TUSCALOOSA, ALA. – Football is a collection of fleeting moments. Split-seconds when the right choice has to be made to win, and if not, to suffer the consequences.
For Ole Miss Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium, there were many of those moments in the historic 43-37 upset over then second-ranked Alabama.
None perhaps more memorable than junior receiver Quincy Adeboyejo’s tipped reception and 66-yard touchdown to put Ole Miss up 24-10 early in the third quarter.
A bad snap caused junior quarterback Chad Kelly to chuck a lob in Laquon Treadwell’s general direction. The ball was deflected and fell into Adeboyejo’s hands and he raced for the end zone, right in front of the howling Alabama student section.
“That happened in my prayer time today,” Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss head coach, said. “That’s the only thing I can say about that.”
“Right after that, you automatically think ‘Hey, we’re winning this.’ That’s exactly how we all thought,” Kelly said. “We knew this was our game.”
Adeboyejo’s reception is already receiving titles, but Adeboyejo laughed when he heard ‘tip-six’.
“That’s definitely my favorite one,” Adeboyejo said. “It’s just crazy how it all happened so fast.”
Led by another stellar performance from Kelly and the ‘landshark’ defense’s forcing five turnovers, the Rebels did something they’ve never done before; they beat Alabama consecutively.
More than 100,000 screaming Alabama fans packed Bryant-Denny Stadium and never saw a lead for their beloved Crimson Tide as the Rebels won in Tuscaloosa for the first time 1988.
“Oh man. What a game,” Freeze said. “The great thing about it is we can improve so much from this. There’s so many things we could’ve done better tonight. If our kids will stay hungry and with the right demeanor and stay humble, I know we can get a lot better than we played tonight.”
With the rare road win in Tuscaloosa, Ole Miss vaulted up to third in the weekly AP Poll. With the loss, Alabama has dropped to 12th, the first time the Crimson Tide haven’t been ranked in the AP Top 10 since 2010.
It was another outstanding performance for Kelly in his first true road start in an Ole Miss uniform. Kelly dazzled and made plays all game long in the face of the talented Alabama front-seven. Kelly finished the game 18-33, passing for 341 yards and four touchdowns, three through the air and one on the ground.
Kelly made many plays happen to extend the Ole Miss lead throughout the game, but his 73-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Cody Core early in the 4th quarter only added more magic to a euphoric night.
Chased by Alabama defenders, Kelly sprinted for the line of scrimmage, looking to take off for another run. He pulled up at the last second and found Core wide open, and Core dashed for the goal line. Kelly was flagged for an illegal forward pass, however. The call was overturned when the replay showed part of his body remained behind the line of scrimmage. The touchdown counted and the Rebel fans in the left-corner of the stadium erupted as they showered Core with cheers when he ran towards their section.
“I was convinced he threw it behind the line,” Freeze said of the play. “Our guys upstairs were pretty confident so it was easy for us.”
“This just builds confidence for us,” Kelly said. “I personally have to get better in the film room and on the field. I understand that I have to take each play and understand what each play is meant to do. Play within yourself and in the system and everything will be alright.”
The wide receivers made plays for Kelly and the Rebels all night long. Kelly and Adeboyejo continued their strong relationship on the field as the pass-catcher finished with two catches for 71 yards and one score. Laquon Treadwell hauled in his first touchdown grab of the season with five catches for 80 yards. Core led the team in receiving yards with 123 yards on four catches and one touchdown.
Even with the Rebels increasing the lead to 20 points in the third quarter, it never quite felt safe in Crimson territory.
Alabama quarterback Jake Coker came off the bench for Cooper Bateman in the second quarter and led the Crimson Tide to four scoring drives, inching closer to the Rebels and cutting the Ole Miss lead to one score, twice. Alabama fought until the very end, but five turnovers and facing a 20-point uphill climb proved to be too much to overcome.
“It was an emotional rollercoaster,” Freeze said. “I thought we had it put away a couple of times. They just wouldn’t go away.”
The Ole Miss defense looked drained when Alabama starting finding their momentum at many moments during the second half. Many defensive players were gassed and came off the field some plays to catch their breath.
Alabama ran 100 total plays on offense to stage two furious comebacks, but the Rebel defense found life and made the necessary plays to pull off another win over Alabama.
“We just found a little left,” Freeze said. “We were drained, man.”
Junior defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche played arguably the best game of his career Saturday night. Nkemdiche finished the game with six total tackles, including 0.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for losses. Nkemdiche looked explosive on the defensive line and a half step faster than any Alabama lineman.
There is no doubt last year’s win over Alabama was a memorable one, but Nkemdiche felt this time was different.
“This one is better,” Nkemdiche said. “I just feel like there was so much more on the line and it’s going to set up for something great this season.”
After the victory, “The Outsiders” by country music star Eric Church was blaring through the locker room speakers. Church, the guest picker at ESPN’s College Gameday, was in the locker room with the Rebels singing his famous song and celebrating with Ole Miss.
That was the icing on the cake for Freeze, capping off a historic night.
“That’s one of country music’s heroes, man,” Freeze said, laughing. “I appreciate our fans and our administration and everything they’ve done to building this program.”
