Ole Miss Holds Off Texas A&M 29-19 In Oxford
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Rebels had to sweat on Saturday night, but they got the job done.
No. 15 Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2 SEC) had an explosive night on the ground and a shut-down first half from its defense en route to a 29-19 win over No. 11 Texas A&M (7-3, 3-3 SEC).
The Rebels only led 15-0 at halftime thanks to offensive struggles in the red zone, but they were able to pad their stats, especially in the rushing category. Jerrion Ealy rushed for over 100 yards on the night, making up the bulk of Ole Miss' production on the ground. Matt Corral once again surpassed 200 yards through the air and had one touchdown pass to Dontario Drummond in the first half.
The biggest story of the night was Ole Miss' failures on offense, however. The Rebels finished 4-for-5 in the red zone, but they made it inside the A&M five twice in the first half and were unable to find pay dirt, something that almost came back to bite in the second half. With the bulk of its receiving corps back from injury, the Rebels looked good in between the 20s at times on Saturday night, but they looked like a completely different unit once they neared the goal line. Ole Miss had over 400 yards of offense at halftime paired with only 15 points.
Lane Kiffin also opted to fake a field goal in the fourth quarter that was ruled short of the line to gain. All-in-all, it wasn't an efficient night for Jeff Lebby's unit.
Another key factor was the Ole Miss defense. The Rebels were able to limit Texas A&M's rushing attack, and they forced a safety in the second quarter after the offense was unable to punch it in from inside the five-yard line. Despite this dominance, the Ole Miss defense seemed to revert some in the second half, and A&M was able to find its way back into the game, similar to last week's performance against Liberty.
Even with the struggles in the second half, Ashanti Cistrunk came away with a key interception midway through the fourth quarter that helped set up an Ole Miss score. Snoop Conner burst through a hole from 13 yards out to essentially seal the game for the Rebels, and A.J. Finley put the icing on the cake with a pick six late in the frame as well.
It wasn't helpful to the Rebel defense that on A&M's first drive of the second half, Jake Springer was ejected due to targeting. He will miss the first half of next week's game against Vanderbilt. Still, Ole Miss just came away with a signature win at home over an opponent in the top 15 after College GameDay came into town. It now has eight wins on the season, the most since winning 10 in 2015.
Now the Rebels will turn their attention to a home date with Vanderbilt before closing out the regular season in Starkville with the Egg Bowl.
Kickoff next week between the Rebels and Commodores is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Rebels? Click Here.
