OXFORD, Miss. (WTVA/Ole Miss Athletics) – In a high-scoring affair that saw a total of 97 points scored, the Ole Miss football team (2-1) could not stop the No. 12 Texas (3-0) offense, and lost its first game of the season 66-31 Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Playing in front of 61,797 fans, the fourth-largest crowd in school history and the largest ever for a non-conference game, the Rebels accumulated 19 first downs and 399 yards of offense, but couldn’t get the Longhorn offense off the field. The Longhorns scored on seven consecutive possessions, including six touchdowns, spanning from the first quarter to the final minute of the third quarter.
“Offensively, we did some good things and we put up some yards on a really good defense, but we just didn’t play great defensively,” Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said.
Trailing 10-0 with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Ole Miss got on the board with an impressive 12-play, 89-yard drive that started from its own 11-yard line. The Rebels faced a tough third-and-17 from its own 41-yard line, but sophomore quarterback Bo Wallace found junior wide receiver Korvic Neat down the middle for 30 yards and new life. From there, the Rebels needed just four more plays before senior running back Randall Mackey rushed to the right side from three yards out for the touchdown.
Wallace and Donte Moncrief connected for the third consecutive game. Wallace connected with Moncrief in the third quarter on a beautiful 75-yard touchdown pass where the sophomore wide receiver adjusted to the ball in the air and alluded two Texas tacklers to cut across the field and into the endzone.
Wallace and Moncrief have connected for 50-plus yard touchdowns in each of Ole Miss’ first three games. Moncrief finished the game with seven receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown (what was originally ruled to be a second Wallace-to-Moncrief touchdown was called back after video replay revealed that Moncrief stepped out of bounds after making the catch).
With Texas leading 45-17 in the third quarter, Ole Miss junior running back Jeff Scott broke a tackle near midfield and scampered 48 yards to pay dirt, diving over the pylon on the left sideline. It was the longest run of the season by Scott, who finished with eight rushes for 95 yards.
Freshman running back Jaylen Walton capped off the scoring for the Rebels with an eye-opening 100-yard kickoff return down the left sideline.
Walton has proven to be a dynamic weapon for the Rebels’ offense this season. The Memphis, Tenn., native rushed for a 10-yard touchdown in Ole Miss’ season-opening win over Central Arkansas on the first rush of his career. Against UTEP in Ole Miss’ second game of the season, Walton was the recipient of a 51-yard touchdown pass from Wallace. Walton’s kickoff return for a touchdown Saturday night was Ole Miss’ first kickoff return touchdown of the year.
