Caleb Harris
The No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels (8-1, 4-1 SEC) were able to get back on track against a struggling Texas A&M (3-5, 1-4 SEC) team during the weekend. The Rebels fell to LSU a week earlier and needed this win to avoid a two-game losing streak and loss in morale.
The story for Ole Miss is the same: The offense gets off to a hot start and struggles to maintain that level. Pair that with a suspect run defense, and that summed up the first half.
Although Ole Miss led 7-0 after the first drive, Texas A&M roared back with two consecutive touchdowns. But Ole Miss bit into that lead late into the second quarter with a field goal to be down 10-14 heading into halftime. Ole Miss came back in the third quarter to score two touchdowns and outscored A&M in the second half 21-14.
I will be giving my grades on how each unit performed in the game.
Offense: A-
The Rebels scored on their first possession to take the lead but could not finish off drives consistently afterwards, which caused them to get behind. A monster rushing attack led by Qunishon Judkins’ career-high 34 carries and 205 yards, Jaxson Dart’s key rushing yards to extend drives and Zach Evans, who was still banged up but provided a spark, helped secure the victory for the Rebels. A stale offense in the first half is what prevents me from giving the squad an A+.
Defense: C
The first half looked very shaky and at times ugly for the defense both in passing and rushing. Texas A&M had a true freshman throw four touchdown passes against a veteran Rebel secondary. Although this is a five-star quarterback, he’s still a freshman. The defense also allowed more than 100 yards rushing in the first half. But the defense made critical adjustments in the second half and allowed only 14 points. The defense came up clutch when it mattered, forcing an incomplete pass on fourth down late in the game when Texas A&M was threatening to score and take the lead.
Special Teams: A+
Kicker Jonathan Cruz still proves to be automatic with field goals and extra points. Cruz hit a crucial field goal before halftime providing a spark the Rebels needed to win. The punt unit caught everyone off guard when they converted a key fourth down with a fake on their own 15-yard line. Defensive lineman JJ Pegues got the snap from the center and powered his way up the middle to keep the drive alive. A 60-yard punt led to A&M’s final drive to start at their own 10-yard line and helped seal the victory for Ole Miss.
Overall team grade: B+
Ole Miss got a very much-needed victory to stay afloat in the SEC West rankings. The game wasn’t always pretty at times, but a 309-yard rushing performance and a no turnover night on offense combined with a key stop for defense was just enough to hang on for the win in College Station.
