OXFORD, Miss. – In a case of déjà vu, Ole Miss lost a fourth quarter lead to
visiting Texas A&M for the second consecutive season, and the No. 9
Aggies hit a 33-yard field goal as time expired to escape with a 41-38
victory over the Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday night.
“Obviously
we are very disappointed for our kids,” Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze
said. “They fought their guts out and played their hearts out against a
very good football team, and had their chances to win. It really boils
down to we had a chance to make some plays and didn’t and they did.
There were a lot of things that could have happened but didn’t. …
Again, I am very proud of our kids. It’s disappointing, and we have to
get one of these to go our way.”
With 60,950 fans in attendance,
Ole Miss junior quarterback Bo Wallace passed for 301 yards, freshman
wide receiver Laquon Treadwell had eight catches for 77 yards and two
touchdowns and the Rebel defense created two turnovers.
Ole
Miss (3-3, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) led 38-31 with 6:05 remaining
in the fourth quarter, but a 75-yard touchdown drive by Texas A&M
(5-1, 2-1 SEC) tied the score at 38, and a 56-yard drive just over
three minutes later was capped off by a 33-yard field goal by the
Aggies to win 41-38 as the clock hit zero.
This was the third
straight game between these two programs that has been decided by three
points, and the second straight year in which Texas A&M won in
Oxford after trailing in the fourth quarter.
After a Texas
A&M touchdown on its opening drive, the Rebels tied the game on
their second drive of the game with a 70-yard touchdown pass from
Wallace to junior wide receiver Vince Sanders. The 70-yard reception
was the longest of Sanders’ career.
Coming out of the locker
rooms at halftime with a 14-10 advantage, the Aggies stretched their
lead to 21-10 on their opening possession of the second half thanks to
a five-yard run up the middle by sophomore quarterback Johnny Manziel.
The reigning Heisman Trophy winner finished the game 31-39 through the
air for 346 yards, and 113 more yards on the ground, including two
touchdowns.
Ole Miss responded on the very next drive, going 75
yards on 14 plays that was highlighted by a 17-yard touchdown reception
by Treadwell from senior quarterback Barry Brunetti. The touchdown
reception was the first of Treadwell’s young career.
After the
Aggies took a seven-point lead on a 37-yard field goal to open the
fourth quarter, Ole Miss tied the game with a 9-yard touchdown pass
from Brunetti to freshman tight end Evan Engram. Brunetti's two
touchdown passes Saturday night were a career high, and marked the
second and third touchdown passes of his career.
Ole Miss took
its first lead of the game just 1:34 later. Sophomore safety Trae
Elston recovered a Texas A&M fumble forced by junior linebacker
Serderius Bryant at the Aggies’ 41-yard line, and Ole Miss scored three
plays later on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Wallace to Treadwell.
Following
a Texas A&M touchdown that tied the game, Ole Miss went back to
work with its offense in a groove. Standing at his own 49-yard line,
Wallace found sophomore running back Jaylen Walton in the flat and
Walton did the rest, sprinting 51 yards down the right sideline and
into the endzone to give Ole Miss a 38-31 lead.
Texas A&M
tied the game at 38 with 3:07 remaining in the fourth quarter on a
6-yard sprint by Manziel to the left pylon, and then won the game with
a 33-yard field goal as time expired.
Texas A&M’s 14
first-half points tied its lowest output in the opening half this
season. The Rebels’ defense posted seven tackles for loss, its
second-highest total of the season. Bryant led all tacklers with 12,
including one tackle for loss and the forced fumble in the fourth
quarter. Fellow junior linebacker Keith Lewis picked off Manziel in the
Rebels’ endzone for his first interception of his career.
TAM postgame notes vs. Ole Miss
About the Win...
• The Aggies improved to 5-1 and 2-1 against the SEC with the 41-38 victory.
• The Aggies are now 6-0 all-time against Ole Miss.
• A&M improved to 6-0 in SEC road games.
• It was A&M’s 697th victory in program history.
10th straight road win
The
Aggies matched the longest road winning streak in school history with
their 10th straight win away from Kyle Field. The record was originally
set in 1939-40.
• Head coach Kevin Sumlin’s personal road
winningest streak stretched to 15 straight. Sumlin hasn’t lost a game
on the road since the final game of 2010 when his UH squad fell to
Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas.
Another 40-point game
The
game-winning FG by junior PK Josh Lambo gave the Aggies 41 points for
the game. It stretched A&M’s streak of 40-point scoring game to
nine, which is the longest current streak in FBS.
• It was
the first game-winning field goal for Lambo, who won the starting
placekicker job two games ago. Lambo joined the Aggies as a walkon last
year, and was former first-round Major League Soccer selection of FC
Dallas in 2008.
300/100 game for Manziel
Sophomore QB
Johnny Manziel posted the fourth 300 pass/100 rush game of his career
agains the Rebels with 346 passing yards and 113 rushing yards. It is
the most by any player in FBS history.
Miscellaneous
•
Sophomore WR Mike Evans has had at least one 20-yard catch in 17-of-19
career games, and at least two catches in every game of his career.
• Senior LB Steven Jenkins matched his career high with 13 tackles.
• Sophomore CB De’Vante Harris had his first double-digit tackle game with 10 solo stops vs. Ole Miss.
Labhart goes off
Senior WR Travis Labhart exploded for a career-high eight catches for 97 yards.
•
Labhart walked-on the Aggie football team two years ago after serving a
stint on the male practice squad for Gary Blair’s 2011 NCAA Champion
women’s basketball team.
• He was granted a scholarship during fall camp earlier this year.
• His younger sister, Katelyn, is a freshman on Laurie Corbelli’s Aggie volleyball team.
Manziel hits 7,000
Sophomore
QB Johnny Manziel eclipsed the 7,000-yard barrier in total offense in
his 19th career game, which is the fastest in NCAA FBS history by a
four-year player.
• Manziel accounted for 459 total yards
against the Rebels (346 passing, 113 rushing). He has eclipsed the
300-yard plateau in total offense in 16-of-19 career games. It was the
ninth 400-yard offensive output of his career.
• Manziel passed for 346 yards, which marked the seventh 300-yard passing game of his career.
FAST STARTERS
The Aggies took the opening kickoff and drove 78 yards for a touchdown on a 7-yard Ben Malena run.
•
In Kevin Sumlin’s 19 games as Aggie head coach, the Aggies have scored
on their first drive of the game 16 times, with 15 touchdowns.
• It was the Aggies’ fifth straight game with a TD on their initial offensive series.
• A&M has scored first in 18-of-19 games under Sumlin.
•
Defensively, the Aggies forced a turnover on downs by the Rebels. It
was the 13th time in 19 games under defensive coordinator Mark Snyder
that the Aggies have forced a punt, turnover or turnover on downs on
the opponent’s first drive of the game.
Hitting 3,000 in Six
The
Aggies hit 3,000 total yards in the sixth game of the season for the
second straight year, which is the fastest in school history.
12th MAN, POLO, CAPTAINS
• For the sixth straight game, sophomore defensive back Sam Moeller was the 12th Man.
•
Wearing the #90 jersey in memory of fallen teammate Polo Manukainiu was
junior DT Ivan Robinson (normally wears #89). Manukainiu died in a
tragic car accident last summer.
• The Aggies’ team
captain representatives at the coin toss were seniors Ben Malena, Toney
Hurd Jr. and Jake Matthews. Assisting the Aggies at the coin toss was
Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is a Texas A&M graduate. Ole Miss
won the toss and deferred their choice to the second half.
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