OXFORD, Miss. – No.1 Alabama scored two defensive touchdowns and another on special teams to overcome a three-touchdown deficit and beat No.19 Mississippi.
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Just over a minute later, Eddie Jackson returned an Ole Miss punt 85 yards with 1:05 in the second quarter to trim the Rebels’ lead to 24-17, where it would stand for the half.
“We are playing a lot of young kids in a lot of areas”, Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said.
The Huntingdon Hawks picked up its third straight win of the season on Saturday, defeating the Belhaven Blazers 65-21 in Montgomery. Defensive lineman Da’Ron Payne scooped up the football and dove in for the score to tie the game at 24. Now the Crimson Tide hold the keys and are in the drivers seat.
The critical moment came with five and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter.
No running game: Despite giving up 492 yards of total offense, Ole Miss still could have won this game with a better running game.
Then, Jalen Hurts, the Alabama quarterback who spent this September weekend previous year leading Channelview (Texas) High to an 82-14 win over Aldine (Houston) High, backed up to throw and to feel some college football. Ridley’s run capped a 3-play, 50-yard drive that took just 37 seconds.
Hurts helped Alabama rush for 334 yards. For the second time in three weeks a late second-quarter touchdown drive fed momentum to the opponent, and for the second time in three weeks Ole Miss came unraveled in the second half.
“Give credit to Louisville, they did a great job”, FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. Snell, a third-string freshman, finished with 136 yards and tied a school record for most rushing touchdowns. Ole Miss then recovered the onside kick, which led to another touchdown pass from Kelly to A.J. Brown cut it to 48-43 with 2:51 left after the failed two-point try.
“.These are all the things that I’m talking about in terms of not executing the details of what you need to do, which gives the other team opportunities to beat you and make plays”.
Ole Miss took a 24-17 lead into halftime, but the margin should have been bigger. Facing a 3-and-10, Hurts overthrew his target and Griffith missed from 47 yards out to leave the score 7-3 at the end of the first quarter. By the time Harris stopped stomping 67 yards up the middle of the field, Alabama set up camp at the Ole Miss 1-yard line, where Bo Scarbrough could spill over.
The next play, Kelly hit Evan Engram for a 63-yard touchdown pass to put Ole Miss up 17-3 in the second quarter. Devine Ozigbo also ran for 95 yards.
When end John Youngblood found it there and ran it 44 yards for a touchdown, it had so many meanings. The Georgia offense is averaging 29 points and 418.7 yards per game and they have turned the ball over 5 times. It’s still imperative that the Rebels regroup and still aim for high standing in the SEC West, but even a New Year’s Six bowl game seems a little unlikely given how things have played out so far. McIlwain ran for 34 yards and two touchdowns, and was 16-for-28 for 195 yards passing.
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The Crimson Tide responded immediately.
