The Ole Miss Rebels played host to the No. 23 Cal Golden Bears on Saturday. The game kicked off at 9 a.m. Pacific time (11 a.m. in Mississippi), but the Bears didn’t appear to be too affected by it.

The Rebels were outplayed by the Pac-12 foe for most of the day, as Cal’s stifling defense controlled the Ole Miss offense all afternoon.

Ole Miss made a run late, but it was too little, too late, as Cal managed to hold on for a 28-20 victory. Here are a few quick takeaways from the Rebels’ home loss:

Where’s the rushing game?

Scottie Phillips entered the season as a guy who had an outside chance of leading the SEC in rushing yards. Heading into the fourth quarter on Saturday, he had only 34 yards on 9 carries.

Backup QB John Rhys Plumlee (more on him later) had a long run in the fourth quarter, but Phillips and the run game was ineffective for most of the day. Phillips finished the game with 54 yards.

Kicking woes

Ole Miss K Luke Logan had a rough week, missing 2 field goals, including a short 28 yarder. That was a really deflating miss, as it happened when the Rebels had driven near the Cal goal line and had a chance to cut the lead to 28-20.

Instead, they got 0 points on the trip and it really cost them any chance of a comeback. Logan will need to bounce back next week if the Rebels are going to have a good year.

The Chase Garbers show

Cal’s quarterback entered the game with 478 passing yards and 3 touchdowns in the first 3 games of the season. Entering the fourth quarter on Saturday, he already had 4 touchdown passes and 324 passing yards.

The Ole Miss secondary was picked apart once again, as 9 different Cal receivers had catches in the first 3 quarters.

That was a problem that plagued Ole Miss last year, but the defense had looked better under Mike MacIntyre prior to this game. This was a big setback.

John Rhys Plumlee

When Matt Corral was on the sideline in pain, Plumlee stepped up and took his first snap 47 yards. Jerrion Ealy scored on the next play.

That spark got the Rebels within 28-20, but Cal’s defense held down the stretch.

Moving forward, we’ll have to see what happened with Corral and if Plumlee gets some action moving forward even if Corral is healthy.

Controversial finish

Plumlee moved the Rebels down the field on the final drive, but controversy marred the ending. You can see the crazy action here:

It should be noted that there were Pac-12 officials working the game.