The No. 12 Ole Miss football team walked into Saturday’s contest at South Carolina with one objective after a devastating home loss one week prior and that was to get its first conference win. That’s exactly what Lane Kiffin’s squad did in a hostile road environment as the Rebels stamped a dominant 27-3 victory over the Gamecocks.
A relatively banged-up Rebels crew – one most notably missing star edge rusher Princely Umanmielen and safety Louis Moore as a few other major contributors played through injuries – answered the call after having its toughness questioned following the loss to Kentucky.
In a contest mostly defined by first-half scoring and missed opportunities, Ole Miss (5-1, 1-1 SEC) was simply better than its SEC counterpart. Pete Golding’s defense especially shined bright, keeping the Gamecocks’ offense at bay and not allowing any touchdowns to be scored even when South Carolina (3-2, 1-2 SEC) crossed into Ole Miss territory.
The Rebels’ defense swarmed the LaNorris Sellers-led offense on Saturday, notching six sacks 10 tackles for loss, five pass breakups, a fumble recovery, and an interception while also forcing three turnovers on downs. The group was amplified by a heroic performance from defensive tackle Walter Nolen, a speedy linebacker corps, and a secondary looking for redemption.
The three points South Carolina scored marked the fewest the Rebels had allowed an SEC opponent to score since 2015 when Ole Miss beat Texas A&M 23-3.
Offensively, the Rebels did enough to run away with the win, though veteran signal-caller Jaxson Dart was far from his sharpest and the run game never got into a consistent rhythm. However, a few busted coverages and an all-too-familiar go-to weapon in short-yardage situations worked in Ole Miss’ favor and allowed the offense to score on an incredibly stingy Gamecock defense.
Ole Miss had 425 total yards compared to 313 on the Gamecocks’ side. More importantly, the Rebels won the turnover battle, only giving the ball up while South Carolina surrendered the pigskin a couple of times. Ole Miss was perfect in the red zone, scoring 24 points when deep into South Carolina territory.
Looking ahead, Ole Miss will need to get some guys healthy. Standout wide receiver Tre Harris exited the game late in the first half with an ankle injury and never returned to action. Throughout the contest, multiple defensive linemen dropped to the ground, even though some of the apparent injuries were deemed by spectators as attempts to stop play, and running backs Henry Parrish, Jr. and Matt Jones were shaken up late.
Though injuries affect every college football team, some of Ole Miss’ biggest contributors have been banged up at times this season.
Scoring recap
Kiffin’s bunch looked to capitalize early after Shane Beamer dialed up a fake punt in Gamecock territory that went nowhere on their opening drive. The Rebels drove the short field and Parrish found the end zone on a three-yard carry to give his team a 7-0 lead.
Another Gamecock error took place the very next drive courtesy of a miscommunication resulting in quarterback Robby Ashford fumbling. Nolen was responsible for the recovery. Dart and company methodically worked themselves into the red zone. Ole Miss defensive tackle and Chucky Mullins Courage Award winner JJ Pegues ended the drive with a one-yard touchdown run with 5:57 left in the first quarter.
South Carolina responded in the second quarter after a promising drive resulted in a successful 40-yard field goal attempt by Alex Herrera. Ole Miss moved the ball to the goal line and threatened to put seven more points on the board, but after an exchange of timeouts between both coaching staffs, Kiffin elected to send kicker Caden Davis onto the field. Davis split the uprights from 24 yards out to put his team up 17-3.
South Carolina was unable to immediately counter and punted the ball away to the Rebels. After getting the ball back, Dart, under duress, connected with Jordan Watkins on a deep ball to set up yet another one-yard touchdown carry for Pegues. Ole Miss posted a 24-3 lead at halftime.
The Gamecocks, in desperate need of momentum, moved the ball down the field in their opening drive of the second half. Sellers showed his athleticism and craftiness while extending what looked like a fruitful drive. However, the young signal caller was flushed out of bounds on a critical third down by a swath of Ole Miss defenders. To make matters worse for the Gamecocks, Herrera was unable to connect on a 46-yard field goal attempt with 9:18 left in the third quarter.
Looking to put the nail in the coffin midway through the second half, Dart hit Antwane “Juice” Wells, a former South Carolina wide receiver who drew an angry reaction from the home crowd, on a deep ball, but the transfer wideout fumbled the ball out of the back of the end zone for a touchback.
Nonetheless, the Rebels’ defense came to the rescue, forcing their conference foe to punt. One drive later, Ole Miss took advantage of a careless unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after being stopped on third down and a pass interference call to march down the field. Dart, not at his best, missed a wide-open Wells in the end zone, forcing Kiffin to send out the field goal unit once more. Scoring came to an end on Saturday with Davis hitting a 44-yarder with 1:56 left in the third quarter.
South Carolina threatened to score late with Sellers and company getting into the red zone midway through the fourth quarter. But the Gamecocks’ odds of amassing a comeback were stymied when Sellers threw the ball to Ole Miss defensive back Trey Amos near the goal line.
Stat leaders
- Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart: 14-27, 285 passing yards, and 44 rushing yards.
- Ole Miss running back Henry Parrish, Jr.: 21 carries, 81 yards, and one touchdown.
- Ole Miss wide receiver Juice Wells: Three receptions and 97 yards
- Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen: Five tackles (four solo), two sacks, three tackles for loss, and one fumble recovery.
- Ole Miss linebacker TJ Dottery: 13 tackles (11 solo), one sack, two tackles for loss, and one pass breakup.
- Ole Miss defensive back Trey Amos: Eight tackles (seven solo), one interception, and one pass breakup.
Key takeaways
There is no better way to get rid of the bitter taste of losing at home than to win in a hostile environment as the road team. Ole Miss not only came out a victor on Saturday but manhandled a gritty South Carolina bunch on its home turf.
The defense stood out the most with the front four and linebackers making an athletic Sellers uncomfortable and seemingly miserable all afternoon, limiting his abilities to move the ball forward. Specifically, Dottery, Chris Paul, Jr., and Suntarine Perkins were all over the field, disrupting the Gamecocks’ rushing and aerial attacks.
On offense, it wasn’t the best outing for Dart. The field general missed multiple deep balls and struggled with accuracy altogether, but the veteran made plays when absolutely necessary. Dart demonstrated poise even when things had somewhat gone awry and used his supporting cast after almost solely targeting Harris one game ago.
Kiffin, who was criticized for his coaching last week, was the better field conductor on Saturday and had his team fully prepared to come away victorious in a must-win situation if Ole Miss wants to make its College Football Playoff debut this year.
Now, Ole Miss will need Harris, Umanmielen, and other notable injured contributors to heal if the Rebels want to do what the program has yet to accomplish.
With two unbeaten programs, No. 1 Alabama and No. 9 Missouri, suffering tough losses on Saturday, Ole Miss could possibly find itself back in the top 10 when the Associated Press’ rankings come out on Sunday.
What’s next
Ole Miss will continue its road journey in Baton Rouge at LSU (4-1, 1-0 SEC) next Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT. The ballgame will be broadcast on ABC and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
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