Manning Helps Tennessee Beat His Father’s Old School, 41-3

Tennessee defensive lineman Leonard Little blindsided Mississippi quarterback Paul Head and Stewart Patridge to force fumbles on two occasions, and both led to Tennessee touchdowns as the No. 9 Volunteers defeated Ole Miss, 41-3, Thursday night.

Peyton Manning completed 18 of 22 passes in three quarters before leaving with the score 38-3 as the Volunteers improved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference.

“I’m glad it’s over,” said Manning, clutching a game ball he planned to give to his father, Archie, a former star for Ole Miss.

Mississippi (3-2, 1-2) was driving with a chance to tie late in the first half when Little crushed Head, knocking the ball loose for Nick Jester to recover. That set up Jay Graham’s one-yard touchdown six plays later that made it 17-3 at halftime.

Early in the second half, it was Patridge, Head’s backup, who fumbled after being hit by Little. Bill Duff recovered in the end zone for Tennessee’s second touchdown in 32 seconds.

Patridge had just replaced Head, who on the first play of the second half was flagged for intentional grounding. On the next snap, Head’s pass was intercepted by Craig King at the 6.

Manning then threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Nash.

“If you give them 14 points and turn the ball over, it’s hard to recover,” Head said. “The interception was totally my fault. I was still arguing the intentional grounding call.”

Manning grew up cheering for Ole Miss, and was ready to follow his father and older brother, Cooper, there. But by the time it was Peyton’s turn to choose a school in the winter of 1994, Cooper, a wide receiver, had been sidelined permanently by a neck problem.

Archie Manning and his wife, Olivia, a former Ole Miss homecoming queen, sat in a private luxury box across the field from the main press box at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

Tennessee rebounded from a 35-29 loss to Florida in its last game, in which it had the second-lowest rushing total in school history (nine yards). The Volunteers won nine games in a row after losing to Florida last year.