OXFORD — Chucky Mullins would have loved the defensive effort the Ole Miss football team delivered Saturday night.
On a weekend in which Ole Miss honored the late Mullins by renaming Coliseum Drive, which runs adjacent to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Chucky Mullins Drive, Ole Miss remembered Mullins by wearing throwback powder blue helmets it wore when Mullins played at the school in 1988-1989.
But Mullins would have enjoyed the Rebels’ defensive effort even more.
No. 10 Ole Miss held Memphis to 104 yards and overcame a sluggish effort by its offense to post a 24-3 victory before an announced crowd of an announced crowd of 61,291 in a game that was much closer than the final score.
“Chucky would have been proud of the (powder blue) helmets and, particularly, how the defense played,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. “He would have loved that. We’ll continue to honor his character traits, his selflessness, and his attitude about life and against adversity.”
The victory enabled Ole Miss to improve to 4-0 (1-0 in the Southeastern Conference) for the first time since 1970, Archie Manning’s senior season. It also set up a matchup against No. 3 Alabama (4-0, 1-0) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (WCBI) in Oxford. ESPN’s College GameDay will be in Oxford to help set the stage for one of the SEC’s biggest games of the season. This will be GameDay’s first trip to Oxford time in the show’s 28-year history. The pregame show will set up on The Grove stage and will begin its show at 8 a.m. Saturday.
As for the game, Ole Miss took a 7-0 lead when senior quarterback Bo Wallace used a play-action fake to his running back and hit wide receiver Laquon Treadwell for a 63-yard score. Andrew Fletcher’s kick gave Ole Miss a 7-0 lead with 12 minutes, 42 seconds to play in the opening quarter. After holding Memphis to a three-and-out, the rout looked to be on as Ole Miss moved to the Memphis 22-yard line. Facing a second-and-7, Wallace threw a pass across the middle that defensive back Bobby McCain intercepted and returned to Memphis 25.
“We didn’t help ourselves offensively with our turnovers (four) and negative plays, but some of that credit goes to Memphis,” Freeze said. “We have to play better on that side of the football and make field goals (two misses) when we have the chance.”
The interception seemed to energize Memphis, as the Tigers moved down the field behind the passing of quarterback Paxton Lynch and aided by a personal foul. A 42 yard completion from Lynch to receiver Keiwone Malone on the next play put Memphis at the Ole Miss 7. Memphis attempted to run a read-option play to the weak side on first down, but the Rebels read the play and had all three options covered. When Lynch pitched the ball to tailback Sam Craft, he was met immediately by defensive back Cliff Coleman and was knocked back several yards. Lynch tried to right himself and continue to run upfield, but he was met and hauled down for a 12-yard loss by sixth-year senior linebacker Deterrian Shackelford, the 2014 Chucky Mullins Award for Courage winner and wearer of Mullins’ No. 38.
On second down, Memphis attempted to run a slip screen to Craft, but he was met in the backfield by safety Tony Connor, who dropped him for a 2-yard loss. Faced with third-and-goal from the 21, Memphis attempted to run a draw to running back Doroland Dorceus, but he was pinned in the backfield for a 2-yard loss by senior linebacker Serdarius Bryant. Memphis was forced to kick a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 23 that proved to be its only points.
“Our kids showed great resolve,” Freeze said. “They were phenomenal, and Memphis is a team that has been putting up really good numbers. We haven’t had a better effort than that in our two and a half years here.”
Shackelford, who is the only two-time recipient of the Chucky Mullins Award for Courage, led Ole Miss with eight tackles. Connor had seven, including two for a loss, and linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche had two tackles for a loss to go with six total tackles.
Ole Miss held Memphis, which entered the game averaging 44.7 points per game and 242.7 yards rushing per game, to 23 yards rushing on 31 attempts. Ole Miss lowered its points per game allowed to eight. It has allowed two touchdowns this season.
Those numbers would have delighted Mullins, a defensive back, who shattered four vertebrae in his cervical spine and was immediately paralyzed after he plunged head-first into Vanderbilt fullback Brad Gaines trying to tackle him after a short pass reception in a game on Oct. 28, 1989. Mullins died in 1991.
Those are numbers Ole Miss will try to duplicate this week in one of the biggest games on campus in recent memory.
“There are some games when the offense wins it. There’s going to be some games when the defense has to carry the load,” Ole Miss safety Cody Prewitt said. “That’s how a team goes. It’s back and forth. I’m just really proud of the way the defense played — we never blinked.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.