The matchup between then-15th ranked Ole Miss and then-second ranked Alabama was sure to be a game for the ages. No one could predict the crazy twists and turns the game would take en route to a 43-37 Ole Miss victory, however.
The standout play of the game came when junior quarterback Chad Kelly bobbled the snap and flung the ball to Laquon Treadwell to avoid the rush. The ball was tipped into the air, but fortuitously fell into the hands of junior wide receiver Quincy Adeboyejo, who immediately raced to the end zone to score a 66-yard touchdown.
“I didn’t catch the snap right away, and I just figured with Laquon, he’s 6-foot-3. He can jump the highest out of anybody, so I gave him a chance and, the Lord is great,” Kelly said.
Head coach Hugh Freeze also seemed almost dumbfounded by the play.
“The only thing I can say about that is to God be the glory,” Freeze said.
Freeze said his first thought while watching the play was, “What are you doing, Chad?”
“He came over and I said to him, ‘Brother, you need to pray hard tonight and thank God, and let’s not do that again,’” Freeze said.
Junior defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche also talked about what it was like to see the play unfold from the sidelines.
“It was amazing, I couldn’t even react to it it was so good. I was so happy for him and for everybody,” Nkemdiche said. “Sometimes, just good stuff happens to people that do good. I was just so happy for Quincy (Adeboyejo) and happy we got the win.”
Adeboyejo was just as shocked as anyone when the ball somehow fell into his hands. The recipient of the play gave an account of the moment from his own eyes.
“I saw Chad fumble the snap, I had a feeling he was just going to throw it up,” Adeboyejo said. “I was running up under the ball. I thought the other guys misjudged it so I thought from the start it was going over their heads and I’m about to run up under it. Once they got to it they tipped it in the air, I saw the ball, grabbed it and from there, I just had to go score.”
The play went so fast that the shock didn’t hit Adeboyejo until he stepped off the field.
“I wasn’t surprised until I was on the sideline, then I was like ‘Wow, that just happened’.”
The unlikely touchdown proved to be a momentum boost for the Rebels— one that carried on throughout the game.
“Right after that you think, hey we’re winning this, and that’s exactly how we all thought, we knew this was our game,” Kelly said.
With the way fortune favored the Rebels, it was hard not to foresee Ole Miss coming out with the win. Nkemdiche agreed.
“I was like, ‘This is our night. Things are going our way and we’re playing really hard for 60 minutes,” Nkemdiche said.
Another pivotal play came on a long-passing touchdown from Kelly to wideout Cody Core. The play was originally ruled an illegal forward pass, and the play was reviewed to see if Kelly had crossed the line of scrimmage before the pass. The ruling was changed to a Rebels touchdown.
“Both legs and the ball have to be over the line, and I was pretty confident that his back leg was behind the line at least, if not more,” Freeze said.
Overall, Freeze said the twists and turns of the game were exhausting for him.
“I really thought after Laquon scored the touchdown the game was over, they come back and take a little time getting it in then get the onside kick,” Freeze said. “It was a great onside kick it hopped right at the right time and just went too high for our back line to grab it, then they made it a one score game.”
