores are 7-18. ★ Vanderbilt’s last win in the series came a year ago, when the OLE MIss 23 Commodores withstood a Rebel rally to win 31-23 in Nashville. It marked the first Vanderbilt home victory in the series since 1992. VANDERBILT 31 ★ Vanderbilt is looking for its fourth win in Oxford, entering the NASHVILLE - The Commodores defeated Ole Miss Rebels 31-23 to game with a 3-21 all-time record on the Ole Miss campus.