Road to History: Elijah Moore’s quest for a receiving record

Elijah Moore was handed a pre-season prognostication by Ole Miss’ visor-wearin’, high flyin’, best dressin’ head coach Lane Kiffin - a single season record for receptions.

Ole Miss fans can see after two games of a ten-game season there is a really good chance Moore could make it happen despite most likely playing two less games compared to record holder AJ Brown. The former Rebel now Tennessee Titan wide receiver caught 85 passes for 1,320 yards in 2018 on his way to being Starkville Mayor, supreme WR fellow and overlord of all things good and wonderful.

Currently, Moore sits at 20 catches after two games, good enough for a 10 catch/game average according to extensive calculations I just did on a TI-83 calculator. If his average holds true for the season, we’re talking 100 catches for the season, which would not only shatter the single season record, but it would land Moore at the top of the career reception record at 203 - previously set by Laquon Treadwell with 202 catches. Wow tbh.

We’re talking about a blistering pace at 10 receptions per game though, so let’s ease back on that and frame it in a different way. Moore needs 66 catches over the next eight games to break the record or about eight catches per game. At the same time, this would break the catch per game record, which stands at 7.1 by the aforementioned Brown, by a wide margin.

Needless to say, the Alabama game on Saturday will be a huge test for this quest to record making glory. The Crimson Tide will surely have a spy on Moore all game long, though there is a silver lining when looking at this season. Bama allowed two Mizzou receivers to reach five receptions in the first game of the year, and it gave up eight receptions to Jalen Wydermyer against Texas A&M.

Both of those teams were obviously playing from behind against Alabama, which most likely will be Ole Miss’ situation as well, so Moore may have a nice five to eight reception feast to stay somewhat on track.

Speaking of Moore’s track, the good staff at RCR put together a tracker of sorts to follow the reception progression throughout the year with countless hours at our shared computer at a public library. Yes, times are tough, no judgment zone you guys.

Our Starkville mayor still sits on his throne until someone knocks him off, and Moore seems dead set on taking a swing at it. So how many catches will No. 8 finish with this year? Will he break the single season or career mark? Comment or tweet @redcuprebellion and give us your best guess.