The first game week of the 2024 Ole Miss football season has finally arrived, and it brings a foe that a Rebel football team hasn’t seen in 100 years.
Ole Miss and Furman last met on November 14, 1924, in Greenville, South Carolina, a 7-2 defeat for the Rebels.
The lone mention of this game in the 1925 Ole Miss Yearbook reads as such: “The tide began to show signs of turning in the Furman game, a contest which Ole Miss deserved to win. After gaining more ground than the Hornets, the Mississippi eleven was forced to accept a 7 to 2 decision. The Ole Miss offense found itself at Greenville and began a march which concluded the season in victory.”
The Rebels did indeed close out the 1924 season with victories over Mississippi College in Oxford (10-6) and against Millsaps in Jackson (7-0) to finish 4-5 on the year.
Ole Miss in Season Openers
The Rebels are 95-29-5 (.756) in season openers and have taken 22 of the last 27 on the field. This marks the second year in a row Ole Miss has opened with a member of the SoCon after beating Mercer, 73-7, in 2023.
Common Foe: Mercer
Both Ole Miss and Furman met Mercer last year. As mentioned above, the Rebels trounced the Bears in last year’s opener in Oxford. The Paladins had similar—though not quite as smashing—success in their meeting. After a quiet opening quarter, Furman raced out to a 17-0 lead just before halftime, then added 21 unanswered in the second half for a 38-14 victory over the then-No. 21 Bears.
Furman vs. FBS, SEC
Furman has acquitted itself in decent fashion in clashes with FBS foes over the years, claiming six victories vs. the highest level opposition (the most by any SoCon school). After being reclassified from I-A (known now as FBS) to I-AA (currently known as FCS) in 1982, Furman posted four consecutive wins over FBS foes, defeating South Carolina (28-23, 1982), Georgia Tech (17-14, 1983), N.C. State (34-30, 1984) and N.C. State a second time (42-20, 1985). Furman has dropped its last eight games against FBS opposition following a 16-15 win over UCF in 2015. The Paladins’ last win over an SEC opponent came against Vanderbilt on Sept. 21, 1963 (14-13 win) — a string of nine consecutive losses.
