2008 Ole Miss Rebels football team The 2008 Ole Miss Rebels football team represented the University of Mississippi during the 2008 college football season . The team ' s head coach was Houston Nutt , who served his first season in the position and replaced Ed Orgeron , who was fired after accumulating a 10 – 25 record ( 3 – 21 conference ) at Ole Miss from 2005 – 2007 . The Rebels played their seven home games in 2008 at Vaught - Hemingway Stadium in Oxford , Mississippi . Season summary . With an 8 – 4 regular - season record and a 5 – 3 mark in the SEC , head coach Houston Nutt revived a Rebel squad that was coming off four straight losing seasons and a 3 – 8 campaign with no conference wins in 2007 . It marked the team ' s best improvement from one season to the next since former coach Johnny Vaught ' s debut in 1947 . Projected to place fifth in the SEC Western Division in the pre - season , the Rebels finished second in the division , knocked off the previous two national champions on the road , # 4 Florida and # 18 LSU , and ended the regular season on a five - game win streak . On December 8 , the Associated Press announced that Rebels offensive tackle Michael Oher , defensive tackle Peria Jerry and kicker Joshua Sheene were selected for the first team of the Associated Press All - Southeastern team . Oher was a unanimous pick . Receiver Dexter McCluster was a second - team pick . On December 9 , the Southeastern Conference announced that Oher and Jerry were named to the first team of the All - SEC team selected by the 12 league coaches . On December 10 , the Southeastern Conference announced that Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt was named the Southeastern Conference coach of the year , sharing the award with Alabama ' s Nick Saban and Vanderbilt ' s Bobby Johnson . Michael Oher was awarded the Jacobs Blocking Trophy , given to the league ’ s top blocker . The 2008 College Football All - America Team included Michael Oher and Peria Jerry . Game notes . Memphis . Ole Miss opened the 2008 season with new head football coach Houston Nutt by beating state - line rival Memphis , 41 – 24 . The game started off quick for the Rebs as Jevan Snead hit Shay Hodge for a 70 yd TD strike on the games second possession and never looked back . The game also featured the introduction of the " Wild Rebel " off of which Dexter McCluster scored a touchdown . Wake Forest . Ole Miss lost 30 – 28 after Wake Forest kicked a 42 yard field foal with three seconds remaining in the game . In a game with several lead changes , Ole Miss took the lead with just over one minute remaining in the fourth quarter on a fourth and goal Jevan Snead touchdown pass . Wake Forest played down the field in 53 seconds , aided by 2 penalties , to set up the game winning field goal . Vanderbilt . Ole Miss lost to the Vanderbilt Commodores in the final minute of the game as Vanderbilt forced Ole Miss ' Dexter McCluster to fumble the game winning touchdown at the goal line . Florida . The Ole Miss Rebels posted its 600th win on September 27 , 2008 when it defeated the Florida Gators 31 – 30 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville , Florida , giving the season ' s conference champion , Florida , its only loss of the 2008 season . This was also Ole Miss ' first win over a Top 5 ranked team since 1977 when the Rebels defeated Notre Dame . Notre Dame went on to win the national championship that year . Florida went into the game undefeated at 3 – 0 . Never trailing Ole Miss by more than a touchdown , Florida came within an extra point of tying the game at the end of the fourth quarter . Ole Miss had different plans in mind , however , as the extra point kick was blocked , and Florida was held to 30 . While the defense was able to force a punt out of Ole Miss on the next possession and get the ball back inside Ole Miss territory , Florida found itself with the choice between converting a 4th - and - 1 situation or attempting a long field goal . Florida opted to go for the first down , but the Ole Miss defense stopped QB Tim Tebow and he did not convert the one - yard run . The game ended as time expired during Ole Miss ' ensuing possession . Florida went on to win the their remaining regular season games and then beat , at the time # 1 , Alabama for the Southeastern Conference Championship . Florida also defeated # 2 Oklahoma in the 2009 FedEx BCS National Championship to become National Champs . South Carolina . Following Ole Miss ' win over Florida , Sports Illustrated featured Ole Miss on the cover . Then Ole Miss went on to lose to South Carolina in what many Ole Miss fans refer to as the continuation of the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx . The last time Ole Miss was featured on the Sports Illustrated cover was in 1970 . After the cover ran , which was a picture of then Ole Miss quarterback Archie Manning , Manning suffered a broken arm during the season . On more than one occasion , the Rebels had a chance to pull away , but South Carolina forced timely turnovers to keep themselves alive . In the end , the Rebs gave one too many gifts to SC and the Gamecocks were able to sneak out of Oxford with a win . Alabama . After several early failed drives in the opening quarter , Ole Miss became the first team to score on Alabama in the first quarter , as well as the first to have a lead against the Crimson Tide . However , the Crimson Tide answered back on their next drive with a touchdown , giving Alabama a 7 – 3 lead to end the first quarter . Ole Miss had limited offense in the second quarter as the Tide defense held a shutout for the remainder of the half . However , the Tide offense scored 17 points with a 2 - yard rush touchdown , a 41 - yard field goal , and a 30 - yard touchdown pass . Alabama led the Rebels 24 – 3 at halftime . However , the second half was different as the Crimson Tide failed to score for the remainder of the game . Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt , who had previously coached at Arkansas , gambled on a 4th – and – goal with a fake field goal attempt , as Rob Park passed to Jason Cook for a 9 - yard touchdown . Several minutes into the fourth quarter , Ole Miss again cut into Alabama ' s lead when Jevan Snead threw a 17 - yard touchdown strike to Shay Hodge , as the Rebels trailed 24 – 17 after a Joshua Shene extra point . Three minutes later , Shene hit a 35 - yard field goal , cutting Alabama ' s lead again to 24 – 20 . A stalled drive forced Alabama punter P . J . Fitzgerald to give the ball to the Rebels with 3 : 03 left . The Rebels moved the ball steadily down the field over the next two minutes , however they turned it over on downs after a failed 4th – and – 5 on Alabama ' s 43 - yard line . Arkansas . Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt returned to Arkansas in his first game against his former team , the Arkansas Razorbacks . Ole Miss , and Houston Nutt , won 23 – 21 . Auburn . The Auburn rivalry had been running steady ever since Head coach Tommy Tubberville bolted Oxford for the plains . In his fifth , and what would be his final return trip , the Rebels were finally able to emerge as a winner . In a defensive struggle , the Rebels picked off the Tigers three times in the fourth quarter , and were able to put the game away on a Brandon Bolden touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter . The final count , Ole Miss 17 Auburn 7 Louisiana Monroe . Ole Miss shutout Louisiana Monroe 59 – 0 to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2003 . LSU . In this 97th meeting of Ole Miss and LSU , the first time referred to as the Magnolia Bowl , Ole Miss snapped a six - game losing streak against LSU , beating the defending national champions 31 – 13 . Ole Miss ' last win against LSU was in 2001 . Mississippi State . Ole Miss won the most lopsided Egg Bowl since the Rebels won 48 – 0 in 1971 , by beating Mississippi State 45 – 0 . Only once in this game did the Mississippi State offense cross the 50 - yard line into Ole Miss territory . Ole Miss held MSU to just 37 total yards including minus 51 rushing yards . Ole Miss set a school record with 11 sacks . Mississippi State wide receiver Brandon McRae was carted off the field after breaking his leg in the second quarter . Cotton Bowl Classic . The # 20 Rebels defeated the # 8 Texas Tech Red Raiders 47 – 34 in the 2009 AT & T Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas , Texas on January 2 , 2009 . The Red Raiders and the Rebels had met in bowl games twice before — 1986 Independence Bowl and 1998 Independence Bowl — with Ole Miss winning both . The teams also met during the 2002 and 2003 regular seasons with Texas Tech winning both games of the home - and - home series . The Rebels ' last bowl bid came 5 years ago and ironically in the Cotton Bowl Classic , a 31 – 28 victory over Oklahoma State . In this Cotton Bowl Classic , Ole Miss made its fourth appearance in the Cotton Bowl Classic , now carrying a 3 – 1 record . The Rebels defeated Texas Christian University 14 – 13 in the 1956 game and dropped a 12 – 7 decision to Texas in 1962 . NFL prospects . Nine Ole Miss players who ended their career at Ole Miss this year were either taken in the 2009 NFL Draft or signed contacts with NFL teams . Michael Oher and Peria Jerry were first round draft picks at # 23 and # 24 respectively . Oher was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens while Jerry was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons . Mike Wallace was the 84th pick going to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round . Jamarca Sanford was the 231st pick going to the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round . Additionally , Maurice Miller signed a free agent deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , Jason Cook signed a free agent deal with the Baltimore Ravens , the late Tony Fein signed a free agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks and later was signed by the Baltimore Ravens and later cut , Ashlee Palmer signed a free agent deal with the Buffalo Bills and Jermey Parnell signed a free agent deal with the New Orleans Saints . Fein was found dead on October 7 , 2009 .