AUSTIN, Texas \u2013 For 30 minutes, it looked like Texas would run No. 7 Ole Miss out of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. For the next 16, the Rebels looked like they would steal the biggest win of their season.<\/p>\n
In the end, No. 19 Texas held on. The Longhorns beat Ole Miss 34-27 on Saturday night, after the Rebels erased a 21-point deficit with 21 straight points of their own and had one last shot at the end zone to force overtime.<\/p>\n
Ole Miss trailed 24-3 at halftime. A Blake Purchase strip-sack that Kam Franklin recovered in the end zone, plus two Trinidad Chambliss touchdown passes to Horatio Fields, tied the game 24-24 early in the fourth quarter. But Arch Manning answered with a go-ahead touchdown run, a 58-yard Ole Miss field goal try was blocked, and Texas added a field goal. Ole Miss kicked a field goal, recovered an onside kick and drove to the Texas 24, but Jelani McDonald intercepted Chambliss in the end zone on the final play.<\/p>\n
The Rebels fall to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in SEC play. Texas improves to 5-2 and 2-2.<\/p>\n
Ole Miss also lost running back Kewan Lacy, who left the game with a shoulder injury and did not return. Lacy ran for 36 yards on 16 carries before the injury. Pete Golding said after the game that he did not yet have an update, but that Lacy was \u201cin a lot of pain\u201d and that it was the \u201csame shoulder\u201d he has been managing. \u201cI told him I love him, man. Keep your head up,\u201d Golding said.<\/p>\n
How it happened<\/p>\n
Texas takes control: The Longhorns opened with a 12-play, 69-yard drive that ended in a 23-yard Gianni Spetic field goal. Ole Miss answered with a 46-yard Lucas Carneiro field goal to tie it 3-3.<\/p>\n
The game swung on the next two plays. Jalyn Crawford intercepted Manning at the Texas 33, but on the very next snap, Justin Cryer picked off Chambliss and returned it to the Texas 41. Texas later went 60 yards in four plays, and Manning scored on a 2-yard run with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.<\/p>\n
The second quarter belonged to Texas. Manning found Ryan Wingo for a 50-yard touchdown, and Michael Terry III ran in from 2 yards out to make it 24-3. Ole Miss had a chance to cut into the lead before halftime with an 11-play, 82-yard drive, but on fourth-and-2 from the Texas 2, Rasheem Biles intercepted Chambliss at the goal line with 1:37 left.<\/p>\n
The comeback: Ole Miss came out of halftime looking like a different team, and the defense lit the spark. On Texas\u2019 first drive of the third quarter, Purchase beat the protection, sacked Manning for a 23-yard loss and knocked the ball loose. Franklin fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown, and it was 24-10.<\/p>\n
The Rebels then put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass from Chambliss to Fields to make it 24-17. Ole Miss got the ball back with 10 seconds left in the third quarter and needed just four plays and 1:13 to go 71 yards. Chambliss hit Fields for a 27-yard touchdown, and the game was tied 24-24 with 13:57 to play.<\/p>\n
The defense kept coming. On Texas\u2019 next possession, Crawford intercepted Manning for the second time, giving Ole Miss the ball at its own 20 with a chance to take the lead.<\/p>\n
Texas finishes: The Rebels couldn\u2019t cash in, and Texas answered. The Longhorns went 80 yards in six plays, and Manning scored on a 1-yard run with 8:04 left to make it 31-24. Ole Miss drove to the Texas 41, but Alex January blocked Carneiro\u2019s 58-yard field goal attempt with 6:21 to play. Texas then ran nearly four minutes off the clock before Spetic\u2019s 33-yard field goal made it 34-24 with 2:25 left.<\/p>\n
One last chance: Ole Miss didn\u2019t go quietly. Chambliss completed passes of 12 yards and 24 yards to Caleb Odom and 11 yards to Joshua Dye to move the Rebels to the Texas 22, and Carneiro hit a 39-yard field goal to make it 34-27 with 1:22 left. Peter McStravick\u2019s onside kick went just 2 yards, and Ole Miss recovered at its own 37.<\/p>\n
The Rebels kept the drive alive with Chambliss\u2019 9-yard completion to Deuce Alexander on fourth-and-8, then a 15-yard catch by Odom put the ball at the Texas 24 with 9 seconds left. An illegal shift penalty pushed Ole Miss back to the 29, and on the final play, McDonald intercepted Chambliss\u2019 pass for Alexander in the end zone to seal the win for Texas.<\/p>\n
Key stats<\/p>\n
21-21: Texas scored 21 unanswered points to build a 24-3 lead. Ole Miss answered with 21 straight to tie it.
\n419-364: Texas outgained Ole Miss in total yards, and averaged 5.8 yards per play to the Rebels\u2019 4.5.
\n207-114: Texas\u2019 edge in rushing yards. Raleek Brown ran for 157 yards on 23 carries with Hollywood Smothers out.
\n5-for-5: Texas in the red zone, with three touchdowns and two field goals. Ole Miss was 1-for-2, with the other trip ending in the interception at the Texas 2.
\n14 for 121: Texas\u2019 penalties. Ole Miss was flagged eight times for 58 yards.
\n34:55-25:05: Texas\u2019 edge in time of possession.
\n0: Sacks allowed by the Ole Miss offensive line, with Texas edge rushers Colin Simmons and Richard Wesley out.
\n6-of-18: Ole Miss on third down. Texas was 3-of-13. Ole Miss went 2-of-3 on fourth down.<\/p>\n
Key players<\/p>\n
DE Blake Purchase: The biggest play of the night for Ole Miss. His strip-sack of Manning in the end zone started the comeback. He finished with four tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.<\/p>\n
DE Kam Franklin: Recovered Purchase\u2019s forced fumble for a touchdown and added a sack of his own. He had six tackles and two tackles for loss.<\/p>\n
CB Jalyn Crawford: Two interceptions of Manning, including one early in the fourth quarter right after Ole Miss tied the game.<\/p>\n
WR Horatio Fields: Three catches for 50 yards and both Ole Miss receiving touchdowns, including the 27-yarder that tied the game.<\/p>\n
QB Trinidad Chambliss: 25-of-52 passing for 250 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He led the two touchdown drives that tied the game and the late field goal drive.<\/p>\n
WR Deuce Alexander: Eight catches for 87 yards, including the fourth-down conversion on the final drive, plus an 18-yard punt return.<\/p>\n
TE Caleb Odom: Five catches for 59 yards, including a 24-yarder that set up the late field goal.<\/p>\n
LB Keaton Thomas: A team-high eight tackles and three quarterback hurries.<\/p>\n
For Texas, Manning threw for 212 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions and ran for two scores. Wingo caught seven passes for 111 yards, and Jelani McDonald led the Longhorns with 12 tackles and made the game-ending interception.<\/p>\n
The bottom line<\/p>\n
The first half was the difference. Ole Miss went three-and-out on its first possession, threw an interception one play after getting one, and came away empty from inside the Texas 2. Texas turned its chances into 24 points, and that hole proved seven points too deep.<\/p>\n
But the second half showed what this Ole Miss team is made of. Down 21 on the road in one of the loudest stadiums in college football, the Rebels didn\u2019t fold. The defense forced three turnovers, scored a touchdown and held Texas scoreless in the third quarter, and the offense found answers, right down to a final throw into the end zone with a chance to tie.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t enough, and the loss hurts. Ole Miss now has two SEC losses with five games left. But the Rebels proved they can take a punch from a top team and come back swinging.<\/p>\n
Up next: Ole Miss returns home to host Auburn on Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31, at 11:45 a.m. CT on SEC Network. Read more: Ole Miss vs. Auburn kickoff time<\/a>.<\/p>\n More from Saturday: Everything Pete Golding said after the game<\/a> | Notes and Notables from Ole Miss vs. Texas<\/a> | Final Ole Miss vs. Texas injury report<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Evelyn Van Pelt <\/p>\n Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception. Email Evie at: Evie@TheRebelWalk.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2013 For 30 minutes, it looked like Texas would run No. 7 Ole Miss out of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3230,3139,132,134,133,161182,29487,158110,64056,3231,537,12567],"class_list":["post-476240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-arch-manning","tag-auburn","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-blake-purchase","tag-ole-miss-football","tag-pete-golding","tag-rebels","tag-steve-sarkisian","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-trinidad-chambliss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}