Alabama Football was able to bounce back from their loss against LSU by beating Ole Miss, 30-24. Bryce Young threw for 209 yards and three touchdowns in a season where he has been top-notch. Despite the loss, Quinshon Judkins had a nice game rushing for 135 yards on 25 carries. Additionally, he had two rushing touchdowns on the day.
The game started out with punts and one good Ole Miss drive. While it mostly was just punts through the first 6 minutes of the game, Ole Miss did have a good drive on their first possession. They got to the red zone behind Judkins’s legs and Jaxson Dart’s arm and legs, but couldn’t get any points. Instead of going for the field goal on fourth down, Lane Kiffin decided to go for it on fourth and two.
They were held to no yards on that play. The dry spell got broken a little later when Ole Miss was able to score in the red zone this time, going for six behind their rushing attack. Alabama Football went four and out on the next drive, losing the ball on downs after a Bryce Young run went nowhere. Ole Miss was unable to take advantage of the good field position and only got three.
The Tide offense finally woke up, and Bryce Young found passing lanes on their way to a touchdown. After an Ole Miss three and out, the Tide had a chance to take the lead or tie the game with 8 minutes to go in the second. On the first play of that drive, they fumbled the ball and Ole Miss took over. They took advantage of the good field position and went for six.
After an Alabama three and out, Ole Miss got the ball back. They decided to fumble the ball, and Alabama had the ball in the red zone. They took advantage of the field position, going for six. It was a 17-14 Ole Miss game going into the half.
In the third quarter, scoring would come from both teams. The Tide started off the half by tying the game on their first drive. Ole Miss responded with their rushing attack (and they were aided by a face mask call on Bama) to get a touchdown. The Tide answered right back and tied the game with six of their own behind Bryce Young.
In the fourth quarter, OIe Miss couldn’t keep the scoring going as they went three and out. Alabama got the ball back and drove down the field for a field goal. Ole Miss again went three and out. Alabama give them another chance to win the game with 9 minutes left, as a sack and penalty stopped the Tide from getting anything on that drive.
Once again, The Ole Miss offense won’t find success, as they got stopped on downs after getting 1 first down. Bama chewed the clock and drove down the field for a field goal to make it a six-point game with 2 minutes left.
Ole Miss would have a similar drive as before, as the Rebels got stopped on downs after getting one first down. Alabama kneeled the ball and won.
Alabama Football gets back to their winning ways against Ole Miss
For Alabama Football, the issues that have plagued them all season were apparent in this loss. The offense line struggled and the team committed a lot of penalties. These issues are why the Tide will not be in the playoff this year. They will win out (playing Austin Peay and Auburn in the coming weeks) and go to a great bowl game, but the Tide wasted Bryce Young’s final season.
For a lot of other teams, winning 10 games in the regular season is a great achievement. For Bama, it is a bit of a disappointment. They had the talent to be a playoff team this year but the issues that plagued all season stopped them from being one.
Ole Miss’ offense has shut down at times this year. It shut down again in the fourth quarter. I expected this team to end up with 9 or 10 wins, but still, issues plagued them from a truly great season.
OIe Miss will beat Arkansas but the Egg bowl will be interesting. Ole Miss has more talent than Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs have fewer issues on offense. If Ole Miss wants to beat its rival in the Egg Bowl, they need to compete for all four quarters. The question is, can this Rebels offense do that?