The scene was all too familiar inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium Saturday night. The score was tied late in the fourth quarter with Ole Miss on defense, but, just like last year, Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M scored on their last drive of the game to steal a win against the Rebels. This year, the Aggies connected on a 33-yard field goal as time expired to win 41-38.
“Obviously we are very disappointed for our kids,” Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said. “They fought their guts out and played their hearts out against a very good football team and had their chances to win. It really boils down to we had a chance to make some plays and didn’t, and they did. There were a lot of things that could have happened but didn’t.
“It’s disappointing, and we have to get one of these to go our way. We have to get them back for another difficult test next Saturday night.”
It was a back-and-forth game the whole way with the Rebels (3-3, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) and Aggies (5-1, 2-1 SEC) trading licks all night.
Texas A&M jumped out to an early lead after driving down the field on its first possession of the game, which was capped by a Ben Malena 7-yard touchdown run. The Rebels would answer with just under three minutes to play in the first when junior quarterback Bo Wallace hit junior wide receiver Vince Sanders on a 70-yard touchdown pass to even things up at 7-7.
It wouldn’t take long for the Aggies to come right back, though; Trey Williams would push Texas A&M ahead on an 18-yard touchdown run, his first of two on the night.
Senior kicker Andrew Ritter would score the only points of the second quarter, which came on a 42-yard field goal, and the teams went to the locker room at halftime with Texas A&M leading 14-10.
Both teams would add a touchdown in the third quarter, a 5-yard run by Manziel for the Aggies and a 16-yard pass from senior quarterback Barry Brunetti to freshman wide receiver Laquon Treadwell for the Rebels.
The flood gates would open in the fourth quarter, however, with Ole Miss scoring 21 points and Texas A&M putting up 20 of its own. The Aggies started the scoring with a 37-yard field goal, but the Rebels would answer quickly with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Brunetti to freshman tight end Evan Engram to tie the score at 24-24.
Ole Miss would take its first lead of the game with just over 10 minutes left to play when Wallace hit Treadwell for his second touchdown of the game from 19 yards out. However, the lead wouldn’t last long because Williams of Texas A&M would scamper in from 9 yards out to even things up again.
Just two minutes later, Ole Miss would take the lead again when Wallace hit sophomore running back Jaylen Walton from 50 yards out to move the score to 38-31. Then, the Aggies went to breaking the hearts of the Rebel faithful, just like in last season’s 30-27 win for the Aggies.
With three minutes left to play, Manziel found the end zone on the ground for the second time in the game, this time from 6 yards out to tie things up at 38. Ole Miss would go three-and-out on its next possession, which included a dropped pass from senior wideout Ja-Mes Logan, and give Texas A&M the ball back with 2:33 to play in the game. From there, Manziel proved why he won last year’s Heisman Trophy and drove the Aggies down the field and milked the clock down to four seconds. From there, the Aggies would take the win and once again leave the faithful of the red and blue in shock.
“I thought the plan we had worked and gave us a chance,” Freeze said. “We wanted to formulate a plan that gives us a chance in the fourth quarter to win the football game. We had the ball and had a chance. We didn’t get it done.”
Going into the game, the Rebels knew stopping Manziel would be the key. However, Manziel proved he is one of the most dangerous players in all of college football by running for 113 yards and two touchdowns and adding 346 and a touchdown through the air.
“I knew he was going to make plays at times,” Ole Miss defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said. “He ended up making more plays than us at the end of the game to win. I think our depth still hurts us big time, and I think it showed tonight when we were having to run all over the field.”
The Rebel defense gave up 587 total offensive yards to the Aggies, 241 on the ground and 346 through the air.
The Ole Miss offense saw success throughout the game and tallied 462 total yards when all was said and done. Walton led the way with 41 yards on the ground and sophomore running back I’Tavius Mathers was close behind with 31. The Rebels would end up with 133 rushing yards. Wallace led the team in passing with 301 yards and three touchdowns, but Brunetti added 28 yards and two touchdowns on just three completions.
“I was so happy for Barry,” offensive coordinator Dan Werner said. “He’s gone through a lot since he’s been here. We’ve got a nice package for him, and he executed it. Obviously, two touchdown passes, two great throws, so I was really happy for him.”
Next up for the Rebels is LSU, which is the second matchup of a six-game homestand. The Tigers are coming off a win over Florida this past weekend.
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