The Rebels knocked off Texas A&M, 29-19, in Oxford Saturday to move to 8-2 on the season and stay very much in the access bowl race. With Auburn losing on Saturday, Ole Miss is two wins from guaranteeing a third place finish in the SEC.
That was just a hell of a job by the Ole Miss defense. It’s not a team set up for the defense to win games and be the critical unit to make things work, but it was on Saturday in a game the Rebels have to have in order to keep lofty expectations.
The Rebels held A&M to basically 100 yards of total offense in the first half in pitching a shutout, and the safety after the bungled red-zone series was a huge help with points and momentum. Ole Miss also played the final 29 minutes without Jake Springer who was ejected for targeting.
Ashanti Cistrunk and AJ Finley come up huge with back-to-back drive-stopping interceptions to ice this thing after A&M had gotten the ball and was down just two points. It’s the biggest defensive effort I can remember from the Rebels considering the need and the stakes.
Matt Corral made enough critical throws in the first half to get it done, but he was the least sharp of any game this season it seemed, and the lack of ball control was critical in the score not extending in the first half.
It is because of the defense that Ole Miss, barring some catastrophe against Vanderbilt, heads to Starkville with seemingly a New Year’s Six bowl berth on the line.
The eight wins cash in Vegas for the over, nine is a near certainty, and Ole Miss has a chance to win 10 games in the regular season for the first time in school history by my quick research.
Ole Miss dominated the first half as much as a team could dominate things — except for the scoreboard. The yardage difference was 408-91. Ole Miss ran for 192 and threw for 216. The Rebels picked up 23 first downs to A&M’s five… TWENTY THREE! Ole Miss ran 58 plays. It was annihilation. But Ole Miss messed up a red zone opportunity and kicked two field goals from scoring territory. The Rebels got no points after having first and goal from inside the 1… the score was 15-0 and it felt like Ole Miss left A&M just enough off the hook for there to be some chaos.
That sequence of four plays that started inside the one-yard-line shows why Lane Kiffin chooses to go tempo near the goal line instead of putting in any specific personnel. Spreading things out wouldn’t have been a bad idea, but otherwise it was a demolition by the Aggies front. Ole Miss greatly misses Ben Brown, and it has struggled for a while now with power in close quarters. Catching the defense slightly out of alignment is a bigger deal than any personnel. An under-center package would have limited the margin for error, but overall it’s just where Ole Miss is with the offensive line. Power at the goal line is a struggle. Playcalling wasn’t main issue. It was simply getting beat off the ball.
Sam Williams played a really good first half, but you could see him favoring that hip injury more as the game went on. I thought it harmed his mobility somewhat during the second half.
It was called on both teams. The defensive delay of game penalty is stupid when it’s a safety clapping without the quarterback even ready for the snap.
Obviously Ole Miss scored its touchdown on a fourth down call that worked, so it’s stupid to ridicule all fourth down decisions. However, that fake on the fourth down instead of trying to go up eight felt really large. The half had been an offensive struggle and it would have greatly changed the math for the Rebels.
The second half has become a critical issue for Ole Miss. The Rebels have scored 13 total offensive points in the last seven second-half quarters and one touchdown — the 15-yard drive that was so critical tonight. Ole Miss scored three against Liberty and Auburn each and the Rebels didn’t score in the fourth quarter against LSU.
Ole Miss only had 96 yards in the second half tonight.
I have no idea what TAMU was showing defensively, but Ole Miss simply stopped pushing the ball down the field. It was a recipe for disaster, as the Aggies are fast sideline to sideline, and the Rebels simply didn’t move the ball if they didn’t break containment at the point of impact. It was puzzling for most of the second half.
Jerrion Ealy had his best game, maybe of his career considering the opponent, rushing for 152 yards and getting second efforts all night. TAMU is really damn good up front.
Dontario Drummond changes things in the middle of the field. His presence is the X-factor in the RPO game.
I don’t see how Snoop Conner didn’t mess his ankle up, but he recovered and was his usual battering ram late in the game, including the big touchdown to go up two scores.
Ole Miss beat Vitter (Tulane), Freeze (Liberty) and Bjork (TAMU) this season.
That was just a hell of a job by the Ole Miss defense. It’s not a team set up for the defense to win games and be the critical unit to make things work, but it was on Saturday in a game the Rebels have to have in order to keep lofty expectations.
The Rebels held A&M to basically 100 yards of total offense in the first half in pitching a shutout, and the safety after the bungled red-zone series was a huge help with points and momentum. Ole Miss also played the final 29 minutes without Jake Springer who was ejected for targeting.
Ashanti Cistrunk and AJ Finley come up huge with back-to-back drive-stopping interceptions to ice this thing after A&M had gotten the ball and was down just two points. It’s the biggest defensive effort I can remember from the Rebels considering the need and the stakes.
Matt Corral made enough critical throws in the first half to get it done, but he was the least sharp of any game this season it seemed, and the lack of ball control was critical in the score not extending in the first half.
It is because of the defense that Ole Miss, barring some catastrophe against Vanderbilt, heads to Starkville with seemingly a New Year’s Six bowl berth on the line.
The eight wins cash in Vegas for the over, nine is a near certainty, and Ole Miss has a chance to win 10 games in the regular season for the first time in school history by my quick research.
Ole Miss dominated the first half as much as a team could dominate things — except for the scoreboard. The yardage difference was 408-91. Ole Miss ran for 192 and threw for 216. The Rebels picked up 23 first downs to A&M’s five… TWENTY THREE! Ole Miss ran 58 plays. It was annihilation. But Ole Miss messed up a red zone opportunity and kicked two field goals from scoring territory. The Rebels got no points after having first and goal from inside the 1… the score was 15-0 and it felt like Ole Miss left A&M just enough off the hook for there to be some chaos.
That sequence of four plays that started inside the one-yard-line shows why Lane Kiffin chooses to go tempo near the goal line instead of putting in any specific personnel. Spreading things out wouldn’t have been a bad idea, but otherwise it was a demolition by the Aggies front. Ole Miss greatly misses Ben Brown, and it has struggled for a while now with power in close quarters. Catching the defense slightly out of alignment is a bigger deal than any personnel. An under-center package would have limited the margin for error, but overall it’s just where Ole Miss is with the offensive line. Power at the goal line is a struggle. Playcalling wasn’t main issue. It was simply getting beat off the ball.
Sam Williams played a really good first half, but you could see him favoring that hip injury more as the game went on. I thought it harmed his mobility somewhat during the second half.
It was called on both teams. The defensive delay of game penalty is stupid when it’s a safety clapping without the quarterback even ready for the snap.
Obviously Ole Miss scored its touchdown on a fourth down call that worked, so it’s stupid to ridicule all fourth down decisions. However, that fake on the fourth down instead of trying to go up eight felt really large. The half had been an offensive struggle and it would have greatly changed the math for the Rebels.
The second half has become a critical issue for Ole Miss. The Rebels have scored 13 total offensive points in the last seven second-half quarters and one touchdown — the 15-yard drive that was so critical tonight. Ole Miss scored three against Liberty and Auburn each and the Rebels didn’t score in the fourth quarter against LSU.
Ole Miss only had 96 yards in the second half tonight.
I have no idea what TAMU was showing defensively, but Ole Miss simply stopped pushing the ball down the field. It was a recipe for disaster, as the Aggies are fast sideline to sideline, and the Rebels simply didn’t move the ball if they didn’t break containment at the point of impact. It was puzzling for most of the second half.
Jerrion Ealy had his best game, maybe of his career considering the opponent, rushing for 152 yards and getting second efforts all night. TAMU is really damn good up front.
Dontario Drummond changes things in the middle of the field. His presence is the X-factor in the RPO game.
I don’t see how Snoop Conner didn’t mess his ankle up, but he recovered and was his usual battering ram late in the game, including the big touchdown to go up two scores.
Ole Miss beat Vitter (Tulane), Freeze (Liberty) and Bjork (TAMU) this season.
