Another Manning Gets Crack at Gators

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Posted 8:23AM on Saturday, October 5, 2002

OXFORD, Miss. - Mississippi quarterback Eli Manning has a chance to accomplish something his big brother never could - beat Florida. Peyton Manning was 0-4 against the Gators while at Tennessee, and now Eli Manning gets a shot at his brother's nemesis when No. 6 Florida (4-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) visits Ole Miss (3-1, 1-0) on Saturday. ``I don't think Peyton's career at Tennessee has anything to do with my career at Ole Miss,'' Eli Manning said. ``It's two different teams. Players are different. Coaches are different. Really, I'm just trying to go out there and win this game for Ole Miss and for our season this year.'' While Peyton Manning could not beat the Gators, their father, Archie, never played Florida during his celebrated career at Ole Miss. Eli Manning has heard the comparisons between himself and his brother since he was a teenager. The mellow Manning politely answers all the inevitable questions about his lineage. ``I've understood we're brothers, and people are automatically going to make comparisons between us,'' he said. ``I just let it roll off, not worry about it and don't think about it too much. I just answer the questions and go on.'' Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts have a game Sunday, so he won't be there when the Gators come to Oxford for the first time in eight years. Archie Manning is expected be part of a record-breaking crowd of over 60,000 at newly expanded Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, hoping to see Ole Miss notch its biggest win in decades. Even in the post-Steve Spurrier era, SEC fans get geared for the Gators. ``There's a lot of excitement around campus and around the city,'' Rebels safety Von Hutchins said. But the Gators realize this is one of many big games they will play. ``It's a big game, but there are a lot of big games on the schedule. It's just another one of them,'' Florida quarterback Rex Grossman said. Fourth-year Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe was part of many unsuccessful meetings with Spurrier's Gators during his 16 years as an assistant at Tennessee, including all four losses with Peyton Manning. He also got to know Florida coach Ron Zook, who coached defensive backs for the Volunteers from 1984-86. Cutcliffe remembered Zook as a workaholic and intense competitor, who even took driving to work seriously. ``He thought he was a part of NASCAR,'' Cutcliffe quipped. ``Ron would be passing cars on North Shore Drive. He'll remember the road where you're not supposed to pass. He doesn't know what a double yellow line means.'' Florida has won three straight since losing 41-16 to No. 1 Miami, helping Zook pacify fickle Florida fans - at least temporarily. But the skeptics in Gator Nation will no doubt put the blame on Zook if Florida doesn't continue its mastery of quarterbacks named Manning.