It was nuts again. No. 1 Alabama broke a two-game skid to Ole Miss, leaving Oxford on Saturday with a wild 48-43 win.

Again, there were crazy plays. CBS announcer Gary Danielson couldn’t shake off why officials didn’t call a personal foul 30 yards behind an Ole Miss defensive touchdown. Ole Miss fans couldn’t figure out why officials didn’t call Akeem Judd’s short third-quarter touchdown a touchdown as replay looked like he crossed the goal line.

Up five in the final seconds, Alabama center Bradley Bozeman recovered a fumble that quietly saved the day.

The crazy went all the way to the wire when Van Jefferson recovered an onside kick with his team down 48-37, and A.J. Brown caught a 37-yard jumpball touchdown pass a play later. Ole Miss had scored 13 points in eight seconds to tighten the record-setting crowd, the largest to ever watch a sporting event in Mississippi.

There was review after review, and big play after big play. The two combined for touchdowns of 23, 63, 44 and 85 yards. Alabama did it without receiver ArDarius Stewart, who left with a reported concussion in the first half.

What it means: For Alabama, it means another step taken with an ever-maturing true freshman QB Jalen Hurts. Hurts totaled 304 yards in the win and benefitted from a lot of time from his offensive line, as well as opportunistic running in the second half.

For Ole Miss, it means the Rebels still haven’t figured out how to play four quarters. It was a replay of the debacle against Florida State in Orlando. The Seminoles outscored Ole Miss 39-6 to close a 45-34 win there. Alabama outscored Ole Miss 45-6 until Damore’ea Stringfellow caught a late touchdown pass prior to Brown’s catch. The Rebels’ defense looked winded as it did against Florida State, forced on the field for more than 35 minutes.

What I liked: Ole Miss established its superstar. Even Engram does not get the play Chad Kelly gets. He doesn’t get the play freshman left tackle Greg Little gets. He doesn’t get the play Alabama TE O.J. Howard gets.

But Engram looked like the first-round NFL Draft talent he is with catches of 25 and 7 yards on the opening touchdown drive. His 63-yard touchdown catch came as Bama’s defense bit hard on a pitch fake, and he ran wide open down the field.

Engram has his second 100-yard game of the season, finishing with 9 catches, 138 yards and a touchdown. Both came against top five teams, and Engram is well on his way to his best season.

For Alabama, that was championship resiliency. Vaught-Hemingway was rocking and Ole Miss was rolling, taking a 24-3 lead with less than 3 minutes left in the first half. The Crimson Tide (3-0) held on to the poise Nick Saban said they needed to at the half.

What I didn’t like: That Hugh Freeze is doing his best Les Miles clock management impressions. Alabama scored to cut what was a 24-3 lead to 24-10 with 2 minutes, 10 seconds to play in the first half. Ole Miss responded with run, run, run.

Take tempo to the dance. Dance with tempo when you get there. Yes, the tempo needs to be extended with a first down when you need to drain some clock, but a short pass is your run game. Ole Miss had 29 snaps in the first half for 243 yards in only 10:24 of possession time.

Who’s the man: Hurts carried the load. He threw the ball 31 times and ran it 18 more for a total of 304 yards. His 18 carries and 146 rushing yards were the most by any Alabama QB under Saban.

It was dink and dunk in the first half, and when Ole Miss refused to rush more than three linemen, Hurts’ line made room and he took off. His 41-yard run in the fourth quarter led to a 41-30 lead. Chad Kelly was not outdone. He threw for a ridiculous 421 yards on 26-of-41 with 3 touchdowns and an INT.

Key play(s): It wouldn’t be the renewal of Alabama vs. Ole Miss if a key play wasn’t controversial. Akeem Judd looked like he scored a go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter. A review didn’t change officials minds. Hurts’ 41-yarder mentioned above was a final nail.

Bozeman’s fumble recovery was the play of the day. No telling what would have happened had Ole Miss gotten it.

What’s next: Ole Miss has to regroup and face a difficult-to-swallow 1-2 start to the season as Georgia visits in a week. Alabama gets Kent State at Bryant-Denny.

Brandon Speck covers Ole Miss for Saturday Down South. Follow him on Twitter @brandonspeck.