Gamer: Ole Miss tallies 10 sacks en route to defeating Oklahoma, 26-14
OXFORD, Miss. – In front of another record-setting Vaught-Hemingway crowd, the No. 18 Ole Miss Rebels took down the Oklahoma Sooners, 26-14, thanks to crucial second-half adjustments on both sides of the ball.
“In the first half, we obviously didn’t play very well…very proud of our second half, it was 16-0 I think (in scoring difference). I thought our defense in the second half played as advertised. I thought our D-line was very dominant.“
~ Kiffin in his opening statement
That’s a Rebel DUB 💪 pic.twitter.com/IiNJWMe5ji
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 26, 2024
First Half
The Rebels received the opening kickoff and right away, quarterback Jaxson Dart targeted both of his tight ends. After Caden Prieskorn made the first catch of the day for a first down, Dart found a wide-open Dae’Quan Wright for 35 yards, pushing Ole Miss into Oklahoma territory.
Following the win, head coach Lane Kiffin commented on the Rebel offense using tight ends more with Tre Harris out of the game.
“I thought they did a good job. We told them before once Tre (Harris) wasn’t going that this needed to be a big tight end game. Got to them the first plays of the game and gave them a lot of opportunities in the second half too.”
~ Kiffin on the tight ends’ performances
After a few Henry Parrish Jr. touches, Ole Miss went right back to the Miami transfer as he punched it in from nine yards out for the game’s opening score.
Move out the way for Harlemmmm ⚡️@DoubleTay_21 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/IEIpPyvKL2
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 26, 2024
The Oklahoma offense wasted no time responding as they pushed their way into Rebel territory quickly with the help of quarterback Jackson Arnold’s legs. Approaching the goal line, the Sooners went run heavy which led them to 4th and goal on the 2-yard-line. However, the Landshark defense stood tall as Jadon Canady broke up a slow-developing pass attempt in the endzone for a turnover-on-downs.
Defense with the 4th down STOP ✋ pic.twitter.com/SDQicmzL7i
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 26, 2024
Dart and the Rebel offense would then fail to capitalize on the turnover, punting back to the Sooners quickly after a dropped pass from Wright on third down. Arnold began to become reliant on his arm, finding his tight end Bauer Sharp all the way up the field into the red zone.
Arnold then found Sharp wide-open in the back of the endzone as the TE was able to get a foot down to tie things at 7-7 with just over two minutes to go in the first quarter.
After another Ole Miss punt would bring a close to the opening quarter. Through a quarter of play, the Sooner offense was doing something that was yet to be seen this season: exploiting the Rebel rush defense.
The Sooners carried it 12 times for 56 yards in the first, averaging over four-and-a-half yards per carry. Ole Miss came into the day allowing just under two yards per carry.
Oklahoma began the second quarter with the ball on their own end of the field; however, the Rebel defense forced another punt. A drive orchestrated by Dart’s arm then put the Rebels in Sooner territory, only for the Oklahoma defense to stand tall and force a Caden Davis 35-yard field goal that gave Ole Miss a 10-7 lead.
Mid-way through the second quarter trailing by three, the Sooner offense continued to find success on the ground against the Ole Miss defense. The strangest play of the season then shifted the tide as Oklahoma fumbled, allowing Chris ‘Pooh’ Paul Jr. to scoop up the loose ball and head the other way.
However, Paul Jr. would give it right back, fumbling on the return, allowing Oklahoma to stay on offense.
The wild series of events continued on the next play as Jared Ivey found his way into the backfield in a hurry, sacking Arnold, forcing a fumble and recovering the loose ball to put the Rebel offense back on the field.
FIRE ME UP @jared_ivey1595 😤 pic.twitter.com/Q2LYSrM0md
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 26, 2024
Despite starting the following drive in Oklahoma territory, the Rebel offense stalled once again to bring up a big 4th-and-1. JJ Pegues made his way onto the field; however, the Rebels switched it up and went to Juice Wells on the reverse only to be met behind the line for a turnover-on-downs.
The Sooner offense then drove the length of the field, putting together a 13-play, two-and-a-half-minute drive to drain the clock. Arnold continued to impress for the Oklahoma offense, as the quarterback finished off the 92-yard drive with a 9-yard passing touchdown to give the Sooners a 14-10 lead with seconds to go before the halftime whistle.
At the break, the Sooners had 235 yards of total offense with 125 yards on the ground. The Ole Miss offense continued to struggle after the opening drive, ending the half with just 162 total yards and under 50 yards on the ground.
After the game, Umanmielen sounded off on the feeling going into the locker room and coming back out for the second half.
“We go into a game with a finish-them-off mentality. So, we went into the half down right, we knew the defense was going to have to step up to the plate.”
Princely Umanmielen
Second Half
The Sooners received the opening kick of the second half; however, the Landshark defense came out of the break ready, forcing a quick three-and-out to put the Rebel offense on the field in a hurry.
Dart then went straight to work through the air and with his legs, finding Cayden Lee and Jordan Watkins for a combined 47 yards to put the Rebels within striking distance.
Just as he had all game long, Dart found Prieskorn once again over the middle of the field for a 25-yard score. The second touchdown of the year for the tight end gave Ole Miss a 16-14 lead after Davis missed the extra point.
Lucky bumps to that 👊@cpkorn12 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/COWTXXKUxP
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 26, 2024
“Well, I love throwing to them (the tight ends). They are extremely great players who can do amazing things with the ball in their hands. So, I am happy we were able to scheme some things up and get them the ball, especially with us attacking the middle of the field.“
~ Dart on throwing more to the TEs
Following another quick three-and-out from the Oklahoma offense, the Rebel offense got the chance to take a two-score lead. Once again, Dart worked the ball to Prieskorn to ultimately set up a deep shot to Watkins. The 34-yard grab was originally called a touchdown but overturned and spotted at the one-yard line.
After the game, Kiffin commented on the second-half adjustments.
“I think a lot of the times adjustments are overrated…we had a first half with a coordinator that’s never called (plays) that we were playing against…I mean that’s an adjustment period. I think Pete (Golding) is really good. I thought they kind of already shot their shot with different plays in the first half offensively. Now they are going to have to settle down and run normal plays.”
~ Kiffin on the second half turn-around
Pegues then trotted out onto the gridiron to do what he does best: score touchdowns. From one yard out, the Chucky Mullins Award winner fought his way into the endzone for his fifth score of the season, extending the Ole Miss lead to 23-14 with just over five minutes to play in the third.
They don’t call him the mayor for nothing 😎@JeremiahPegues4 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/QKsxzFdQGi
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 26, 2024
The Rebel defense would then come right back out to force another punt out of the Sooner offense as the script had completely flipped in the second half. Ole Miss then put together a quick drive, but the Rebels came up short on 3rd-and-short. Davis would then put another one through the uprights, this one from 42 yards out, to extend the Rebel lead to 26-14 to begin the final quarter of play.
Again, the Landshark defense forced a quick three-and-out, making it four straight punts to begin the second half for Oklahoma. The Rebel offense began to cool off as well, punting for the first time in the half following the fourth straight Sooner punt. Likely to be overlooked, Ole Miss punter Fraser Masin placed a beautiful punt toward the front corner of the end zone to down the Sooners at the 2-yard line.
Behind the fight of Jackson Arnold, Oklahoma began to put together a hopeful drive to show some life. However, Arnold was then sacked back-to-back-to-back times by Paul Jr., Pegues and Princely Umanmielen to ultimately ice the game.
That Rebel Defense is everywhereeeee 😈@d1princely | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/HQERvejIPT
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 26, 2024
The story of the second half was the adjustments on the defensive side of the ball. Oklahoma was held to just 94 second-half total yards and just 22 yards on the ground after a great offensive first half.
Paul Jr. led the way in tackles with 12 on the day along with a pair of tackles-for-loss. The Rebels finished with an astonishing 15 tackles-for-loss and 10 sacks. Suntarine Perkins led the way in sacks with 4, adding 5 tackles-for-loss as well. Pegues and Umanmielen also finished with a pair of sacks each.
After the game, Umanmielen was asked how the team responded to Walter Nolen going down with an injury and not returning.
“I trust everybody we got, especially with our depth on the D-Line. Even though Walter is an amazing player, we know we have great guys behind him to step up to the plate.“
Princely Umanmielen on Walter Nolen
The Rebel edge rusher also commented on Perkins having a career day, stating that the sophomore has ‘all the athletic ability in the world.’
On the offensive end, Dart finished 22 for 30 passing with 311 yards and a touchdown, adding 24 more yards with his legs as well. Prieskorn led the way in receiving with 5 grabs for 71 yards.
Following the win, Dart told the media how it felt to bounce back from the loss at LSU.
“Coach Kiffin talked about it, we are two plays away from being the number one team in the country. This one felt really good. Definitely at halftime, there was a lot of discussions amongst us players because we feel like we missed on critical opportunities in the first half. It feels really good to be back in the win column.”
~ Dart on bouncing back
Up Next
Next week, the Rebels will prepare to head to Fayetteville, Arkansas for another SEC matchup. On Nov. 2, No. 18 Ole Miss will take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. The television slot and official kickoff time are still to be determined.
Kameron Wicker
Kam is a senior at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.
