Ole Miss–Vanderbilt football rivalry

The Khaki Bowl is the name given to the Ole Miss-Vanderbilt football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry between the Ole Miss Rebels football team of the University of Mississippi and Vanderbilt Commodores football team of Vanderbilt University. The Rebels are the Commodores' second-longest, continuous football rivalry.^{[2][3]: 156–166}

Khaki Bowl

Ole Miss Rebels Vanderbilt Commodores
First meeting	November 10, 1894 Vanderbilt 40, Ole Miss 0
Latest meeting	October 8, 2022 Ole Miss 52, Vanderbilt 28
Next meeting	October 28, 2023
Statistics
Meetings total	97
All-time series	Ole Miss leads, 53–40–2^[1]
Largest victory	Vanderbilt, 91–0 (1915)
Longest win streak	Vanderbilt, 19 (1894–1938)
Current win streak	Ole Miss, 4 (2019–present)

[Interactive fullscreen map + nearby articles]

Locations of Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.

Both teams are founding members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and their universities have the two smallest student body populations among SEC schools. This similar size, the schools' proximity to one another, and the similar culture of Greek life (both schools' student bodies have high percentages of participation in fraternities and sororities) led them to be picked as annual inter-divisional rivals when the SEC grew to twelve teams for the 1992 season.

Series history

The first game between the two teams was played on would later be named Currey Field on Vanderbilt's campus in Nashville, Tennessee on November 10, 1894. That year the Commodores, led by Coach Henry Thorton and W.J. Keller, led Vanderbilt to a 40–0 win over the Mississippi Flood (as the Rebels were known until 1936).

Early in the series, Vanderbilt dominated under legendary Coach Dan McGugin (for whom the Vanderbilt athletics complex is named). Vanderbilt won the first 18 games played. The two teams played 10 times before Ole Miss even scored against Vanderbilt (scoring 2 points in a 1910 loss in Nashville). It was during this period that Vanderbilt won a game by the largest margin between the teams, winning 91–0 on October 23, 1915.

Ole Miss would not beat Vanderbilt until 1939, when the newly christened Rebels welcomed the Commodores for Vanderbilt's first away game against Ole Miss on November 4. The Rebels won, 14–7.

World War II intervened, and the teams didn't play again until 1945. But when they did, Ole Miss remembered their last game, and the Rebels recorded their first win in Nashville, 14–7, on October 6, 1945.

In 1947, the Commodores were ranked No. 10 in the country, and the Rebels were No. 18. At a packed game in Nashville, Vanderbilt won a close contest, 10–6.

As the 1950s wore on, the Rebels began to dominate the series. Vanderbilt won 34–20 in 1951, but the Commodores wouldn't beat the Rebels again until 1974. In the meantime, the Rebels went 17–0–2 against Vanderbilt, with the ties coming in 1952 and 1964. It was during this period that Ole Miss was consistently ranked in the nation's Top 10, with the Commodores losing to a no. 2-ranked Ole Miss squad in 1960 and 1961.

While Ole Miss continued to win more games in the 1980s and 90s, Vanderbilt fared better during the middle decades of the century, going 18–6. The 1989 game was perhaps the most memorable of this period, but in a tragic fashion; Ole Miss cornerback Chucky Mullins suffered a broken neck during the game that left him a quadriplegic. Mullins would die from complications of the injury in 1991.

Series record

Ole Miss leads the series 54–40–2, but the Rebels didn't assume the series lead until their 1986 win. Prior to 1967, some games between the two teams were not played at their on-campus stadiums. Besides Oxford and Nashville, the Rebels and Commodores have also squared off in Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi.

The Rebels and Commodores did not play in the State of Mississippi until 1948, but Ole Miss leads the series when playing in Mississippi (27–6). Vanderbilt leads when games are played in Nashville (27–24–2).

Seventeen meetings have featured at least one team ranked in the Top 25.

Notable games

Game results

Ole Miss victories

Vanderbilt victories

Tie games

Vacated wins

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 11, 1894 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 40–0 2 November 4, 1899 Memphis, TN Vanderbilt 11–0 3 October 6, 1900 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 6–0 4 October 11, 1902 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 29–0 5 October 24, 1903 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 33–0 6 October 15, 1904 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 69–0 7 October 13, 1906 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 29–0 8 November 9, 1907 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 60–0 9 October 24, 1908 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 29–0 10 October 30, 1909 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 17–0 11 October 29, 1910 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 9–2 12 November 18, 1911 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 21–11 13 October 26, 1912 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 24–0 14 October 23, 1915 Memphis, TN Vanderbilt 91–0 15 October 21, 1916 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 35–0 16 October 31, 1925 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 7–0 17 September 28, 1929 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 19–7 18 November 1, 1930 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 24–0 19 October 15, 1938 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 13–7 20 November 4, 1939 Memphis, TN Ole Miss 14–7 21 November 2, 1940 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 13–7 22 November 7, 1942 Memphis, TN Vanderbilt 19–0 23 October 6, 1945 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 14–7 24 October 5, 1946 Memphis, TN Vanderbilt 7–0 25 October 11, 1947 Nashville, TN #10 Vanderbilt 10–6 26 October 9, 1948 Oxford, MS #13 Ole Miss 20–7 27 October 8, 1949 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 28–27 28 October 14, 1950 Nashville, TN #19 Vanderbilt 20–14 29 October 13, 1951 Memphis, TN Vanderbilt 34–20 30 October 11, 1952 Nashville, TN Tie 21–21 31 October 10, 1953 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 28–6 32 October 9, 1954 Nashville, TN #7 Ole Miss 22–7 33 October 8, 1955 Memphis, TN Ole Miss 13–0 34 October 13, 1956 Oxford, MS #7 Ole Miss 16–0 35 October 12, 1957 Nashville, TN #14 Ole Miss 28–0 36 October 10, 1959 Nashville, TN #5 Ole Miss 33–0 37 October 8, 1960 Nashville, TN #2 Ole Miss 26–0 38 October 28, 1961 Oxford, MS #2 Ole Miss 47–0 39 October 27, 1962 Nashville, TN #7 Ole Miss 35–0 40 October 26, 1963 Oxford, MS #5 Ole Miss 27–7 41 October 24, 1964 Nashville, TN Tie 7–7 42 October 23, 1965 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 24–7 43 November 19, 1966 Jackson, MS Ole Miss 34–0 44 November 25, 1967 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 28–7 45 October 24, 1970 Nashville, TN #13 Ole Miss 26–16 46 October 23, 1971 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 28–7 47 October 28, 1972 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 31–7 48 October 27, 1973 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 24–14 49 October 26, 1974 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 24–14 50 October 25, 1975 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 17–7 No. Date Location Winner Score 51 October 23, 1976 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 20–3 52 October 22, 1977 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 26–14 53 October 28, 1978 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 35–10 54 October 27, 1979 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 63–28 55 October 25, 1980 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 27–14 56 October 24, 1981 Oxford, MS Vanderbilt 27–23 57 October 23, 1982 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 19–10 58 October 22, 1983 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 21–14 59 October 27, 1984 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 37–20 60 October 26, 1985 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 35–7 61 October 25, 1986 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 28–12 62 October 24, 1987 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 42–14 63 October 22, 1988 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 36–28 64 October 28, 1989 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 24–16 65 October 27, 1990 Nashville, TN #17 Ole Miss 14–13 66 October 26, 1991 Oxford, MS Vanderbilt 30–27 67 September 19, 1992 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 31–9 68 September 18, 1993 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 49–7 69 September 17, 1994 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 20–14 70 October 28, 1995 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 21–10 71 September 21, 1996 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 20–9 72 September 27, 1997 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 15–3 73 September 19, 1998 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 30–6 74 September 18, 1999 Oxford, MS Vanderbilt 37–34 75 September 16, 2000 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 12–7 76 December 1, 2001 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 38–27 77 September 21, 2002 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 45–38 78 August 30, 2003 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 24–21 79 September 18, 2004 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 26–23 80 September 17, 2005 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 31–23 81 October 7, 2006 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 17–10 82 September 15, 2007 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 31–17 83 September 20, 2008 Oxford, MS Vanderbilt 23–17 84 October 3, 2009 Nashville, TN #21 Ole Miss 23–7 85 September 18, 2010 Oxford, MS Vanderbilt 28–14 86 September 17, 2011 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 30–7 87 November 10, 2012 Oxford, MS Vanderbilt 27–26 88 August 29, 2013 Nashville, TN Ole Miss† 39–35 89 September 6, 2014 Nashville, TN #15 Ole Miss† 41–3 90 September 26, 2015 Oxford, MS #3 Ole Miss 27–16 91 November 19, 2016 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 38–17 92 October 14, 2017 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 57–35 93 November 17, 2018 Nashville, TN Vanderbilt 36–29 OT 94 October 5, 2019 Oxford, MS Ole Miss 31–6 95 October 31, 2020 Nashville, TN Ole Miss 54–21 96 November 20, 2021 Oxford, MS #12 Ole Miss 31–17 97 October 8, 2022 Nashville, TN #9 Ole Miss 52–28 Series: Ole Miss leads 53–40–2^[1] † Ole Miss vacated as part of NCAA penalties ‡ Game played at LP Field

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. "Winsipedia - Ole Miss Rebels vs. Vanderbilt Commodores football series history". Winsipedia.
2. Ashoff, Edward (September 4, 2014). "Ole Miss, Vandy share unheralded rivalry". ESPN. from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
3. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/vand/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/CommodoreRecords09.pdf 2012-11-12 at the Wayback Machine^{[bare URL PDF]}