A furious second-half rally keyed by quarterback Bo Wallace helped No. 11 Ole Miss pull off a stunning, 23-17 upset over the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday in a hard-fought SEC showdown.
It's a party in Oxford! Final: Ole Miss - 23 Alabama - 17 Bo Wallace was 18-31 for 251 yards with 3 TDs #BAMAvsMISS http://ift.tt/ZHHjFI
- ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) October 4, 2014
Ole Miss Football brought up a pertinent fact in the immediate aftermath:
This is the Rebels' first win over a No. 1 ranked team in program history. #HottyToddy
- Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 4, 2014
Stuart Scott of ESPN noted how long it has been since the Rebels last got off to a 5-0 start:
Helluva game...helluva SEC...helluva Wallace!!! Ole' Miss 5-0 for 1st time since the JFK administration
- Stuart Scott (@StuartScott) October 4, 2014
Wallace's will matched the words he spoke before the game, per ESPN.com's :
Honestly, I'm just going into it like any other week. I've been here for two years. I've played against top-10 teams -- never with the opportunity that we have right now and being undefeated -- but I can't think about that too much, especially being the quarterback. I have to be the one that's even-keeled the whole time and when guys get riled up, settle them down.
Former Alabama QB Joe Namath summarized the day well for Alabama:
Congratulations to the Ole Miss Rebels on their victory. The Tide hurt themselves too often to win. RT!!
- Joe Namath (@RealJoeNamath) October 4, 2014
Fifth-year senior quarterback Blake Sims did what he could to lead a late Crimson Tide comeback attempt. A desperate heave into double coverage was picked off by Rebels defensive back with under a minute remaining.
Alabama linebacker Cyrus Jones appeared to grab the facemask of Rebels ball-carrier before punching the ball out, picking it up and racing down the sidelines to stretch Alabama's lead to 14-3 just before halftime. The referees didn't catch the apparent penalty, much to the chagrin of the Ole Miss fans at -Hemingway Stadium.
Cyrus Jones got away with one there. Unreviewable, but surprised they didn't review if he stayed in bounds.
- Chase Goodbread (@ChaseGoodbread) October 4, 2014
The Tide looked flat early on and trailed 3-0 after the first quarter. John of used an interesting political analogy to describe offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin's game plan:
Lanes play calling today has been more conservative than a Bush family dinner
- John Middlekauff (@JohnMiddlekauff) October 4, 2014
Sims helped the Tide get rolling in bold fashion on a 12-play, 68-yard drive, capping it off with a one-yard touchdown scamper on a nice play fake.
4th-and-inches, Tide go naked bootleg and Sims has an easy TD. 12-play Alabama drive. 7-3 Tide, 3:44 2Q
- Eye on College FBall (@EyeOnCFB) October 4, 2014
It appeared Sims and Co. would go on cruise control when Alabama possessed the ball for over seven minutes to start the second half. However, two ill-advised forays on the perimeter caused Sims to lose yards on the final first and third downs of the drive, leading to a missed field goal attempt.
That opened up a window for the hosts to get back into it, which the Rebels took advantage of. Wallace hit Evan Engram on a 50-yard strike before finding for a 14-yard TD to cut the lead to 14-10.
ESPN's noted how significant the trip to was, as it had to be quite the morale boost for the home underdogs:
Ole Miss had failed to score a touchdown in its previous 23 drives against Alabama before that TD drive. #BAMAvsOLEMISS
- College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 4, 2014
Treadwell looks like he could play on Sunday right now.
- Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) October 4, 2014
But another negative run to the outside, this time by Derrick Henry, put Alabama in a tough third-down situation. The play was compounded by an injury to center Ryan Kelly. A false start followed, but a play-it-safe carry by Henry led to Adam Griffith converting a 44-yard field goal.
Alabama has had losses of 6, 4 and 9 yards inside the Ole Miss 30 on last two possessions. Not helping already shaky PK.
- Pat Forde (@YahooForde) October 4, 2014
A 17-10 lead entering the fourth quarter-not to mention a big stop to deny Ole Miss a chance to answer Alabama's field goal-was likely all Alabama head coach Nick Saban could have asked for, given the quality of football wasn't up to his high standards.
History suggested Alabama would hold on, given the success under the circumstances during Saban's tenure:
Alabama is 78-2 under Saban in games when holding a 7-point 4th Q lead. #BAMAvsMISS The lone losses? 2013 at Auburn & 2007 vs LSU.
- College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 4, 2014
Wallace rifled a pass to Engram down the seam with under nine minutes remaining in the fourth, but the tight end dropped what could have been the equalizing touchdown. Engram redeemed himself later on the drive with a third-down catch that preceded Wallace hitting Vince Sanders for the tying 34-yard score.
Alex Scarborough of ESPN was critical of the Crimson Tide secondary following that play:
Alabama's secondary has taken a step back. Bo Wallace is picking them apart of late.
- Alex Scarborough (@AlexS_ESPN) October 4, 2014
Alabama will hope to dig deep and get back on track as it is on the road again next week for a matchup with Arkansas.
The Razorbacks have lost to Auburn and in overtime to Texas A&M this year, and they can run the football (316.6 yards rushing per game this season). It figures to be an interesting matchup if Arkansas can get going on the ground early.
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