Ron Higgins / Memphis Commercial-Appeal

OXFORD, Miss. – Pardon Eli Manning if he doesn’t view himself as the latest legend-in-training in the first family of Southern football.

To Eli, Archie Manning is not the redheaded, scrambling Ole Miss quarterbacking icon of the late ’60s.

He’s simply Dad, someone Eli called when he sought permission to stay out late when he was in high school. If Dad answered, Eli would change his voice and ask for his soft-hearted mother Olivia.

To Eli, Peyton Manning is not the All-Pro QB of the Indianapolis Colts, the best passer in University of Tennessee history and star of Gatorade commercials.

He’s just an older brother who’d sit on the chest of football-trivia challenged baby brother until Eli could name all the Southeastern Conference schools.

For goodness sake, Eli hasn’t even read the entire book Manning, last year’s family autobiography. Eli said it’s because he’s heard most of those stories before, adding it’s like watching a movie he’s already seen.

So forgive the laid-back Eli, a 20-year-old third-year sophomore, if he doesn’t get lathered about the historical significance of becoming Ole Miss’s starting quarterback Saturday against Murray State.

“There might be more pressure on me being the brother of Peyton than the son of Archie, but I don’t worry about it,” said Eli, who was redshirted two years ago as a freshman and who served as Romaro Miller’s backup last season. “I work hard and prepare not because of what the fans expect, but because I want to be a good quarterback who knows what he’s doing out there.”

Eli’s coming

The last two times that Eli has played with fans in the stands, he left every indication he certainly knows what he’s doing.

His fourth-quarter performance in last year’s Music City Bowl was … well, the never-say-die heroics that you’d expect out of a quarterback with the name Manning on the back of his jersey.

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