No. 3 Ole Miss Downs No. 14 Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ole Miss Athletics) – If the Ole Miss football team’s win over Alabama last week was a statement win, Saturday night’s 35-20 thumping of No. 14 Texas A&M on the road was a validation victory.

Throughout the week, the Rebels (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) faced questions as to whether they would experience a hangover of sorts coming off such a big victory as the one against Alabama. Those questions were answered quickly in front of a record-breaking crowd of 110,633 at Kyle Field.

Ole Miss scored 14 points in the first quarter and shutout the Aggies 21-0 in the first half, marking the first time ever that a Kevin-Sumlin coached team at Texas A&M had been shutout in the opening half. The win over Texas A&M (5-2, 2-2 SEC) was the Rebels’ first-ever against the Aggies, and it marked the first time in program history Ole Miss had defeated AP top-25 ranked opponents in back-to-back weeks.

Senior quarterback Bo Wallace went 13-19 for 178 yards, one touchdown and no turnovers, and ran for another 50 yards and two touchdowns on 14 rushes.

Sophomore wide receiver Laquon Treadwell had five catches for 53 yards, while fellow sophomore wideout Quincy Adeboyejo had two catches for a career-high 64 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, junior running back Jaylen Walton had nine carries for 49 yards.

Defensively, the Rebels forced three turnovers, upping their season total to an SEC-high 13, and returned two of the turnovers for scores. The front seven also had a very strong night. In addition to recording two sacks, Ole Miss held Texas A&M to 54 yards rushing, which is 134 yards shy of its season average.

After each team failed to move the ball much on their first possession, the Ole Miss offense kicked it into gear on its second possession, driving 69 yards on five plays, capped off by a four-yard touchdown run to the outside by Wallace.

The Rebel offense then performed an encore on its next drive by going 99 yards in nine plays, capped off by another touchdown run from Wallace – this one from 10 yards out.

With a 14-0 lead in hand, the Rebels’ vaunted Landshark Defense got in on the scoring with a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown by senior All-American safety Cody Prewitt. It was the 11th interception of Prewitt’s career, and his first touchdown.

Texas A&M cut the Rebels’ lead to 21-7 midway through the third quarter with a methodical, 14-play drive in which the Aggies converted a 4th-and-2 near midfield. The Aggies’ touchdown marked just the fourth touchdown the Ole Miss defense had allowed all year, and it was just the second touchdown the first-string defense had allowed all season.

That was as close as the Aggies would get, however, as the Rebels scored on a gorgeous 33-yard pass from Wallace to Adeboyejo with 13 seconds remaining in the third quarter to make it 28-7.

Then, 25 seconds later, senior linebacker Keith Lewis scooped up an Aggie fumble and returned it 21 yards to the end zone to go up 35-7 and seal the game.

Texas A&M would score 13 points late in the fourth quarter, including one touchdown pass as time expired, for the final score of 35-20.