So where does this song come from, again?
Among the Mannings, David Cutcliffe, Ed Orgeron, and (somehow) Brent Schaeffer, the Rebels have plenty of ties to the Tennessee Volunteers. These ties are so strong, in fact, that the Volunteers are the 4th most common played Rebel opponent after Mississippi State, LSU, and Vanderbilt.
Yes, you read that right; we've played Tennessee more times than we've played Alabama, Arkansas, or Auburn.
Being as that the Rebels have played the Volunteers so often, there are certainly many memorable moments and games in the series. But perhaps the most memorable game in the longstanding tradition of the Ole Miss vs. Tennessee game came exactly 40 seasons ago with what some folks have dubbed "The Hee Haw Game."
The Rebels, led by Archie Manning, would win this game in an absolute blowout. But there is much more to the story, especially with regards to old-fashioned SEC trash talkin', which was captured by the November 24, 1969 issue of Sports Illustrated. Some excerpts from that piece follow.
You'd have thought those folks from Tennessee would have known better, being neighbors and all. Shoot, any 10-year-old kid who ever got his button nose past the cover of a history book can tell you it doesn't take all that much to rile Mississippians.
In Tennessee, where everybody was feeling good about being unbeaten in seven games and being ranked No. 3 in the nation, they laughed and started handing out ARCHIE WHO? buttons.
All this, of course, was greeted with secret delight by Johnny Vaught, the Ole Miss coach and a man who would welcome a Greek bearing gifts, just as long as they could be used as psychological weapons.
Early in the third quarter, all hope of a Tennessee recovery died when Reed went a yard for a touchdown, making it, after the kick, 31-0. That's the same score the Vols beat Ole Miss by last year. No longer was anyone in orange clothing yelling "Archie who?" The last score, a one-yard dive by Bowen in the fourth quarter, just rubbed it in a bit.
Let's hope that, 40 years after the cries of Archie Who were silenced in Jackson, the Rebels will be able to quell Tennessee once more.