No. 3 Ole Miss Pulls Away To Whip Tennessee, 34-3

Rebels Defense Overpowers Vols, Worley Sacked Seven Times

  • Saturday, October 18, 2014
  • Special to Chattanoogan.com
Tennessee linebacker A.J. Johnson had 10 tackles Saturday against Ole Miss, but the Vols came up well short against the Rebels, 34-3.
Tennessee linebacker A.J. Johnson had 10 tackles Saturday against Ole Miss, but the Vols came up well short against the Rebels, 34-3.
photo by Tennessee Athletics

A hopeful night turned into a nightmare for Tennessee’s youthful Volunteers.

Third-ranked Mississippi, behind a two-touchdown performance by quarterback Bo Wallace and a smothering defense, separated itself in the second half and went on to smack Tennessee, 34-3, on homecoming Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

The Vols lost their two previous league games to Georgia and Florida by a combined four points, but the Rebels dealt Tennessee its eighth straight loss to a West Division opponent.

“Again, turnovers were the story of the game,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. “We had a lot of negative yardage. When you are 3-of-16 on third-down conversions you are not giving yourself an opportunity to be in the game and win.”

Tennessee (3-4, 0-3 Southeastern Conference) was seeking its first win over a Top 3 team since beating Georgia in Athens in 2004, but couldn’t get the job done. The Vols hung with the Rebels (7-0, 4-0) for most of the first half, but gave way under the pressure of miscues and a more aggressive Ole Miss offense after intermission.

Ole Miss’ second-ranked scoring defense (11.8 points), held the Vols to Aaron Medley’s second-quarter field goal – a kick that forestalled Tennessee’s first shutout since Florida won 31-0 on Sept. 17, 1994, a span of 254 games. After that the threat posed by the Vols to the Rebels disappeared.

“As a defense,” Ole Miss defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche said, “coach (Dave) Wommack gives us the priority of controlling the game because we are our stronghold. It starts with the defensive line and goes back. People played really physical and fast.”

The Vols, who had won three of the previous four meetings with Ole Miss in Oxford, return home to face nationally ranked Alabama, which hammered Texas A&M, 59-0, next Saturday. Ole Miss, off to its best start since 1962, will be at LSU.

“I already talked to our football team about that,” Jones said. “It’s been a grind. We have been through the most difficult schedule in college football. We have to keep that in perspective. Tonight is still unacceptable.

“We have to move forward and keep grinding.”

Quarterback Justin Worley was intercepted three times – twice by Senquez Golson, the nation’s leader with seven picks – and sacked seven times. He completed 19-of-34 passes for 191 yards and left the game with an apparent right shoulder injury in the fourth quarter, but should be ready for the Crimson Tide.

“We all know we have to step up,” Worley said. “Our season can’t end here in Oxford. All our dreams and goals are still alive.”

His counterpart, Ole Miss signal caller Bo Wallace was just about flawless after a slow start, hitting 13-of-28 attempts for 199 yards and touchdowns to Vince Sanders and Evan Engram. He hit only four of his first 15 throws.

Leading 14-3 at halftime, Ole Miss got a 34-yard field goal by Gary Wunderlich and a Bo Wallace-to-Evan Engram covering 28 yards to blow the game open at 24-3.

The two scores came in a 14-second span and demoralized the Vols.

Following Wunderlich’s field goal, Tennessee’s Evan Berry was hit by Kailo Moore, coughed up the ball and Cale Luke recovered at the Vols’ 28. On the next play Wallace found his tight end for a quick-strike touchdown.

Wunderlick came back in the fourth quarter with his second field goal, this one a 27-yarder that stretched the lead to 27-3. And Mark Dodson ran 8 yards for the final touchdown with 31 seconds remaining.

Tennessee finished with zero rushing yards and Worley carried eight times for minus-41 yards. Seven of those “attempt” were sacks, of course. Freshman Jalen Hurd carried 13 times for 40 yards to lead the Vols.

Limited to zero points and 46 yards in the opening period, Ole Miss began to play like the nation’s third-ranked team in the second quarter.

Wallace, who is from Pulaski, Tenn., and playing against Tennessee for the first time, hit Sanders on a 39-yard touchdown pass – Sanders beat Vols freshman defensive back Emmanuel Moseley on the play – and Ole Miss grabbed a 7-3 lead.

Up to that point, Tennessee’s defense was playing extremely well and Medley’s 27-yard field goal with 12:40 left in the first half was the game’s only score.

The Vols allowed the Rebels only 7-of-20 third-down conversions while getting five sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Conversely, Ole Miss held Tennessee to 3-of-16 in the same category. 

Later in the second period, Ole Miss cornerback Senquez Golson intercepted a badly underthrown Worley pass to set up the Rebels’ second score. It was Golson’s sixth pick of the season, best total in the country.

Jaylen Walton capped a quick 35-yard, five-play drive with a 7-yard touchdown run up the middle and Wunderlich’s extra point gave Ole Miss a 14-3 lead. The Rebels converted a fourth-down play to keep the drive alive.

Wunderlich missed a 52-yard field-goal try as time expired in the first half.

“The entire first half felt like we were constantly backed up,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. “We certainly didn’t want to do anything that would give them any momentum. They kept us in third-and-long. They were tough for us to handle in one-on-one situations.

“We found some things right before the half and were able to get more efficient rushing the ball.  But you can tell from our play calling that we’re comfortable as long as the defense is playing like they are.”

As expected, the Ole Miss defense was relentless from the start. Something not expected was Tennessee’s ability to control the Rebels’ offense for more than a quarter.

The Vols held Ole Miss scoreless in the first period for the first time all season. On the other hand, Tennessee did the same to Ole Miss, which had scored 55 first-quarter points in its previous six games, but was also held scoreless in the first 15 minutes.

Linebacker A.J. Johnson had eight first-half tackles, giving him 400 career stops. He is only the fourth Tennessee player to reach the 400-tackle plateau. He finished with 10 tackles, including 1.5 sacks.

Ole Miss, coming off back-to-back wins over No. 1 Alabama and No. 14 Texas A&M, took advantage of Tennessee’s young offensive line – freshmen Jashon Robertson (guard) and Coleman Thomas (tackle) started on the right side – and made life miserable for Worley, who came into the game having been sacked 22 times.

The Rebels sacked him five times in the first half, the same total Tennessee-Chattanooga had a week ago in a 45-10 loss.

Worley went 13-for-19 with 120 yards, but was intercepted twice before halftime and the Vols were limited to minus-11 yards on the ground. And Ole Miss was able to deny Tennessee on just about every offensive opportunity it had early on.

“That always hurts,” Worley said. “We have a short field several times, and we couldn’t do much with it. We have to do a better job capitalizing.”

Jacob Gilliam, a senior from Knoxville, was inserted into the Vols’ lineup at right tackle, despite playing with a torn ACL suffered in the season opener against Utah State.

On the other side, Wallace completed 8-of-19 passes for 128 yards and one touchdown. Sanders had four catches for 108 yards in the first half.

Scoring Summary

Tennessee                   0 3 0 0 – 3

Tennessee                   0 14 10 10 – 34

Second Quarter

TENN —FG Medley 27, 12:40

MISS – Vince Sanders 39 pass from Bo Wallace (Gary Wunderlich kick), 5:08

MISS – Jaylen Walton 7 run (Wunderlich kick), 1:51

Third Quarter

MISS — FG Wunderlich 34, 2:04   

MISS – Evan Engram 28 pass from Wallace (Wunderlich kick), 1:50

Fourth Quarter

MISS — FG Wunderlich 27, 7:53

MISS – Mark Dodson 8 run (Wunderlich kick), 0:31

Attendance -- 62,081

YARDSTICK

        TENN               MISS

First Downs                   10                    18

Rushes-Yards               28-0                47-180

Passing Yards              191                  203

Att-Com-Int                   19-34-3           14-31-0

Total Yards                   62-191             78-383

Fumbles-Lost                3-1                   0-0

Punts.-Avg.                   9-45.6              9-48.2

Penalties-Yds.              3-23                 2-49

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Tennessee: Jalen Hurd 13-40, Nathan Peterman 2-9, Von Pearson 1-3, Justus Pickett 1-0, Derrel Scott 2-minus 2, Josh Malone 1-minus 9, Justin Worley 8-minus 41; Mississippi: Jaylen Walton 10-60, Jordan Wilkins 6-45, Bo Wallace 17-33, Devant Kincade 3-15, I’Tavius Mathers 6-12, Mark Dodson 2-11, Jeremy Liggins 3-4.

PASSING — Tennessee: Worley 19-34-3 191; Mississippi: Wallace 23-28-0 199, Kincade 1-1-0 4, Liggins 0-1-0 0, Team 0-1-0 0.

RECEIVING — Tennessee: Malone 5-75, Pearson 5-26, Alton Howard 2-24, Hurd 2-19, Marquez North 1-24, Alex Ellis 1-9, Ethan Wolf 1-6, Marlin Lane 1-5, Pickett 1-3; Mississippi: Vince Sanders 4-108, Laquon Treadwell 4-43, Evan Engram 1-28, Cody Core 1-12, Dodson 1-6, Quintavius Burdette 1-4, Eugene Brazley 1-1, Walton 1-1.

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)

 

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