By By Joey Vaughan / special to The Star
Nov. 2, 2002
OXFORD Ronald McClendon was the goat of Ole Miss' 48-28 loss to Arkansas last Saturday, but may have won the starting tailback job in the fourth quarter against Auburn.
McClendon lost two fumbles that resulted in Arkansas touchdowns in Fayetteville, but led the Rebels with 62 yards on 12 carries against Auburn.
McClendon's 62 yards may not sound terribly impressive, but it almost doubled the entire team output of 40 rushing yards in the last two games combined. McClendon had only one yard on two carries at the end of the third quarter, but turned it on in Ole Miss last drive. The Rebels had only 10 yards on 16 carries through three quarters. Vashon Pearson was second on the team with 10 yards on five carries.
McClendon had runs of 9, 11 and 13 yards on the final drive, helping the Rebs to the Auburn eight before Eli Manning threw a rally-killing interception.
Three-touchdown day: Junior receiver Chris Collins tied his own Ole Miss record with three touchdown catches against Auburn. Collins caught three scoring passes against Murray State last season, and six other Rebels have matched the feat.
Collins caught touchdowns of 41, 12 and 8 yards against the Tigers.
Collins finished with eight catches for a game-high 106 yards, his school record sixth career 100-yard receiving game. Collins also moved to within one score of Grant Heard's school record of 16 touchdown receptions.
On the second touchdown catch, Manning basically called his shot, Babe Ruth style. Auburn showed blitz with Ole Miss on the Tiger 12, and Manning pointed to the spot he wanted Collins to be in. One short slant pattern later, Collins was in the end zone.