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Rebels Fall To Longhorns In Highly Anticipated Showdown
OXFORD,
Miss. – In a high-scoring affair that saw a total of 97 points scored,
the Ole Miss football team (2-1) could not stop the No. 12 Texas (3-0)
offense, and lost its first game of the season 66-31 Saturday night at
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Playing in front of 61,797 fans, the fourth-largest crowd in school
history and the largest ever for a non-conference game, the Rebels
accumulated 19 first downs and 399 yards of offense, but couldn’t get
the Longhorns’ offense off the field. The Longhorns scored on
seven-straight possessions, including six touchdowns, spanning from the
first quarter to the final minute of the third quarter.
“Offensively, we did some good things and we put up some yards on a
really good defense, but we just didn’t play great defensively,” Ole
Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said.
Trailing 10-0 with just over three minutes remaining in the first
quarter, Ole Miss got on the board with an impressive 12-play, 89-yard
drive that started from its own 11-yard line. The Rebels faced a tough
third-and-17 from its own 41-yard line, but sophomore quarterback Bo
Wallace found junior wide receiver Korvic Neat down the middle for 30
yards and new life. From there, the Rebels needed just four more plays
before senior running back Randall Mackey rushed to the right side from
three yards out for the touchdown.
Wallace and Donte Moncrief connected for the third consecutive game.
Wallace connected with Moncrief in the third quarter on a beautiful
75-yard touchdown pass where the sophomore wide receiver adjusted to
the ball in the air and alluded two Texas tacklers to cut across the
field and into the endzone.
Wallace and Moncrief have connected for 50-plus yard touchdowns in each
of Ole Miss’ first three games. Moncrief finished the game with seven
receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown.
With Texas leading 45-17 in the third quarter, Ole Miss junior running
back Jeff Scott broke a tackle near midfield and scampered 48 yards to
pay dirt, diving over the pylon on the left sideline. It was the
longest run of the season by Scott, who finished with eight rushes for
95 yards.
Freshman running back Jaylen Walton capped off the scoring for the
Rebels with an eye-opening 100-yard kickoff return down the left
sideline.
Walton has proven to be a dynamic weapon for the Rebels’ offense this
season. The Memphis, Tenn., native rushed for a 10-yard touchdown in
Ole Miss’ season-opening win over Central Arkansas on the first rush of
his career. Against UTEP in Ole Miss’ second game of the season, Walton
was the recipient of a 51-yard touchdown pass from Wallace. Walton’s
kickoff return for a touchdown Saturday night was Ole Miss’ first
kickoff return touchdown of the year.
“We didn’t play our best game,” Freeze said. “Whether or not it would
have been good enough to be with them in the fourth quarter, I don’t
know. But I sure would’ve liked for us to play a little better and take
care of the football. We’ve got to go to work and get better.”
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