1977 Ole Miss Rebels football team

1977 Southeastern Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; Kentucky ineligible for SEC championship due to NCAA probation. Mississippi State later forfeited all 1977 wins due to NCAA violations.; Rankings from AP Poll

1977 Ole Miss Rebels football
1977 Ole Miss Rebels football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
1977 record	5–6 (2–5 SEC)
Head coach	Ken Cooper (4th season);
Home stadium	Hemingway Stadium (35,000) ; Mississippi Memorial Stadium (46,000) ; Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (50,160)
	Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

The 1977 Ole Miss Rebels football team represented the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Ken Cooper, in his fourth year, and played their home games at Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, the Mississippi Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi and Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. They finished the season with a record of five wins and six losses (5–6 overall, 2–5 in the SEC). In 1978 their record was updated to six wins and five losses (6–5 overall, 3–4 in the SEC) after Mississippi State was forced by the NCAA to forfeit their win over the Rebels for playing an ineligible player.^[1]

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	Memphis State*	Mississippi Memorial Stadium Jackson, Mississippi (rivalry)		W 7–3	45,500
September 10	at No. 6 Alabama	Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama (rivalry)		L 13–34	74,324
September 17	No. 3 Notre Dame*	Mississippi Memorial Stadium Jackson, Mississippi		W 20–13	48,200
September 24	Southern Miss*	Hemingway Stadium Oxford, Mississippi		L 19–27	20,000	^[2]
October 1	at Auburn	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, Alabama (rivalry)	ABC	L 15–21	48,000
October 8	at Georgia	Sanford Stadium Athens, Georgia		L 13–14	56,200
October 15	South Carolina*	Hemingway Stadium Oxford, Mississippi		W 17–10	20,000
October 22	Vanderbilt	Hemingway Stadium Oxford, Mississippi (rivalry)		W 26–14	32,300
October 29	LSU	Mississippi Memorial Stadium Jackson, Mississippi (Magnolia Bowl)	ABC	L 21–28	46,000
November 12	Tennessee	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee		W 43–14	50,259
November 19	vs. Mississippi State	Mississippi Memorial Stadium Jackson, Mississippi (Egg Bowl)		L 14–18	46,500
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Note: Mississippi State later forfeited its win over Ole Miss due to NCAA infractions.

^[3]

Personnel[]

1977 Ole Miss Rebels football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	Name	Class
QB	David Coates
WR	Roy Coleman
OL	Chuck Commiskey
TE	Bill Denny
QB	Tim Ellis	Sr
WR	Willie Foster
QB	Bobby Garner
RB	Roger Gordon
OL	Jimmy Hawkins
WR	Les Kimbrough
QB	Jim Lear
RB	Leon Perry
RB	Jarratt Price
RB	Tyrone Richards
RB	L.Q. Smith
FB	James Storey
OL	Mickey Thames
OL	Terrance Walker
TE	Curtis Weathers
OL	Randy White
RB	Freddie Lee Williams

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DL		Charlie Cage
LB		Eddie Cole
LB		Kem Coleman
DB		William Day
DB		Al Dotson
DB		John Fabris
DL		Bob Grefseng
DL		Lawrence Johnson
DB		Gary Jones
		Brian Moreland
DL		Bryan Niebhur
DL		George Plasketes

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Carl Langley
K		Robin Lavinghouze
P		Jim Miller

Head coach

Ken Cooper

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries[]

Notre Dame[]

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1–0) at Ole Miss Rebels

	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	0	7	0	6	13
Ole Miss	3	7	0	10	20

at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, Jackson, Mississippi

Date: September 17, 1977
Game weather: Sunny, 90 °F (32 °C)
Game attendance: 48,200
Recap

Game information

First quarter

MISS – Carl Langley 29-yard field goal. Ole Miss 3–0. Drive: 64 yards.

Second quarter

ND – Jerome Heavens 2-yard run (Dave Reeve kick). Notre Dame 7–3. Drive: 8 plays.
MISS – James Storey 10-yard pass from Bobby Garner (Carl Langley kick). Ole Miss 10–7. Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards.

Fourth quarter

ND – Dave Reeve 44-yard field goal. Tie 10–10. Drive: 5 plays
ND – Dave Reeve 28-yard field goal, 4:53. Notre Dame 13–10. Drive:
MISS – James Storey 10-yard pass from Tim Ellis (Carl Langley kick), 3:13. Ole Miss 17–13. Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards.
MISS – Carl Langley 27-yard field goal, 1:44. Ole Miss 20–13. Drive:

Top passers

ND – Rusty Lisch – 11/25, 127 yards, 2 INT

Top rushers

ND – Jerome Heavens – 16 rushes, 70 yards, TD

Top receivers

ND – Ken MacAfee – 6 receptions, 69 yards

Ole Miss gave eventual national champion Notre Dame its only loss of the season.

References[]

^ "Bulldogs forced to forfeit 19 football games". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. May 24, 1978. p. 19. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
^ "Golden Eagles blow down Ole Miss". The Clarion-Ledger. September 25, 1977. Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ College Football @ Sports-Reference.com

This college football 1970s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

This article about a sports team in Mississippi is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[MSUForfeit-1] "Bulldogs forced to forfeit 19 football games". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. May 24, 1978. p. 19. Retrieved March 23, 2013.

[1977USM1-2] "Golden Eagles blow down Ole Miss". The Clarion-Ledger. September 25, 1977. Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] College Football @ Sports-Reference.com

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t Ole Miss Rebels football
Venues	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium (1915–present) Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium (alternate, 1941–96)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Arkansas Auburn LSU: Magnolia Bowl Memphis Mississippi State: Egg Bowl (Golden Egg) Tulane Vanderbilt
Culture & lore	History Billy Cannon's Halloween run Colonel Reb Rebel Black Bear Tony the Landshark "Forward Rebels" The Pride of the South The Grove The Blind Side
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
National championship seasons in bold

1977 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Alabama $	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 6 Kentucky	6	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
Auburn	5	–	1	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
LSU	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Florida	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	1
Georgia	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Mississippi State	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Tennessee	1	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Kentucky ineligible for SEC championship due to NCAA probation. Mississippi State later forfeited all 1977 wins due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll