Rebels Snap SEC Skid With 41-20 Win Over Auburn
Jeff Scott leads Ole Miss with 207 all-purpose yards
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss
head football coach Hugh Freeze received a Gatorade bath and the Ole
Miss faithful stood and cheered the team on in appreciation. After 16
long games, the Rebels finally snapped their Southeastern Conference
losing skid Saturday with a 41-20 win over Auburn (1-5, 0-4 SEC) on
Homecoming at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The win was a long time coming for Ole Miss (4-3, 1-2 SEC), as the
Rebels snapped a skid that stretched back to Oct. 2, 2010. Ole Miss
played an inspired game Saturday in front of 57,068 fans, and drew
praise from their head coach.
“Obviously words really cannot describe the feeling in that locker room
and in the stadium,” Freeze said. “For the better part of two and a
half years the Rebel fans and students and players and administration
have had to put up with some disappointing times. We’re not there yet,
nor do we think we are, but today we were. We were good enough in four
quarters to win an SEC game. We’re sure we sound overly emotional, but
one of the things our staff wants so badly to give to the Rebel fans is
some good times. I know that they’re going to enjoy the Grove today,
and that makes it a special weekend for me.”
Ole Miss junior running back Jeff Scott paced the Ole Miss offense with
207 all-purpose yards and one touchdown. Scott ran for 137 yards – one
yard shy of his career high – on 21 carries, and had three catches for
70 yards and a touchdown. Scott’s 70 receiving yards were a career
high, and his 55-yard touchdown catch was the first touchdown reception
of his career.
Scott wasn’t the only star on offense for the potent Rebels attack.
Quarterback Bo Wallace scored in just about every way for Ole Miss. The
sophomore had his first receiving touchdown, two rushing touchdowns and
threw for a score as well.
“He was 17 for 22 and protected the football and also ran a couple of
touchdowns,” Freeze said. “We had talked about improving things we were
not doing well, and I think he’s making strides in the right direction.”
Ole Miss had a fantastic start to the game Saturday afternoon. The
Rebels capped off a nine-play, 80-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown
pass from senior running back Randall Mackey to Wallace. Wallace tossed
the ball back to Mackey who ran to his right before stopping and
throwing across the field to a streaking Wallace down the left
sideline. It was the first touchdown reception of Wallace’s career.
One week after forcing six turnovers against Texas A&M, the Ole
Miss defense stepped up again with a fumble recovery and an
interception.
Just 1:35 after Wallace’s touchdown reception, sophomore defensive end
C.J. Johnson recovered an Auburn fumble off a hike that sailed over
Auburn quarterback Clint Moseley’s head and into the end zone. Despite
having the ball for exactly eight fewer minutes than Auburn in the
first quarter, Ole Miss led 14-0.
The Rebels went into the halftime break on a positive note, as kicker
Bryson Rose nailed a 28-yard field goal as time expired and the two
teams went into the break knotted at 17 points apiece.
The Rebels opened the second half similarly to the first half, with an
impressive four-play, 73-yard touchdown drive highlighted by a gorgeous
40-yard pass from Wallace to Ja-Mes Logan in between two Auburn
defensive backs. Wallace capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown
run.
After each team tacked on field goals, Scott put the Rebels up by 14
points with a 55-yard touchdown reception in which he rolled over an
Auburn defender, got up and ran into the end zone. Scott’s acrobatic
touchdown gave Ole Miss a 34-20 lead with 5:02 left in the game.
“We’ll just call that touchdown Jesus,” Freeze said. “But that’s what
you do. You play until the whistle blows, and that’s what he did.”
Ole Miss gained possession again when junior linebacker Mike Marry
picked off a Moseley pass and returned it 38 yards to the Auburn
31-yard line. The interception by Marry was the first of his career.
Wallace put the proverbial nail in the coffin for Ole Miss with a
hard-nosed two-yard run into the end zone in which he dragged multiple
Auburn defenders. The Rebels’ 41 points were their most points scored
in the series against Auburn since 1992.
“We need to get a couple more wins to get bowl eligible and that is what we are focused on,” Wallace said.
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