UK football has had memorable battles vs. ‘Manning family quarterback tree’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- If Arch Manning starts on Oct. 18 at Kentucky, he becomes fourth Manning quarterback to face UK.
- Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning each started vs. Kentucky, producing key moments and lasting records.
- Historic UK games involved civil-rights tensions, late comebacks and the 1997 passing-duel spectacle.
Through Arch Manning’s first five starts, the 2025 college football season had not been the magic carpet ride predicted for the “crown prince” of America’s “quarterback royal family.”
Manning, the Texas QB, had a chance Saturday to flip the narrative on his season when the Longhorns faced No. 5 Oklahoma in the 121st renewal of the Red River Rivalry.
Going into play vs. the Sooners, Manning was completing 60% of his throws and had passed for 1,151 yards — 60th-best in the FBS — with 11 touchdowns vs. five interceptions.
In his first two starts this year against power-conference foes — road losses at Ohio State and Florida — Manning had completed 55.9% of his throws for only 333 yards with three TDs passes and three picks.
For all the national attention there will be on Texas vs. Oklahoma, it is the Longhorns’ game the following week that is of interest here.
Should Arch Manning start for Texas vs. Kentucky at Kroger Field on Oct. 18, he will become the fourth member of his family to quarterback against the Wildcats.
His grandfather, Archie Manning, started against the Cats three times (1968-70) for Mississippi. Arch Manning’s uncle, Peyton Manning, made four starts vs. UK for Tennessee (1994-97). Another uncle, Eli Manning, started once (2001) for Ole Miss vs. Kentucky.
Although the Wildcats have not rolled up many wins vs. the Mannings, UK has been involved in some memorable battles against “the first family of the SEC.”
To review:
Archie Manning
• Record as a Mississippi starter vs. Kentucky: 2-1
• Game outcomes vs. the Wildcats: 1968: Ole Miss 30, Kentucky 14
1969: Kentucky 10, No. 8 Ole Miss 9
1970: No. 5 Ole Miss 20, Kentucky 17
• Career stats vs. the Cats: Archie Manning completed 27 of 65 passes vs. Kentucky for 348 yards and two touchdowns. He threw at least four interceptions vs. UK.
• Memorable moments against UK: There were two that stood out.
On Sept. 28, 1968, Manning started at quarterback against Kentucky for the first time in Jackson, Mississippi. The game was significant beyond the 30-14 Ole Miss win for “real world” reasons.
UK had racially integrated SEC football in 1967 when safety Nate Northington played against Mississippi in Lexington. A year later, Kentucky had two Black players, linebacker Wilbur Hackett and running back Houston Hogg, on the team it took to Mississippi during the height of the Civil Rights movement and the ensuing racist backlash.
In what was a boiling cauldron of racial antagonism, Hackett told me in 2007 he remembered Manning being unusually solicitous of him during that game, helping him up off the ground, saying nice play, good hit.
The following season in Lexington, Hackett and Hogg helped 14-point underdog UK rally from 9-0 down to stun Manning and the No. 8 Rebels 10-9 at Stoll Field. Hogg set up Kentucky’s sole touchdown with a long run on a 3rd-and-5 play. Hackett helped force a game-saving Ole Miss fumble near the UK goal line.
Peyton Manning
• Record as a Tennessee starter vs. Kentucky: 4-0
• Game outcomes vs. the Wildcats: 1994: Tennessee 52, Kentucky 0
1995: No. 4 Tennessee 34, Kentucky 31
1996: No. 9 Tennessee 56, Kentucky 10
1997: No. 5 Tennessee 59, Kentucky 31.
• Career stats vs. the Cats: Completed 74 of 114 passes for 1,235 yards with 12 touchdowns vs. two interceptions.
• Most memorable moment against UK: The November 22, 1997, quarterback showdown between Manning and UK’s Tim Couch at the venue then known as Commonwealth Stadium remains to this day the greatest QB duel in stadium history.
Manning completed 25 of 35 passes for 523 yards. He threw for five touchdowns and was not intercepted once. In the second half, the Tennessee QB went a perfect 11 of 11 through the air, throwing for 267 yards and two TDs.
Couch threw for 476 yards and two touchdowns. At one point, the Kentucky quarterback completed 13 straight passes. He finished the game 35 of 50 passing with three interceptions.
In a game in which there was no “D” in either “Tennessee” or “Kentucky,” the offenses combined to produce 42 plays of 10 or more yards, 21 plays of 20 or more, 11 plays of 30 or more, seven plays of 40 or more, five plays of 50 or more and three plays of 60 or more yards.
Eli Manning
• Record as a Mississippi starter vs. Kentucky: 1-0
• Game outcome vs. the Wildcats: Ole Miss 42, Kentucky 31
• Career stats vs. the Cats: Completed 19 of 36 passes for 268 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
• Most memorable moment against UK: As a freshman in 2000, Manning did not play in Mississippi’s 35-17 win over Kentucky, and the teams did not play in 2002 or 2003.
So the 2001 win over the Wildcats in Lexington, when Manning was a sophomore, was the only time he faced UK.
Manning led Ole Miss to touchdowns on its first three drives, throwing both his TD passes. The Rebels were up 35-21 when Kentucky coach Guy Morriss replaced starting QB Shane Boyd with Jared Lorenzen.
Behind Lorenzen, UK pulled to within 35-31 with 7:39 left, but Manning sealed the deal for Mississippi when he completed a 43-yard pass to the Kentucky 9-yard line that led to a game-clinching touchdown.
In retrospect, the late-game duel between Manning and Lorenzen gained intrigue due to what happened subsequently. In 2007, when Manning quarterbacked the New York Giants to the Super Bowl championship, Lorenzen was his backup QB.
