South Bound & Down
Fansided

Ole Miss football: 2018 Season High and Low Points

By Nick Knudsen

OXFORD, MS - SEPTEMBER 02: Head coach Matt Luke of the Mississippi Rebels takes the field before a game against the South Alabama Jaguars at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on September 2, 2017 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS - SEPTEMBER 02: Head coach Matt Luke of the Mississippi Rebels takes the field before a game against the South Alabama Jaguars at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on September 2, 2017 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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Low Point: Lost 44-48 vs. South Carolina (Oxford, MS)  (Game 9, November 3, 2018)

Thanks to their bowl ban, Ole Miss football flew under the radar for most of 2018, but this was a good team. Not close to elite, but a team that was highly competitive in 75% of their games.

There were a few options for a low point. Big blowout losses against Alabama, LSU, and Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl come to mind, but most fans and media did not expect Ole Miss to compete with the top half of the SEC West this season.

I picked South Carolina as the low point for the season since this game served as the best representation of why a good Ole Miss football team finished the year 5-7. Poor defense and special teams efforts undid a high-level offense.

In what appeared to be a botched effort on a low, line drive, South Carolina WR Deebo Samuel took the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to give the Cocks an early 7-0 lead.

Despite WR D.K. Metcalf missing the game for Ole Miss, the offense didn’t miss a beat. The Rebs followed up with a field goal in their first drive.

On the next Carolina drive, the Cocks completed a 50-yard pass in a 75-yard drive that lasted 8 plays, but only took 2:03. 14-3 Gamecocks.

Ole Miss would fall behind 17-3 before going on a tear from the end of the first quarter through the beginning of the fourth.

Here is the drive by drive Ole Miss offensive breakdown from that stretch:

  • 11 plays, 75 yards, 3:52 – TOUCHDOWN
  • 12 plays, 80 yards, 3:42 – FIELD GOAL
  • 5 plays, 75 yards, 1:19 – TOUCHDOWN
  • 9 plays, 75 yards, 1:51 – TOUCHDOWN
  • 9 plays, 61 yards, 3:04 – FIELD GOAL
  • 5 plays, 20 yards, 2:32 – PUNT
  • 10 plays, 54 yards, 3:42 – TOUCHDOWN
  • 5 plays, 37 yards, 2:20 – TOUCHDOWN

The Rebels offense scored on seven of eight drives, but the Rebel attack faded in their final four possessions of the fourth quarter:

  • 3 plays, -2 yards, 2:03 – PUNT
  • 3 plays, 2 yards, 0:58 – PUNT
  • 5 plays, -3 yards, 2:30 – PUNT
  • 6 plays, 19 yards, 1:05 – DOWNS

44 points by the early fourth quarter, Ta’amu finished the game 31-46 passing with 379 yards, and Ole Miss ended up with 616 yards of offense on the day. The Rebels could not close this one out, and it ended up standing between Ole Miss and salvaging an otherwise forgettable season with at least a .500 record.

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