By Michael Bradley
Special to the Dispatch
OXFORD — In a game where the statistics often tell you the answers to questions like what, why, how, and who, Saturday night’s Southeastern Conference tussle between No. 24 Ole Miss and No. 8 Missouri definitely went against the scouting report.
Missouri, a team known statistically for being a high scoring, pass oriented team, ground out 260 yards rushing, made some timely big plays through the air, and capitalized on Ole Miss’ inability to convert in the red zone to take a 24-10 SEC win over the Rebels before a sellout crowd of 61,168 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
“Missouri is a very good team and we did not play our best tonight and in order to beat a team like that you must play well, and we didn’t do that,” said a dejected Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze. “We knew coming in that they were very physical and athletic on both sides of the ball, especially on defense, and they wore us down and got us behind and when we got behind, we had to throw and they knew that and they really made it tough on us.”
Missouri opened the game with an impressive 8-play, 72-yard drive to take an early 7-0 lead on a 4-yard touchdown run by junior running back Henry Josey. The drive gave a clear preview of things to come as the Missouri offense imposed their will on the Rebel offense, dictating the tempo and chewing up chunk after chunk of yardage on the ground against a Rebel defense that looked somewhat stunned at the success of the Tigers’ ground attack.
The plot of the game further revealed itself two series later after an exchange of punts put Ole Miss starting a drive at its own 9-yard line. The Rebels embarked on their most impressive thrust of the evening, moving 90 yards to the Missouri 1 in 19 plays, converting three times on third-down-and-7 or more yards to go. The long yardage situations were created by the Rebels inability to run against an impressive Missouri front seven on defense. On the first play of the 2nd quarter, Ole Miss had a fourth-and-goal from the Missouri 1-yard line and were lined up to go for it when the Rebels jumped offsides prior to the snap count. After the penalty, Ole Miss decided to kick a 23 yard field goal, which was blocked.
“We jumped because the center didn’t hear the snap count,” said Coach Freeze. “On the field goal, one of their players did a great job of penetrating and just made a good play.”
The failure to score in the red zone would be a theme for the Rebels all night, as three trips inside the Missouri 20 netted the Rebels only three points.
“It is impossible to beat a Top 10 team when you get in the red zone and don’t score touchdowns or points. If you don’t score points in the red zone against that team you aren’t going to win,” Freeze said.
Slowed by the flu, Wallace played fairly decent in a more limited role than normal, completing 26-42 passes for 242 yards with 1 interception. Wallace was obviously not in top form though, and his illness, combined with the inability to run the ball on a stingy Missouri defense spelled doom for the Rebels, and it was obvious from the early stages of the game throughout the night. Missouri simply played better and was the better team on this evening.
“We’re obviously disappointed that we didn’t have a chance to win at the end,” Freeze said. “They take you out of a lot of things. They are excellent up front on both sides of the ball. We needed to play a good game and we didn’t play well enough. We have to put it past us and move forward with the short week.”
“The main thing at this point is recovery,” Freeze said. “The fact that we are not in school due to the holiday will help some with the short week, but we have to get ready to face a good football team. They (MSU) are so good up front that they can be in any game. They will be very emotional, not only because it is the Egg Bowl, but because they’re playing for extra practices and a bowl game.”
Ole Miss fell to 7-4 overall and 3-4 in the SEC with the loss. The Rebels play at Mississippi State on Thanksgiving night.
Mississippi State, which defeated Arkansas 24-17 in overtime earlier in the day, is 5-6 overall, 2-5 in the SEC. Game time Thursday night is 6:30 p.m. in Starkville. The game will be carried nationally on ESPN.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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