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Private Notes
Go inside the fall camp of Ole Miss Football for the 2012 season and meet first year head coach Hugh Freeze.
Despite the comfortable final margin, the game wasn't easy for the Rebels, who came into the season on a seven-game losing streak. Central Arkansas led 20-14 at halftime before Ole Miss scored 35 unanswered points in the second half.
OXFORD, Miss. -- Bo Wallace threw for three touchdown passes and ran for another Saturday night as Mississippi defeated Texas-El Paso 28-10, improving to 2-0 for only the second time in 10 seasons. Wallace finished 15 of 22 for 174 yards and rushed 11 times for 53 yards as the Rebels built a 21-0 halftime lead. The Rebels finished with 538 yards of total offense, including 113 yards by Jeff Scott on 13 carries. UTEP (0-2), after failing to score an offensive touchdown in six quarters, rallied to pull within 21-10 in the third quarter. Nick Lamaison finished 21 of 33 for 213 yards but was sacked five times and the Miners never seriously threatened in the final quarter. Ole Miss set the tone on its opening possession, as Wallace's first completion was a 55-yard touchdown pass to Donte Moncrief. The stop-and-go sideline route was the longest play of the game as Moncrief finished with three catches for 72 yards. UTEP couldn't capitalize on a pair of second-quarter scoring opportunities. Lamaison was stopped on fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line by tackle Gilbert Pena. On the ensuring series, reserve quarterback Carson Meger was picked off in the end zone by Rebels safety Cody Prewett. Ole Miss broke it open with consecutive touchdown drives of 97 and 84 yards to push its advantage to 21-0. Wallace capped the initial drive with a 51-yard touchdown strike to Jaylen Walton and finished the final scoring series with a 4-yard run with 28 seconds left. The Miners broke through on the opening series of the second half. Lamaison connected with Jordan Leslie on a 26-yard touchdown pass to pull within 21-7 with 10:57 left in the third quarter. Steven Valadez added a 37-yard field goal with 2:58 left in the third to cut the deficit to 21-10. Ole Miss sealed it two series later, as Wallace capped a 69-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to H. R. Greer.
Texas started its night by running over Mississippi's defense. When that got boring, the Longhorns ran around it. Finally, they let quarterback David Ash get in on the fun, lobbing long touchdowns as No. 14 Texas clobbered Mississippi 66-31 on Saturday night. By the end of the evening, the statistics were impressive. Ash threw for a career-high 326 yards and four touchdowns, receiver Marquise Goodwin accounted for 182 yards and two touchdowns and the Longhorns gained 676 yards. It was the most points Ole Miss has given up in a game since 1917. "It's not always that easy," Ash said. "But when you're playing physical and tough football, it's amazing what you can accomplish." Ash connected on touchdown passes of 46 and 55 yards while completing 19 of 23 passes in a nearly flawless performance. Mike Davis caught five passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. "I was really excited about the number of explosive plays we had tonight," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "After Marquise's big play, our offense really played well and played with a lot of confidence the rest of the way." Texas (3-0) led 31-10 by halftime and 52-24 by the end of the third quarter. The Longhorns could have scored more than 70 points, but took a knee on their final two offensive plays rather than try to punch in one last touchdown. It was the only mercy shown toward the Ole Miss defense all night. "Defensively we were bad," first-year Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. "We've got to go find out exactly why." Ole Miss (2-1) simply couldn't match the Longhorns' prolific offense. Texas scored on seven straight possessions at one point, including touchdowns on six of those drives. Bo Wallace threw for 178 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions for the Rebels. Donte Moncrief caught seven passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. It was obvious from the beginning that Texas was the bigger and faster team. The Longhorns used their twin battering rams -- running backs Joe B
Chief Brown's diving interception in the end zone in the final minutes set off exuberant celebrations on the Mississippi sideline, even though the Rebels had led by more than three touchdowns since the first quarter. For Ole Miss, winning at winless Tulane was not enough. The Rebels' defense sought redemption after a loss last week in which Texas put up 66 points, and Brown's drive-ending play punctuated a confidence-restoring 39-0 victory over the Green Wave on Saturday. "One goal for the week was getting a shutout and that's exactly what every defensive player wanted to do," said Ole Miss linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche, who also had an interception. "It was big time for us. We need this confidence." Mississippi's offense had its share of highlights as well, piling up 304 yards on the ground, including a pair of touchdowns by Jeff Scott. Mississippi's Bo Wallace was 7 of 16 for 101 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown pass to Donte Moncrief. Randall Mackey and Ja-Mes Logan each added running touchdowns. But it was clear that coach Hugh Freeze took particular satisfaction in the play of his defense in its final game before opening its Southeastern Conference schedule against top-ranked Alabama next weekend. "It was huge," Freeze said. "We needed some confidence there. I thought our confidence was shaken a bit last week and obviously, we're still young at a lot of spots and we're fixing to get into a great stretch of football teams. "Anytime you can pitch a shutout at this level, you have to gain some confidence from it." The Rebels (3-1) constantly pressured Green Wave freshman quarterback Devin Powell. Making his first start, Powell was sacked three times and threw three interceptions. "He struggled a little bit," Tulane coach Curtis Johnson said of Powell. "He had poor body language a couple of times, but he can still get better. This was his first true start. He'll get better." Tulane (0-3) also struggled to run, finishing with 14 net y
No. 1 Alabama actually trailed for a change, a predicament that lasted a grand total of 15 seconds. Amari Cooper caught two touchdown passes from AJ McCarron and Christion Jones returned a kickoff 99 yards for another score, leading the Crimson Tide to a 33-14 victory over Mississippi Saturday night after a rare and early deficit. The Tide (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) trailed briefly, 7-6, for the first time in regulation since last year's Tennessee game, a span of about 10 games. The Rebels (3-2, 0-1) put up a fight against a team that had been walloping opponents by nearly 37 points on average, but still lost their ninth straight SEC opener. "It was a hard-fought win for us," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "I think people probably don't give Ole Miss enough credit. They played hard. They were physical. Their offense is difficult to defend." Saban had tried to keep his players focused by broadcasting Tim Tebow's memorable speech after the Rebels upset Florida four years ago in the weight room and meeting rooms. Alabama goes into its open week without needing such a podium prompter. McCarron completed 22 of 30 passes for 180 yards and Eddie Lacy gained much of his 82 yards in the fourth quarter when Alabama put it away with Jeremy Shelley's third and fourth field goals of the game. The Tide's defense had three interceptions to bail out an offense that sputtered at times. "Couldn't be more proud of the effort," Rebels first-year coach Hugh Freeze said. "Real pleased with the effort and fight our kids showed. They laid it on the line. They represented Rebel nation and the university very well. "Our special teams were atrocious. We turned the football over because of us being greedy. It's hard to drive the football on the defense that they have." Alabama totaled 305 yards against a defense that gave up 66 points and 676 yards to Texas two weeks ago. The Rebels gained 218 yards in a game that was largely controlled by the defenses afte
Johnny Manziel threw for 191 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 129 yards and another score, and Texas A&M rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Mississippi 30-27 on Saturday night. Manziel suffered through a tough night until late in the fourth quarter when he led two touchdown drives. He rushed for a 29-yard touchdown on the first and then found Ryan Swope for a 20-yard TD pass with 1:46 remaining for the go-ahead score. Texas A&M (4-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) won despite a season-high six turnovers, including four fumbles and two interceptions. Ole Miss (3-3, 0-2) made a final drive but Texas A&M's Toney Hurd, Jr. intercepted a Bo Wallace pass and the Aggies were able to run out the clock. The Rebels lost their 16th straight conference game dating back to 2010. Jeff Scott rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown. Wallace completed 20-of-34 passes for 305 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed for a touchdown. Ole Miss had a 27-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter and Texas A&M pinned on its own 1-yard line with less than eight minutes remaining. But Manziel connected on a 32-yard, third-down pass to Mike Evans to give the Aggies some breathing room. Then in just two plays, Texas A&M drove the rest of the field for a stunning touchdown. Ben Malena gashed the Rebels' defense for 36 yards before Manziel rushed for a 29-yard score -- dancing past several Ole Miss would-be tacklers -- to make it 27-23. On the ensuing drive, first-year Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze made a questionable decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 in his own territory. It turned out to be a disastrous call. Scott was stuffed at the Ole Miss 39 and Texas A&M needed just four plays for Manziel to find Swope for the game-winning score. Manziel completed 17 of 26. Mike Evans caught eight passes for 105 yards. Manziel -- the 6-foot-1, 200-pound freshman with a penchant for highlight-reel plays -- was coming off a breakout g
Quarterback Bo Wallace accounted for four touchdowns, including one receiving, as Mississippi snapped a 16-game Southeastern Conference losing streak with a 41-20 win against Auburn on Saturday. The Rebels (4-3, 1-2) had not won an SEC game since a 42-35 home win against Kentucky in October 2010. Auburn (1-5, 0-4) has lost six consecutive SEC games and has been outscored 62-3 in the fourth quarter during that skid. Wallace finished 17 of 22 for 226 yards, including the decisive touchdown, a 55-yard pass to Jeff Scott with 5:02 remaining to build an insurmountable 34-20 lead. He caught a 25-yard scoring pass from running back Randall Mackey and added scoring runs of 1 and 2 yards. Auburn pulled within 24-20 on a 36-yard field goal by Cody Parkey with 4:56 left in the third quarter. The Tigers managed only one first down in their final five possessions. Ole Miss finished with 451 yards of total offense, including 290 from Wallace. Jeff Scott rushed for 137 yards on 21 carries and added 70 yards on three receptions. Mike Marry led the Rebels defenders with six tackles, a sack and an interception in the final four minutes that set up Wallace's final touchdown run with 3:26 left. Auburn linebacker Darren Bates led all tacklers with 16, including two for a loss. Auburn finished with 213 total yards, but managed only 60 in the second half. Tre Mason led the Tigers with 82 rushing yards and first half scoring runs of 1 and 6 yards. Parkey had field goals of 46 and 31 yards. Clint Moseley was 11 of 18 for 112 yards, but struggled in the second half, connecting on 3 of 10 for 22 yards. Three of Auburn's four SEC losses -- Arkansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss -- have been by a combined 56 points. The win by the Rebels snapped a three-game series losing streak.
Mississippi's Bo Wallace and Bryson Rose liked winning a Southeastern Conference game so much that they decided to do it again. Rose kicked a 31-yard field goal as time expired to give the Rebels a 30-27 victory over Arkansas on Saturday. The win is the second straight in the Southeastern Conference for Ole Miss (5-3, 2-2), which snapped a 16-game league losing streak in its last game against Auburn. Rose's field goal was his third of the game, including a career-best 53-yarder that put Ole Miss up 27-20 early in the fourth quarter. The Razorbacks (3-5, 2-3) tied the game at 27-27 with 2:09 remaining on a 4-yard touchdown run by Dennis Johnson, who finished with a career-high 161 yards. However, Wallace -- who finished with 278 yards passing -- directed Ole Miss on an eight-play, 61-yard drive that set up Rose's game-winning field goal. The win gave Ole Miss its first back-to-back SEC wins since late in the 2009 season, which is also the last time the school reached a bowl game. The Rebels, who were a combined 1-15 in the conference the last two seasons, are now one win away from bowl eligibility in coach Hugh Freeze's first season. Ole Miss trailed 10-0 early before rallying to take a 21-17 halftime lead after Jeff Scott's 1-yard touchdown run with 20 seconds remaining in the half. The score capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive that took just 1:01 off the clock. Wallace accounted for 316 yards of total offense for the Rebels. The sophomore, who ran for, passed for and caught a touchdown two weeks ago against Auburn, finished 29 of 37 passing -- including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Vince Sanders in the first half. On the game-winning drive, Wallace accounted for 38 yards -- 355 passing and 13 rushing. He was 3 of 4 passing on the drive, including a 14-yard completion to Scott on a third-and-9 to keep the drive moving. Wallace's final play was a 13-yard run through the heart of the Arkansas defense to set up Rose's game-winning kick. The Razorba
One of Mark Richt's oldest trick plays gave Georgia the lift it needed to remain on track for a shot at the SEC title. Aaron Murray threw four touchdown passes and Georgia (No. 6 BCS, No. 7 AP) overcame a slow start to beat Mississippi 37-10 on Saturday and move one win away from a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game. Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC) trailed 10-0 before scoring 37 unanswered points. The Bulldogs can clinch the SEC East title and second straight trip to the conference championship game with a win at Auburn next week. "We know now it's down to one game to win the right to go back to Atlanta," Richt said. Murray pulled off a fake handoff on a 66-yard touchdown pass to Marlon Brown for the Bulldogs' first points. Richt, in his 12th season as Georgia's coach, said he brought the play from Florida State, where he was offensive coordinator under coach Bobby Bowden. Murray pulled off the well-executed fake handoff to Todd Gurley, who was swarmed by Ole Miss defenders as Murray hid the ball with his back to the line. Murray then threw to Brown, who was standing alone near the 40 when he made the catch. Murray said he prepared for the play by watching film of former Georgia quarterback David Greene have success with his version of the fake. "I was going to text him this morning and tell him we were going to use it," said Murray of Greene. "I didn't want to jinx us." Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said his defensive backs' lack of experience showed on the play. "The first (touchdown) was just bad eyes," Freeze said. "They were looking in the backfield instead of looking at your man. We have some freshmen back there who just got out of position. We missed some guys today. We're very young back there, and they exposed that today." Richt said the play provided a lift for Georgia's players and the crowd of 92,746. "I think there's no question about it," said Richt, who added he could tell fans "were getting kind of antsy" wit
Jordan Rodgers hit Chris Boyd for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 52 seconds remaining and Vanderbilt rallied for a 27-26 victory over Mississippi on Saturday night. The Commodores (6-4, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) are now bowl eligible for the second straight season for the first time in school history. Vanderbilt trailed 23-6 early in the third quarter, but Rodgers found Jordan Matthews for a 52-yard touchdown minutes later to start the Commodores' rally. Rodgers completed 20-of-35 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns. Matthews caught nine passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. Ole Miss (5-5, 2-4) must beat either LSU or Mississippi State over the final two weeks to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2009. Vanderbilt has won six out of eight games against Ole Miss. Ole Miss wasted a terrific performance from Bo Wallace, who completed 31 of 49 passes for 403 yards and a touchdown. It's only the fifth time in school history a quarterback has thrown for more than 400 yards. Ja-Mes Logan caught eight passes for 160 yards. The Rebels looked like they might hang on for the win after Bryson Rose kicked a 27-yard field goal to push them ahead 26-20 with 2:43 remaining. But Vanderbilt drove the field in less than two minutes on nine plays, showing a moxie rarely seen from the Commodores before the arrival of coach James Franklin two years ago. Boyd was wide open down the sideline on the game-winning play, catching Rodgers' perfectly-thrown ball and jogging into the end zone untouched. It was a stunning conclusion considering nothing went right for Vanderbilt early in the game. Zac Stacy -- who is the school's all-time leading rusher and came into the game with 752 rushing yards and six touchdowns this season -- was injured on his second carry and had to be helped off the field. He didn't return and the Commodores' offense struggled to find any early rhythm without him. Ole Miss scored first on a 9-yard pass from Wallace
BATON ROUGE, La. -- In a joyous, raving, almost delirious rant, Les Miles gushed over his team's inexorable determination and urged LSU fans to put their arms around his players and "give them a big kiss on the mouth." Miles is known to get a little loopy and emotional at times, so his comments hardly seemed out of character after a classic contest with historical rival Ole Miss that even evoked memories of Billy Cannon's famous Halloween night punt return in 1959. Jeremy Hill scored his third touchdown with 15 seconds left to lift the Tigers (No. 7 BCS, No. 8 AP) to a 41-35 victory over relentless but mistake-prone Mississippi on Saturday. "I'm proud of those men," Miles said of his team. "How easy it could have been to say it was (Ole Miss') night. Spectacular group of men. ... Wow! What a game!" The game included seven turnovers, numerous momentum swings and long touchdowns, perhaps none better than Odell Beckham Jr.'s 89-yard punt return for a score that evoked memories of Cannon's famous return against the same team, along the same sideline, for the same yardage back in 1959. "That was maybe the biggest momentum changer in the game," Miles said, adding giddily, "Is it Halloween night?" Beckham eluded numerous tacklers, slipping one as he traversed the field, then broke away from pursuers down the right sideline toward the north end zone while teammate Jarvis Landry waved him along with windmill motion. "Everyone had their block, everyone had their man and everyone covered their assignments," Beckham said. "I saw a crease and I just hit it. ... It was an amazing experience and definitely changed the momentum of the game." Beckham's return tied the game at 35, but LSU (9-2, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) still needed a pair of clutch sacks by Anthony Johnson and Lavar Edwards to drive Ole Miss (5-6, 2-5) out of routine field goal range later in the fourth quarter. Bryson Rose then pushed a 53-yard kick wide right, setting up the winning
Mississippi State's invincibility in the Egg Bowl under coach Dan Mullen finally died in year four. Mississippi used a huge second half to beat the No. 25 Bulldogs 41-24 on Saturday night, ending Mississippi State's three-game winning streak in the series. Mullen has spent much of his four-year stint in the Magnolia State talking trash about "The School Up North" when given the chance -- and he earned it with three straight wins - but now he is on the losing end for the first time. "Our kids prepared to go play, but we didn't execute very well, we didn't play very well," Mullen said. "We had a good week of practice, but you never know exactly how it's going to play out until you get to gameday and start doing it on the field." Mississippi State's defense simply couldn't find a way to stop Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace or receiver Donte Moncrief. Wallace threw for 294 yards and five touchdowns - including three to Moncrief. It was a sweet win for Ole Miss (6-6, 3-5 Southeastern Conference), which won the Egg Bowl for the first time since 2008. The Rebels also earned bowl eligibility for the first time since 2009. "This game was personal," Moncrief said. "I've been hearing through Twitter and other media that we were soft and a lot of noise. I know I could make plays and that's what I did." Mississippi State (8-4, 4-4) made a field goal late in the second quarter to tie the game at 17-17 going into halftime. But the Rebels reeled off 24 straight points in the second half to push past the Bulldogs. Moncrief caught seven passes for 173 yards and tied a school record with three receiving touchdowns. The 6-foot-3, 216-pound sophomore used his wide body and sure hands to dominate against Mississippi State's secondary, which simply couldn't stop the Wallace-to-Moncrief connection. Moncrief caught touchdown passes of 77, 21, and 16 yards. Jeff Scott added 111 rushing yards on 28 carries. Ole Miss finished with 527 total yards. "We just p
The 2013 BBVA Compass Bowl, the seventh edition of the game was held on January 5, 2013 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama as part of the 2012–13 NCAA Bowl season. The game, which was telecasted at 12:00 p.m. CT on ESPN, featured the University of Pittsburgh Panthers of the Big East Conference versus the University of Mississippi Rebels of the Southeastern Conference. This was Pittsburgh's third consecutive appearance in the game, as well as its final game as a member of the Big East before they join the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013. The announced attendance for the game was a BBVA Compass Bowl record 59,135, eclipsing the previous attendance record of 42,610 in the 2010 edition. The University of Mississippi defeated the University of Pittsburgh 38–17.
