Passing offense: C – Alabama continued to take shots downfield, but Hurts’ passing wasn’t almost as dynamic as we’ve seen from him already this season. Ole Miss went three-and-out on the ensuing series, and Alabama again capitalized, as Eddie Jackson returned the Rebels’ punt 85 yards for a touchdown to cut the Ole Miss lead to 24-17 at the half.
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“All phases and players contributed to this”, Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “It was good to get a win on a short week where preparation was hard, especially against this offense”. While this was a case of the Tide’s secondary overreacting to play action, this is also an example of the opportunities created downfield in the passing game due to the threat of Kelly’s athleticism. MS head coach Hugh Freeze, left, and Alabama head coach Nick Saban chat before an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016 in Oxford, Miss.
(11:47) Alabama’s Da’Ron Payne recovers the ball and returns for three yards.
The Rebels proceeded to allow the Crimson Tide to rattle off a 45-6 run on their way to a 48-43 victory that was not as close as the score would indicate.
The game would not flip completely, however, as Ole Miss could not force Alabama to surrender the ball over the final 2:51. It is a remarkable mix of “sad and astonishing” that Ole Miss has managed to accomplish this feat in a span of 12 days. He led the Rebels to a lightning-quick touchdown on their first possession, led the Rebels to a field goal after a J.K. Scott shanked punt and found Evan Engram wide open for a 63-yard score later in the quarter. He and sophomore running back Damien Harris combined for 290 yards on 34 carries – an average of 8.5 yards per carry. Now the Crimson Tide hold the keys and are in the drivers seat. Hurts led the Tide down to the 1-yard line before Harris scored to make it 41-30 with 7:33 left. In the fourth quarter, Kelly was under pressure and threw right to Allen, who ran the ball back for a 75-yard touchdown and a 48-30 Tide lead.
“I didn’t think that this would be my claim to fame, but I’m happy that it accurately depicted how I felt at that moment”, she said.
Kelly’s toughness, athleticism and arm talent were all evident in a wild 48-43 loss to Alabama but so too were his flaws, including a lack of pocket awareness that should leave National Football League teams considering using a high pick on him nervous.
Just when the game looked over, Kelly threw a touchdown pass to receiver Damore’ea Stringfellow make it 48-37.
When Lindsey Dunn woke up Saturday morning, she definitely did not expect to be known as “Sad Ole Miss Girl” by the end of the day.
“(We have to) play every play with the same importance, the same value”, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. The Rebels lead the SEC with a 62.5 percent third-down conversion rate. While the No. 1 Crimson Tide are hardly invincible, games against Kent State and Kentucky the next two weeks mean they have plenty of time to fix mistakes and enter the heart of SEC play as the overwhelming favorite to win the conference yet again.
Brian Kelly’s charges started brightly, taking a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but an incredible 36-point-without-response rally from the home team dashed any hopes the Irish might have had of treating the in crowd to a home win. The quarterback ran for 146 yards and four TDs and passed for 216 yards and a score.
Kelly threw for 421 yards and three touchdowns against a vaunted Alabama defense, but he made two crucial errors that arguably cost MS the game.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Tyler O’Connor threw for two touchdowns, Gerald Holmes ran for two more and Michigan State took advantage of plenty of mistakes by Notre Dame. “I knew I had a lot of space”.
Rather than knock out Hurts, however, the fumble seemed to ignite Hurts – and the rest of Alabama’s roster.
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The second blunted a lot of the hope of an Ole Miss comeback.
