The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Dominate In Prime-Time Spotlight
10/24/2015 | Football, Blog
By Steven Oubre, Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations
It wasn't pretty, but the Rebels got the job done.
No. 23 Ole Miss and No. 15 Texas A&M combined for seven turnovers, but a dominant defense and a balanced offense led to a 23-3 win for the Rebels.
"I'm extremely proud of our kids and coaches," said Rebel head coach Hugh Freeze. "During adversity in life, you find out a lot about people, everyone, you find out who is really who. That is what we challenged our kids with this week. We said if you play out of love and passion for 60 minutes, then that will be good enough at the end of the day for us."
It certainly was enough.
Quarterback Chad Kelly threw for 241 yards and two touchdowns as Ole Miss (6-2, 3-1 SEC) defeated Texas A&M (5-2, 2-2 SEC) in the only top-25 matchup of the week to become bowl eligible for the fourth straight season. Kelly's favorite target, wide receiver Laquon Treadwell, hauled in five passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. This was Treadwell's third consecutive game with at least 100 yards and a touchdown.
Having All-American left tackle Laremy Tunsil back helped establish a rushing attack that was absent last week. Running back Jaylen Walton led the ground game with 97 yards. The Rebels combined for 230 yards rushing. Tunsil continually gave Kelly time in the pocket and was constantly seen 10 yards down the field blocking defenders he engaged with at the line of scrimmage.
"I can't tell exactly, but having him back and having everyone in their regular spot that we planned on having them at the start of the year helped our offense rush against a defense that hasn't given up much this season except their previous game," noted Freeze. "I believe part of that being because of Laremy's return."
Ole Miss took an early lead on a 7-yard pass from Kelly to tight end Evan Engram, who surprisingly scored his first touchdown of the season. Engram broke the school record for receiving yards by a tight end tonight.
"It is a blessing and all glory goes to God, 100 percent," said Engram after the game. "The people he has put me around in this great community is truly a blessing and an honor. So much talent, especially at the tight end position, has come through this university, and I hope they approve of me taking the reins and holding the record."
The Rebels took a 7-0 lead into a very sloppy second quarter. Gary Wunderlich connected on two field goals, from 41 and 30 yards to bring the Rebel lead to 13. Then things started to get entertaining.
It started with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Chad Kelly that would get called back due to a personal foul penalty on Ole Miss. The very next play, Aggie defensive end Myles Garrett would tip an intended screen pass to himself and intercept it. The Aggies would take over, but settled for a field goal to make the score 13-3.
On the next drive, Ole Miss would go three-and-out. On the punt, highly touted Aggie freshman Christian Kirk fumbled, and the Rebels would take over on the Aggie 24-yard line.
On the first play of the drive, running back Jordan Wilkins rushed for 9 yards into the red zone, only to fumble on the way down. The Aggies would recover on their own 14-yard line with 1:21 remaining in the half.
Texas A&M's first play, a pass from Allen, was intercepted by Rebel cornerback Kendarius Webster. Ole Miss was unable to punch it in and had to settle for a 22-yard field goal from Wunderlich to take a 16-3 lead as time expired going into the half.
Halfway through the third quarter, Kelly found Treadwell deep for a 58-yard touchdown pass for the final score of the game.
The Rebels head to the Plains to take on Auburn (4-3, 1-3 SEC) next week for a Halloween matchup. The game will kick off at 11:00 a.m. CT and will be broadcasted on ESPN.
It wasn't pretty, but the Rebels got the job done.
No. 23 Ole Miss and No. 15 Texas A&M combined for seven turnovers, but a dominant defense and a balanced offense led to a 23-3 win for the Rebels.
"I'm extremely proud of our kids and coaches," said Rebel head coach Hugh Freeze. "During adversity in life, you find out a lot about people, everyone, you find out who is really who. That is what we challenged our kids with this week. We said if you play out of love and passion for 60 minutes, then that will be good enough at the end of the day for us."
It certainly was enough.
Quarterback Chad Kelly threw for 241 yards and two touchdowns as Ole Miss (6-2, 3-1 SEC) defeated Texas A&M (5-2, 2-2 SEC) in the only top-25 matchup of the week to become bowl eligible for the fourth straight season. Kelly's favorite target, wide receiver Laquon Treadwell, hauled in five passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. This was Treadwell's third consecutive game with at least 100 yards and a touchdown.
Having All-American left tackle Laremy Tunsil back helped establish a rushing attack that was absent last week. Running back Jaylen Walton led the ground game with 97 yards. The Rebels combined for 230 yards rushing. Tunsil continually gave Kelly time in the pocket and was constantly seen 10 yards down the field blocking defenders he engaged with at the line of scrimmage.
"I can't tell exactly, but having him back and having everyone in their regular spot that we planned on having them at the start of the year helped our offense rush against a defense that hasn't given up much this season except their previous game," noted Freeze. "I believe part of that being because of Laremy's return."
Ole Miss took an early lead on a 7-yard pass from Kelly to tight end Evan Engram, who surprisingly scored his first touchdown of the season. Engram broke the school record for receiving yards by a tight end tonight.
"It is a blessing and all glory goes to God, 100 percent," said Engram after the game. "The people he has put me around in this great community is truly a blessing and an honor. So much talent, especially at the tight end position, has come through this university, and I hope they approve of me taking the reins and holding the record."
The Rebels took a 7-0 lead into a very sloppy second quarter. Gary Wunderlich connected on two field goals, from 41 and 30 yards to bring the Rebel lead to 13. Then things started to get entertaining.
It started with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Chad Kelly that would get called back due to a personal foul penalty on Ole Miss. The very next play, Aggie defensive end Myles Garrett would tip an intended screen pass to himself and intercept it. The Aggies would take over, but settled for a field goal to make the score 13-3.
On the next drive, Ole Miss would go three-and-out. On the punt, highly touted Aggie freshman Christian Kirk fumbled, and the Rebels would take over on the Aggie 24-yard line.
On the first play of the drive, running back Jordan Wilkins rushed for 9 yards into the red zone, only to fumble on the way down. The Aggies would recover on their own 14-yard line with 1:21 remaining in the half.
Texas A&M's first play, a pass from Allen, was intercepted by Rebel cornerback Kendarius Webster. Ole Miss was unable to punch it in and had to settle for a 22-yard field goal from Wunderlich to take a 16-3 lead as time expired going into the half.
Halfway through the third quarter, Kelly found Treadwell deep for a 58-yard touchdown pass for the final score of the game.
The Rebels head to the Plains to take on Auburn (4-3, 1-3 SEC) next week for a Halloween matchup. The game will kick off at 11:00 a.m. CT and will be broadcasted on ESPN.
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