Gamer: Ole Miss defeats Austin Peay, 54-17
OXFORD, Miss. — While teams like Texas A&M, Notre Dame and Miami escaped upset bids Saturday and others like Texas and Ohio State were not so lucky, Ole Miss had no such struggles.
Texas was crushed by Arkansas, Oregon outlasted Ohio State, and the Rebels were able to cruise past Austin Peay 54-17 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
In just under three quarters of work, Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral completed 21-of-33 passes for 281 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for 35 yards.
Matt Corral completed 21-of-33 passes for 281 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for 35 yards. (Photo: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)
Jonathan Mingo and Dontario Drummond hauled in a pair of touchdowns each and for the second-straight week, Drummond topped the century mark in receiving yards. The senior from Laurel grabbed six passes for 107 yards against the Govs and in the season-opening win against Louisville, Drummond had 177 yards in catches.
Rebels jump on Austin Peay early
Ole Miss scored on five-of-seven drives in the first half and came within two minutes of pitching its second straight scoreless first half of the season.
The Rebels opened the scoring when Matt Corral tossed a one-yard touchdown to Dontario Drummond to cap a ten-play, 80-yard drive. Freshman Caden Costa drilled the extra point and Ole Miss had an early 7-0 lead.
The Landshark defense decided to get into the scoring column on the ensuing drive. Sam Williams stripped Austin Peay quarterback Draylen Ellis of the ball on a sack and picked up the loose ball and ran it back 33 yards for the Rebels’ second score. Costa’s kick put Ole Miss ahead 14-0.
Ole Miss defense celebrates after Sam Williams’ scoop and score. (Photo: Dan Anderson, Rebel Walk)
This was the second week the Ole Miss defense showed improvement over last year’s unit. Ashanti Cistrunk had six tackles and as a team, the Rebels collected 11 tackles for loss and five sacks.
Ole Miss kept the offensive pressure going into the second quarter when Corral drilled a 15-yard scoring strike to Jonathan Mingo and Costa was again perfect on the conversion to put the Rebels ahead 21-0.
The Rebels added a safety and Corral fired two more scoring passes – another to Drummond and one to Braylon Sanders – to close out the Ole Miss scoring in the first half.
✔️ Score From Far
🖥 https://t.co/fQPp7rmUkp@corral_matt ➡️ @BigJohnDrummond pic.twitter.com/YqW062yixo
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 12, 2021
Austin Peay added a touchdown late in the second quarter to provide the 37-7 Ole Miss halftime advantage.
Second-half action
Ole Miss kept the offensive onslaught going in the third quarter. Less than two minutes into the half, Corral found Mingo once again and 40 yards later – and after another Costa conversion – the Rebs held a 44-7 lead.
You know we had to get you one, @ogmingo1k. pic.twitter.com/AHpJck96rU
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 12, 2021
Maddux Trujillo added a field goal on the ensuing drive to cut the Rebels’ lead to 44-10.
The Governors decided to onside the ensuing kick and that risk turned into a reward for Ole Miss. The Rebels took over at their own 44 and drove the 56 yards in eight plays as Snoop Conner stuck the ball into the end zone from the three and another Costa kick gave Ole Miss a 51-10 lead midway through the third quarter.
Early in the fourth period, Costa chipped in a 26-yard field goal to put Ole Miss ahead 54-10.
APSU did not pack it in. Late in the game, C.J. Evans came up with a pinball-like 40-yard scoring run and after Trujillo’s kick, the final 54-17 score was provided.
Ole Miss gained 630 yards, 336 of them on the ground. Although the Rebels did not have a 100-yard rusher – Henry Parrish, Jr., led the way with 72 yards – of the 11 Rebs who carried the ball, seven had runs of double-digit yards.
No place like home. pic.twitter.com/yYmmna5d0Q
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 12, 2021
The Rebels return to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium next week to take on Tulane.
(Photo credit: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
