Lars Andersen
On Saturday night, under the lights of Kyle Field in College Station, Ole Miss narrowly defeated Texas A&M 31-28, snuffing out a late-game drive by the Aggies. The Rebels were favored by three points and ended up winning by exactly that margin in a shootout between A&M’s pass attack and the Ole Miss ground-and-pound.
Ole Miss has had quite the two-week stretch. After losing to LSU in Baton Rouge, the red and blue had a decision to make: They could have lost two in a row, dropping out of SEC contention for all intents and purposes, or they could have taken the loss on the chin, gotten back up and taken it to the Aggies with a fury. Thankfully for Oxford’s faithful, the Rebels chose the latter.
Running back Quinshon Judkins toted the rock for his first 200-yard game, becoming the all-time rushing leader among Ole Miss freshmen in the process with 1,036 yards so far this year, despite there being three more weeks in the season.
Judkins had his 19th birthday on Saturday to boot, making the matchup one of the most special of his career.
Head coach Lane Kiffin compared his performance to that of a young Derrick Henry.
“That’s very unusual to turn 19 today and be at A&M and carry the ball 34 times,” Kiffin said after the game. “That’s like Derrick Henry carries when he was winning the Heisman three years older. That’s really special.”
Zach Evans also contributed to the rushing effort, getting 75 yards of his own to alleviate Judkins’ load. Ole Miss rushed for a total of 390 yards, thanks to another 95 from quarterback Jaxson Dart.
For a modern offense like Kiffin’s, it was special to see a classic performance like this one. The Rebels perpetually ran to set up the pass, which allowed a three-touchdown and no-interception performance from Dart, despite throwing for only 140 yards.
The Aggies’ quarterback, freshman Conner Weigman, threw for 338 yards and four touchdowns, outdeuling Dart by nearly 200 yards.
Dart and the rest of the team were overjoyed with the win.
“It’s huge for our team to rebound after last week,” Dart said after the victory. “It was huge coming into this week that we prepared the best that we could and get a big week going into the bye week.”
Despite being down early, the Rebel defense shut out Texas A&M in the second and third quarters, allowing for 17 unanswered points from the Ole Miss offense, which forced the Aggies to end the contest with a whimper, rather than a roar.
Ole Miss will go into the bye week with an 8-1 record, good for third in the SEC West, and a No. 11 spot in the AP poll.
