Photo by| Logan Kirkland
Auburn- Ala.- It wasn’t easy, but the Rebels found a way to escape Jordan-Hare Stadium with the 27-19 victory over SEC foe Auburn.
For the Rebels, it was the first win at Auburn since Eli Manning’s senior year in 2003 and the first time Ole Miss has beaten Auburn and Alabama on the road in the same year.
Even with only 27 points to show on the scoreboard on offense, the rebels reached 558 total yards of offense. It’s the fourth game with more than 500 yards of offense this season and the first against an SEC opponent.
It was a roller coaster game for junior quarterback Chad Kelly, but made the necessary throws to will the offense to victory. Kelly finished the day 33-51 passing for 381 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Kelly also carried the ball eight times for 37 yards.
After the injury that caused junior wide receiver Laquon Treadwell to miss the final four games of last season, Treadwell came out with an extra edge to him and led the receiving core with seven catches for 114 yards and one touchdown.
With just over 10 minutes left in the game and Ole Miss up 20-19, Kelly found Treadwell in the left corner of the end zone in one-on-one coverage and sealed the victory for the Rebels 27-19. After the catch, Treadwell took a knee in the end zone, pointed to the sky, then ran to the Ole Miss section at Jordan-Hare and gave a salute to the crowd.
It was safe to say he had an extra fire to him in this game.
Junior wide receiver Derrick Jones reeled in his first touchdown catch of his Ole Miss career when he caught a 45-yard pass from Kelly to make it 20-13 Rebels with 1:52 left in the 3rd quarter.
The running game for Ole Miss made great strides the last two weeks and made a big statement with 156 yards and one score on the ground. Leading the way was senior running back Jaylen Walton, who finished with 20 carries for 78 yards. Junior running back Akeem Judd had the lone rushing score of the game when he raced 25 yards to find the end zone and tied the game at 10 with 2:07 left in the first half.
The Rebel defense was spotty at time, giving up 427 total yards of offense to Auburn, but was great in the red zone and only surrendered 19 points to show for it. Junior defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche made his return to the field and finished with four total tackles and two quarterback hurries. Senior defensive back Trae Elston was the leading tackler for the Rebels with seven total tackles, including one for a loss. Sophomore defensive end Marquis Haynes had two sacks on the day to lead the pass rush.
The Rebels are now 7-2 overall on the season and 4-1 in SEC play. They still control their own destiny in the SEC West if they win out.
Ole Miss will face Arkansas next Saturday at home. The game starts at 2:30 CT and will be televised on CBS.
