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Donte Moncrief came to Ole Miss as a four-star recruit and the No. 18 ranked receiver in the nation, but even the most optimistic Rebels fan likely couldn’t have envisioned the type of impact he has had on the program. The 6-foot-3, 216-pound native of Raleigh, Miss. is 1,209 yards and 10 touchdowns away from being the most prolific receiver in Ole Miss history since 1970.
With 1,433 career yards and 14 touchdowns in his first two seasons, the Biletnikoff award watch list member is poised for his best season to date in Oxford with a healthy Bo Wallace under center operating Hugh Freeze’s pass-friendly offensive attack.
Former Rebel Shay Hodge has the highest yardage total since 1970 with 2,646 career yards from 2006-2009, but it took him 50 games to get that total. If Moncrief eclipses Hodge’s number in the team’s bowl game, it will have taken him 36 career games.
Eli Manning’s top target Chris Collins holds the touchdown record since 1970 with 23 career scores and if Moncrief matches his total of 10 last season, he will establish the new mark in one fewer game than Collins, who needed 37 games to set the mark.
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Moncrief had four games with more than 100-yards last season, including in three of the team’s biggest games vs. Texas and at LSU, and Mississippi State when he combined for 20 receptions for 478 yards and six touchdowns.
He’s come a long way since he was considered the other receiver recruit in that 2011 class when he came in with the No. 11 receiver recruit Nickolas Brassell from Batesville’s football factory, South Panola high school. Oddly enough, Brassell was dismissed from the team for academic reasons last week, whereas Moncrief is on the verge of history.
Moncrief will have a tough decision to make at the end of this season whether to turn pro or to return for his senior season, which could be a special 2014; but whenever he does leave, he should do so as the school’s best receiver in more than 40 years.
Records are meant to be broken, and Moncrief is about to smash them to pieces.
Patrick’s a college football writer for Rant Sports and radio host on Sportstownchicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickASchmidt and add him to your Google network.
