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OXFORD, Miss — Ole Miss threw a party on Saturday and depending on when you read this it might still be going on.
For years the Rebels had been trying to prove that they belonged to be in the Southeastern Conference’s upper echelon, only to usually be left winning the tailgate. It had lost 10 times to Alabama, had exactly one victory against Nick Saban, and never defeated a team ranked No. 1 in either poll.
With those things occurring about as often College GameDay and entertainer Katy Perry visiting Oxford, that extremely unlikely convergence is exactly what happened. After having no touchdown passes during his first two career games against Alabama, quarterback Bo Wallace had three as No. 11 Ole Miss pulled off the home upset, 23-17.
“We didn’t finish,” said Nick Saban summarized about both the game and numerous drives into Ole Miss territory.
Neither did No. 2 Oregon on Thursday, No. 6 Texas A&M down the street in Starkville, or No. 4 Oklahoma later on, sending the playoff picture into disarray before the midway point of the season.
“Just bad things happened,” said junior safety Landon Collins, who described the Crimson Tide locker room as “hurtin’” and disappointed.
“We turned the ball over and they made key plays.”
Early on the only difference between the teams was a 46-yard field goal by Gary Wunderlich following Mark Dodson’s 54-yard return of opening kickoff — essentially a line drive by sophomore Adam Griffith. The Rebels (5-0 overall, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) managed just three first downs on their next five possessions as Alabama threatened to take control.
Alabama fans started to figure out what Saban meant when he said they should have patience during the game when midway through the second quarter the offense’s physical style of play started to roll. Led by running back T.J. Yeldon, who finished with 123 rushing yards on 20 carries, and going almost exclusively to the left it mustered a 12-play, 68-yard drive that was capped by a 1-yard touchdown dive by quarterback Blake Sims.
But then the Crimson Tide also got a break. With first down at its own 18 and 51 seconds until halftime, the Rebels handed off to running back I’Tavius Mathers, only cornerback Cyrus Jones read the play. After his right hand connected with Mathers’ helmet he knocked the ball loose and picked up the fumble for a 13-yard touchdown return.
Ole Miss fans were furious that the score wasn’t nullified by a facemask penalty because even though Jones didn’t appear to grab on, Mathers’ head clearly turned. The NCAA rule book states that: “No player shall twist, turn or pull the face mask, chin strap or any helmet opening of an opponent. It is not a foul if the face mask, chin strap or helmet opening is not twisted, turned or pulled. When in question, it is a foul.”
“To be candid, I felt like my heart got ripped out right before the half on the fumble for points there,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. “I felt confident all week. That was the only time I started to waiver a bit. I was so anxious and sick.
“We settled them down at halftime. We preached to our kids to play 60 minutes.”
No. 3 Alabama (but No. 1 according to the coaches) opened the second half with a 14-play drive, but once it reached the Ole Miss 24 it moved backward and Griffith missed a 51-yard field goal.
Instead, a 50-yard completion to Rebels tight end Evan Engram was the turning point and two plays later Wallace attacked freshman cornerback Tony Brown with Laquon Treadwell making a 14-yard touchdown catch.
“You have to do so something to get the momentum back,” said Saban, and Alabama didn’t.
Still ahead 14-10, the Crimson Tide’s drive made it to the Rebels’ 15, but Griffith’s 44-yard field goal proved to be Alabama’s final points. It took until the final few minutes for everything to unravel.
Following J.K. Scott’s punt out of the end zone Ole Miss needed just three plays to get back there, with Vince Sanders catching the 34-yard score. When Christion Jones fumbled on the subsequent kick return, Wallace the hit Jaylen Walton for a 10-yard touchdown, with Treadwell faking a screen to draw in Brown, and 23-17 lead following the blocked extra point.
“The play that they scored at the end of the game was a jailbreak screen with the back running a wheel route and we didn’t pass off correctly,” Saban said. “That was good execution on their part, the play that set that up we had a mental error.”
Alabama (4-1, 1-1 SEC) was on the move when O.J. Howard was called for holding, setting up second-and-13 at the Ole Miss 32. Sims tried to let him make up for it with a throw into the end zone, only the sophomore tight end didn’t realize that Senquez Golson – the player that Trent Richardson juked so badly in 2011 — was behind him. The play was initially called an incompletion, but replay showed that the safety got one foot down after making the interception.
The goalposts at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium didn’t stand a chance as both were torn down and whisked off into the night.
“Our leaders need to hold our heads up high and just show everybody on our team that we still have an opportunity to win a national championship,” said Sims, who said his shoulder didn’t bother him while completing 19 of 21 passes for 228 yards.
But now any margin of error is gone.
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
