|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Inside College Football
The last of the Manning boys is rekindling optimism at Ole Miss By Ivan Maisel On one play Eli rolled to his right and threw a short pass to flanker Jamie Armstrong, who was crossing the field in the same direction as Eli. Armstrong had to reach back to make the catch a split second before the cornerback tackled him. It looked as if Eli's pass wasn't accurate, but Peyton knew better. "That's a pretty good throw," Peyton said. "If Eli leads the receiver, the receiver has to stretch, and he gets killed. I tell my receivers, 'If you ever find me throwing the ball there, trust what I see. I don't want you to get hit [hard].' Eli is throwing the ball well."
Then again, hopes have soared in Oxford ever since Eli's arrival. While Peyton's spurning of the Rebels five years earlier to play for Tennessee had strained relations between Ole Miss and the Mannings, Eli's signing healed any lingering rift. And on a campus where the posted speed limit is 18 in honor of his father's retired number, Eli found Archie's shadow a haven compared with that cast by his brother in Knoxville. "As a quarterback, Tennessee was the best place for me to go," says Eli, who liked the Vols' multiple offense. "I thought I could deal with [Peyton's legacy]. But when it got down to decision time, I didn't want to sign with Tennessee and be expected to do more than a freshman quarterback is supposed to do." Eli also turned down Texas and Virginia when Ole Miss hired Cutcliffe, who as the Vols' offensive coordinator had tutored Peyton. In essence, Cutcliffe has been coaching Eli for almost seven years. "I was in eighth grade during Peyton's freshman year at Tennessee," Eli says. "I was going against what my coach was saying, doing things not the way he liked but the way Peyton was telling me." Now that Eli is older and learning the same offense Peyton used to become an All-America, he understands how rare their bond is. "I can call him and talk to him about things that not many others can," Eli says. "He's another quarterback, a brother and a friend. It's made us closer." Eli is as laid-back as Peyton is intense. Though Ole Miss offered to unretire Archie's number 18 for him, Eli wears jersey number 10, of which he says with a shrug, "That's what they gave me." His reserve has been mistaken for a lack of confidence. "People do expect a vocal leader," Eli says. "It's not my style. Once people see I'm doing my work hard, it earns their respect." Issue date: March 26, 2001
For more Inside College Football see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, March 21. Click here to subscribe to SI.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
