Football Jeff Roberson, OleMissSports.com
From the Grove to the stadium, the Rebels came out on top
It was Game Day all day in Oxford. But it didn't reach its zenith until late in the actual game between No. 12 Ole Miss and No. 11 Texas A&M.
That's when an Ole Miss defense that had been stellar all game long stepped up to basically win it for the Rebels.
Many thought the first time ESPN's College GameDay was in Oxford in 2014 when the Rebels beat Alabama was big. Saturday's 29-19 victory against Texas A&M was right there with it.
Few were happier, it seemed, than Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, usually fairly stoic and admittedly with some reservation about how his team had performed. And while he wasn't completely satisfied on this night, he was visibly and audibly upbeat.
"Alright, that was cool," he said with emphasis to begin his postgame press conference.
But there was more.
"I feel like I'm usually down in here, like we won but I'm complaining about something," Kiffin continued. "So I won't complain about our red zone offense right now."
That drew some brief laughter.
The Rebels did have trouble scoring points, especially when they had some golden red-zone opportunities in the first half.
Statistically in that first half, the Rebels had dominated. But their advantage was only 15-0 at halftime, and although with the lead, didn't really seem to have much momentum.
Texas A&M opened the second half with a five-minute drive that resulted in a Seth Small 30-yard field goal, which in itself seemed like a momentary win for the Rebels, holding the Aggies to just three points. But the Ole Miss defense had played well all night, and by that point stopping the A&M attack wasn't really that much of a surprise.
The drive for that field goal for the Aggies took 12 plays, and amazingly put the total number of plays for the visitors to only 38 in the game to that point.
That's how well the Ole Miss defense performed in the first half. The problem was Ole Miss had 58 offensive snaps but only 15 total points, two of those coming by way of a safety by Rebel defenders.
Ole Miss left first-half points on the field that, had they scored them, they might have actually had this one out of reach for the visitors by intermission. The Rebels had punted twice and two other times settled for Caden Costa field goals.
There were times in the second half when it appeared the Aggies would take the momentum and perhaps keep it. Like on a fake Rebel field goal from the Aggie 22 when holder Mac Brown, on his rush, came up just short. Ole Miss still clung to a 15-10 lead at that point.
Once again the Rebel defense then came up with a stop, and A&M settled for another Small field goal. This one was with 10:19 left. It was 15-13 and anybody's game.
A key in this one? The Aggies never got the lead.
An interception of a Zach Calzada pass by Ashanti Cistrunk led to a 13-yard Snoop Conner rush for a touchdown that gave the Rebels some cushion at 22-13.
But it was an A.J. Finley interception later—and those are coming more often for the Rebel junior—that gave Ole Miss an even larger lead at 29-13, following Costa's PAT. Finley picked off a Calzada pass with just under five minutes left and raced 52 yards for a Rebel touchdown.
"That was a crazy moment for me," Finley said later. "That was my first pick-six since I've been here. So that was really big for me."
It was equally as big for his team, which then led by 16 points after Costa's extra point.
There was still time for A&M but not enough as Ole Miss wound up with another GameDay win—really an all-day victory—from 8 a.m. when ESPN's popular show began in the Grove until the final horn of the football game some 14 hours later.
And Lane Kiffin could—almost—not have been happier.
That's when an Ole Miss defense that had been stellar all game long stepped up to basically win it for the Rebels.
Many thought the first time ESPN's College GameDay was in Oxford in 2014 when the Rebels beat Alabama was big. Saturday's 29-19 victory against Texas A&M was right there with it.
Few were happier, it seemed, than Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, usually fairly stoic and admittedly with some reservation about how his team had performed. And while he wasn't completely satisfied on this night, he was visibly and audibly upbeat.
"Alright, that was cool," he said with emphasis to begin his postgame press conference.
But there was more.
"I feel like I'm usually down in here, like we won but I'm complaining about something," Kiffin continued. "So I won't complain about our red zone offense right now."
That drew some brief laughter.
The Rebels did have trouble scoring points, especially when they had some golden red-zone opportunities in the first half.
Statistically in that first half, the Rebels had dominated. But their advantage was only 15-0 at halftime, and although with the lead, didn't really seem to have much momentum.
Texas A&M opened the second half with a five-minute drive that resulted in a Seth Small 30-yard field goal, which in itself seemed like a momentary win for the Rebels, holding the Aggies to just three points. But the Ole Miss defense had played well all night, and by that point stopping the A&M attack wasn't really that much of a surprise.
The drive for that field goal for the Aggies took 12 plays, and amazingly put the total number of plays for the visitors to only 38 in the game to that point.
That's how well the Ole Miss defense performed in the first half. The problem was Ole Miss had 58 offensive snaps but only 15 total points, two of those coming by way of a safety by Rebel defenders.
Ole Miss left first-half points on the field that, had they scored them, they might have actually had this one out of reach for the visitors by intermission. The Rebels had punted twice and two other times settled for Caden Costa field goals.
There were times in the second half when it appeared the Aggies would take the momentum and perhaps keep it. Like on a fake Rebel field goal from the Aggie 22 when holder Mac Brown, on his rush, came up just short. Ole Miss still clung to a 15-10 lead at that point.
Once again the Rebel defense then came up with a stop, and A&M settled for another Small field goal. This one was with 10:19 left. It was 15-13 and anybody's game.
A key in this one? The Aggies never got the lead.
An interception of a Zach Calzada pass by Ashanti Cistrunk led to a 13-yard Snoop Conner rush for a touchdown that gave the Rebels some cushion at 22-13.
But it was an A.J. Finley interception later—and those are coming more often for the Rebel junior—that gave Ole Miss an even larger lead at 29-13, following Costa's PAT. Finley picked off a Calzada pass with just under five minutes left and raced 52 yards for a Rebel touchdown.
"That was a crazy moment for me," Finley said later. "That was my first pick-six since I've been here. So that was really big for me."
It was equally as big for his team, which then led by 16 points after Costa's extra point.
There was still time for A&M but not enough as Ole Miss wound up with another GameDay win—really an all-day victory—from 8 a.m. when ESPN's popular show began in the Grove until the final horn of the football game some 14 hours later.
And Lane Kiffin could—almost—not have been happier.
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November 14, 2021 at 12:55PM
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SIDEBAR: GameDay All Day for Ole Miss - Ole Miss Athletics
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