The Memphis Tigers traveled to Oxford with hopes of ending a three game skid against the Ole Miss Rebels and fell short of that goal losing 41-24. The game will be fondly remembered as Houston Nutt won his debut as the Rebels head coach.
The Tigers defense, which recorded only 15 sacks last year, had a sack in the opening series of the game, forcing Ole Miss to punt on its first possession. Ole Miss rebounded by scoring on its next six possessions.
Ole Miss struck first with a 64-yard touchdown pass from Jevan Snead to Shay Hodge to put the Rebels up 7-0. The pass capped a seven-play, 97-yard drive in 3:07.
The Tigers answered with a nine-play 77-yard drive and scored on a Will Hudgens pass to Earnest Williams. Arkelon Hall started the game, but Hudgens came in to run the goal line offense.
Ole Miss responded by scoring 20 unanswered points. The Tigers were very fortunate their two first half turnovers only led to two Ole Miss field goals.
The Rebels first TD came on a five-play, 60-yard drive with the key play being Dexter McClusters’ rush of 32 yards for the touchdown.
Ole Miss reached the end zone again on a 10-play, 80-yard drive, capped off by Enrique Davis’ ran it in from the one to give the Rebels a 21-7 lead.
Memphis came charging back and drove 50 yards in nine plays to get to the Ole Miss 21-yard line. On the next play, Hudgens threw an interception five yards deep in the end zone and the Rebels Kendrick Lewis returned it to the original line of scrimmage.
Ole Miss marched the ball down field and made the Tigers pay for their mistake by making a 26-yard field goal from the foot of Joshua Shene.
The Tigers next possession was ineffective as Arkelon Hall threw two incomplete passes before being intercepted by Ole Miss’ Dustin Mouzon.
Ole Miss drove four yards in four plays and Shene kicked a 47-yard field goal to make the score 24-7.
With 0:47 left before halftime, Memphis got a good kick return and drove 37 yards before sending Matt Reagan onto the field to convert a 39-yard field goal to make the score 27-10 at halftime.
The Tigers were surely tempted to go for the TD from the 39-yard line with 6 seconds left in the half. But West wanted to go into halftime on a positive note after consecutive turnovers on the previous two possessions.
It was important to put points on the board and it would have been disappointing to go for a touchdown and come up short, so it was the correct move to kick the field goal in that situation.
The second half started with a three straight mistakes by Memphis. A clipping penalty on second and 5, then on fourth and 20 Memphis was called for a false start. On the next play, the Tigers punted but Memphis were called for an illegal formation which was awarded after the ball had been downed at the 41, giving Ole Miss a first down from their own 46.
Ole Miss then drove 59 yards in 9 plays, the key play being a 15-yard touchdown pass from Snead to Shay Hodge. That gave Ole Miss a 34-10 lead they held for the remainder of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Hudgens took over at QB after Hall had to leave the game because of cramps. Memphis drove 65 yards in 5 plays and scored on a 43-yard pass completion to Maurice Jones, cutting the Rebels lead to 34-17.
On the Rebels next possession the Tigers defense held Ole Miss to a three and out. After Ole Miss punted, the Tigers had the ball with 13:16 to play in the game, but the drive stalled at the Ole Miss 33.
Though the Tigers had 453 total yards to 438 for Ole Miss, the Tigers would have had to play mistake free to win this game. Even though Ole Miss only scored 6 points on two Memphis turnovers, one of them erased a potential touchdown pass that would have cut the Rebels lead to 21-14. Instead Ole Miss increased their lead to 24-7.
After the game, many Tiger fans were wondering why Memphis continues to play Ole Miss each year.
A demoralizing loss is not a good way to start the season. The Tigers fell to 33-121 all-time versus the SEC.
Had the Tigers won, they wouldn’t be asking those questions. West was hard pressed to look for bright spots. “It’s hard to look for positives because I’m disappointed in the outcome of the game” he said.
Next week the Rebels stay out of conference as they travel to Wake Forest. Memphis will start their conference schedule at home against the Rice Owls.
