Rebel Reset: No. 12 Ole Miss takes care of Vanderbilt for fourth SEC win. Here's how it happened
The game was not one that No. 12 Ole Miss will write home about and could be viewed as a letdown game of sorts, but the Rebels got their fourth straight Southeastern Conference win.
Offense started off strong, as has been the case in other times this season, but then looked similar to when it bogged down at Auburn a week ago.
Jaxson Dart finished the night with 240 passing yards and a touchdown, completing 19 of 28 pass attempts. He also rushed for a touchdown but finished with -20 rushing yards due to three Vanderbilt sacks.
Both Dayton Wade and Quinshon Judkins hit the century mark early in the game. Wade led Ole Miss with 120 receiving yards and and a touchdown on eight catches. Judkins had his third 100-yard game in the last four with 124 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
The Ole Miss defense had its best half of football of the season on Saturday, shutting out the Commodores in the first two quarters. The shutout was the Rebels first in the first half this year. Jared Ivey had a game-high 2.5 sacks to go with five tackles.
Vanderbilt was held to 60 passing yards, with 11 of them coming in the first half.
Safety Trey Washington had Ole Miss’ two interceptions and moving the Rebels team total to nine on the season.
FINAL: OLE MISS 33, VANDERBILT 7
Spencer Sanders now running the offense as Dart and most the starters night is over.
Now I would rest the starters if I am Kiffin. The game has been in hand for most the night, but no need in risking anything with an early kickoff with Texas A&M in a week.
Ole Miss 33, Vanderbilt 7 9:33 4Q
Dart, Bentley and Judkins made that scoring drive happen and woke up an offense that has been slumbering since early second quarter. Judkins capped it off with a three-yard touchdown run, his second of the night.
The fifth sack of the night by the Ole Miss defense forces another turnover on downs for the Commodores. Time to see if the offense can take advantage of a short field.
END OF THE 3RD QUARTER: OLE MISS 26, VANDERBILT 7
Offense has looked bad its two drives in the second half. Dart is sacked again and backs things up. He has not looked crisp at times. The offense call on 3rd and long was a Judkins run that drew the ire of the crowd a little. Ole Miss will punt for the second time tonight at the start of the fourth quarter.
Ole Miss 26, Vanderbilt 7 1:57 3Q
Vanderbilt gets on the board with a two-yard touchdown run by quarterback Walter Taylor. Ole Miss looked to have held the Commodores to a field goal try after a sack but Tennison was flagged for a hold on the play, giving Vanderbilt new life for the touchdown.
Ole Miss 26, Vanderbilt 0 7:27 3Q
Ole Miss went for it on 4th and 4 but Dart’s throw to Harris is incomplete. That drive felt like the offense was going with the energy in the stadium at the moment. Just sort of contempt with how the game is going at the moment.
Trey Washington with his second interception of the night ends Vanderbilt’s opening drive of the second half. Ole Miss now up to nine interceptions on the season. Entering today’s games they were two back of SEC-leading nine that was held by Vanderbilt, Auburn, Georgia and LSU.
Freshman running back Kedrick Reescano was on the kickoff team to start the second half. Could have missed him on kickoffs in the first half but this is his fourth game to participate in. So either Reescano is done after tonight or he will burn the redshirt next game he plays in.
That was the first scoreless first half by the Ole Miss defense this season. Even Mercer scored a touchdown in the first two quarters.
First Half Stats:
HALFTIME: OLE MISS 26, VANDERBILT 0
Rebels forced another Vanderbilt punt and had gotten into Commodore territory but Dart throws his first interception of the night with a pass that looked to be intended for Wade.
Ole Miss got the ball back after Vanderbilt tried a second 4th down attempt and failed. Offense managed nothing on the drive that saw Dart throw twice to Jordan Watkins and each fall incomplete. First punt of the game for the Rebels.
Wade has 100 yards and a touchdown on six catches and 12 yards after the catch.
Ole Miss 26, Vanderbilt 0 7:40 2Q
Wade has made highlight catches and now gets in on the scoring with a six-yard touchdown catch from Dart. Judkins had two strong runs on that drive and is up to 99 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.
Vanderbilt tried a fake punt as they are down three scores but did not work and Ole Miss gets the ball back inside the Commodores 40.
Ole Miss 20, Vanderbilt 0 11:11 2Q
Another highlight catch by Wade and sets Ole Miss up inside the Vanderbilt 10 once again. Took four plays but the Rebels find the endzone again on a Dart 1-yard keeper.
Kiffin went back to the Pegues package again but after scrambling on a broken play was stopped as the refs ruled him down short of the goal line on third down. It looked like Pegues scored on the replay.
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END OF THE 1ST QUARTER: OLE MISS 13, VANDERBILT 0
Ole Miss 13, Vanderbilt 0 :33 1Q
More red zone struggles for Ole Miss.
The Rebels had JJ Pegues lined up at quarterback and appeared to have a wide open Dayton Wade to his right but a false start stopped the creative play before it could happen. Dart then fumbles the ball 24 yards backwards to set up Davis’ 48-yard field goal conversion.
Ole Miss 10, Vanderbilt 0 10:34 1Q
Offense did nothing with the gift of Washington’s interception with a quick three-and-out. First two plays were questionable and Dart’s pass to Harris on third down fell incomplete. Caden Davis converted the 27-yard field goal try.
Defense could not have had a better start. Jared Ivey got a sack and then Zamari Walton tips a pass by Ken Seals into Trey Washington’s hands. Rebels have it back at the Commodore 11.
Ole Miss 7, Vanderbilt 0 13:21 1Q
No problems for the Ole Miss offense as it needed only six plays to find the end zone. Dayton Wade’s 39-yard catch the highlight on the drive. Quinshon Judkins had three carries and capped the drive with an 18-yard touchdown run.
Pregame Observations
Jordan Watkins is indeed dressed out, as expected, and his contraption on the right hand looks less contraption-y than it did a week ago at Auburn. Still heavily taped, though.
Zxavian Harris (concussion) and DeMarko Williams (boot on right foot) in jersey and sweatpants tonight. Harris did not make the trip to Auburn last week.
Captains this week are Tyler Banks, Ulysses Bentley IV and Ladarius Tennison.
Ole Miss won the toss and will receive the ball.
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Ole Miss back home for the first time in three weeks after a bye and trip to Auburn and the No. 12 Rebels are set to close out October with a Homecoming celebration.
Before the calendar flips Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) must take care of visiting Vanderbilt to secure its fourth conference win and keep on track for a potentially big November finish.
After back-to-back-to-back games against Alabama, LSU, Arkansas and the aforementioned Tigers there is the potential for a letdown game for the Rebels with Vanderbilt (2-6, 0-4) but Lane Kiffin is making sure his team is not looking beyond this Saturday.
“They’ve battled through some injuries on defense,” Kiffin said of the Commodores. “I think they’re really, really well-coached. They gave us problems last year, especially in the first half. They do a good job of knowing what they do and what they have and utilizing it. We’ve got to keep improving, we’ve got to put together a complete game. We need to get more players playing well.”
Ole Miss is getting its run game back in form over the last month with a healthy Quinshon Judkins being complimented by a Ulysses Bentley IV that is running with a purpose this season.
On defense freshman linebacker Suntarine Perkins is adapting to his first season in the SEC very well and even surprising Kiffin and defensive coordinator Pete Golding midway through the year. Perkins leads the Rebels in sacks with 3.5, tying with defensive end Isaac Okwu.
“We knew (Perkins) was really special. I don’t know if there was anyway to know he was this electric fast,” Kiffin said. “Now you’ve seen him at different times catch two of the fastest quarterbacks in America. He’s just really, really special and a phenomenal kid.
Keep this page open and stick with The Ole Miss Spirit as it will serves as the live updates for today’s game. That includes score updates, stats, highlights and quarter recaps which will be found here throughout the night.
Ole Miss and Vanderbilt kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
