Texas Bowl Gamer: Rebels fall to Texas Tech, 42-25
HOUSTON – Not many games hinge on fourth-down conversions. This one did.
Ole Miss was only successful on fourth down twice in seven attempts, while Texas Tech converted 5-of-6. Many of the Rebels’ failures on fourth down were in their own territory.
The result was the Red Raiders winning the TaxAct Texas Bowl 42-25.
After Ole Miss failed on its first possession to convert a fourth down, the Rebels tried again the second time they had the ball. It failed again and unlike the first time, Texas Tech capitalized.
The Red Raiders drove 27 yards in seven plays and scored on their first fourth-down attempt when quarterback Tyler Shough blasted into the end zone from the 2 and after Trey Wolff’s kick, Texas Tech led 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
“You know, we were 2 of 7 on the fourth downs,” Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said after the game.
“They were 5 of 6. I thought they had really good plays and speed options and checking on different things…I thought their fourth down schemes were better than ours, and ours were shorter yardage sometimes.”
Lane Kiffin on fourth downs
It took Ole Miss just five plays to respond to Tech’s initial touchdown. A pair of Jaxson Dart passes put the Rebels into the red zone and soon after Zach Evans bolted for an 8-yard touchdown and after Jonathan Cruz added the conversion, the game was tied. The drive consumed just 1:17 off the clock and covered 75 yards.
The Red Raiders again moved the ball on the ensuing possession, but the Ole Miss defense stiffened forcing Tech to settle for a 42-yard field goal by Wolff and a 10-7 lead.
Ole Miss’ next drive ended as two of the others did to start the game – with a failed fourth-down conversion which kept the Raiders’ three-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
Texas Tech’s next drive was aided by a targeting foul on linebacker Troy Brown to set the Red Raiders up at the Ole Miss 38. But the Rebels’ defense stuffed Texas Tech on a fourth-and-goal to preserve the three-point deficit.
Ole Miss finally converted a fourth down – this one from inside its own 10 – but two plays later, Dart was intercepted by Marquis Waters to set up the Raiders at the Ole Miss 9. It took another fourth-down conversion – the seventh of the game combined – for Tech to score. This time Shough scored from the two and after the kick the Red Raiders had a 17-7 advantage.
On the ensuing drive, Ole Miss finally lined up to punt. But the Rebels faked it, and Tech stopped the attempt short. This time the Red Raiders took over at the Ole Miss 32. Once again, the Rebels’ bent, but did not break and Tech had to take a 32-yard field goal and a 20-7 lead.
The Rebels wanted to get some points before the half, but on a Dart second-down run, he fumbled, and Tech took over at the 37 to put the Raiders in position to add points before the break. With 28 seconds left, Shough tossed a 12-yard touchdown to Jerand Bradley and a failed two-point conversion left Tech with a 26-7 halftime lead.
The Rebels defense held Tech on the initial drive of the third quarter and then the offense found a spark. Ole Miss drove the ball ten plays for 80 yards and the Rebs found the end zone when Dart hit Jordan Watkins with an 11-yard touchdown. Cruz, however, missed his first conversion of the season, but Ole Miss cut the lead to 26-13.
After Tech missed a field goal on the next drive, but Ole Miss could not capitalize. In fact, it got worse. After punting, Ladarius Tennison was called for the Rebels’ second targeting call of the game and Texas Tech started the next possession inside Ole Miss territory.
The Ole Miss defense picked up Tennison three plays later when Tavius Robinson knocked the ball out of Shough’s hand and Jared Ivey fell on the ball at midfield.
Yet again, Ole Miss fell short on a fourth-down conversion and gave the ball back to the Red Raiders. Tech scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to take a 32-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.
“It’s really frustrating,” Dart commented to media in the postgame press conference.
“You put a lot of work in and prepare for games like this each and every week and then you make costly mistakes and don’t play to the standard you play at. Really frustrating, but I’m going to use it to fuel the fire and be better next year. I know my potential and what I can do. I’m going to take my next step in my growth and get ready for whatever is next.“
Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart
Dart added a nine-yard touchdown midway through the period and after another failed two-pointer, the score stood at 35-19.
The Rebels drew closer when Dart hit Heath with a 19-yard scoring pass. The failed two-pointer closed the score to 35-25 with just over three minutes remaining.
But Tech took all doubt about the outcome by returning an onside kick attempt for a touchdown to provide the final score.
(Feature image: Annie Rice, Avalanche-Journal)
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.
