The No. 6 Ole Miss football team got off to a hot start this season, but Lane Kiffin’s crew had not quite been tested. That changed on Saturday with Kentucky rolling into a packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and playing spoiler, winning 20-17 as a road underdog.
Going into the contest, Ole Miss (4-1, 0-1 SEC) had built up a 10-game home winning streak. Home-field advantage was stripped by a ferocious Kentucky squad built on being physical in the trenches defensively and milking the clock with its fundamental offensive scheme.
Ahead of the inaugural conference matchup of the season, critics of the Rebels had voiced concerns over the level of competition Ole Miss had faced in the team’s first four games. Kiffin and company had outscored its first set of foes 220-22 with relative ease. Nonetheless, the debut of conference play produced a tougher challenge for the Rebels — one Kiffin’s group would not overcome in front of a crowd unfamiliar with witnessing losses in recent years.
The Rebels struck first blood in the contest, taking a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes of action courtesy of a one-yard carry by Henry Parrish, Jr. that was set up by five consecutive passing plays. But the offense stalled the rest of the half while Kentucky (3-2, 1-2 SEC) garnered a little momentum to carry a 10-7 lead into halftime.
Trailing 13-10 in the waning minutes of the third quarter, Ole Miss stole the momentum when Kiffin rolled the dice on fourth-and-seven on Kentucky’s 48-yard-line. Quarterback Jaxson Dart connected with Tre Harris for a touchdown that swung the pendulum in the Rebels’ favor of exiting their home stadium victors of a sloppy, but hard-fought battle.
Momentum was taken back by Kentucky when Ole Miss stalled on its next two drives, giving Mark Stoops’ team a chance to do what had not been done on the Rebels’ home turf since the 2022 Egg Bowl. In the last five minutes of the fourth quarter, the Ole Miss defense, which had been tested all game by an effective passing attack and self-imposed penalty wounds, forced Kentucky into a fourth-and-seven situation from the Wildcats’ 20-yard-line.
Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff, amid his best game of the season, heaved up a perfectly thrown deep shot and connected with wideout Barion Brown for a 63-yard gain. The Wildcats soon found themselves near the goalline. A keeper by Gavin Wimsmatt was fumbled in the end zone, but recovered by a fellow Wildcat for the leading touchdown.
Though Kentucky had gone up, the Rebels had just over two minutes remaining to make something happen offensively, which we all know is plenty of time for Kiffin’s offense to move the ball up the field. Following two failed attempts to gain positive yardage and a first-down reception that was later ruled an incompletion, Dart found himself in dire need of making a big play on fourth-and-long.
And that he did. The Rebel field general located his tight end Caden Prieskorn for the first time in the contest for 42 yards to flip the field. The Rebels worked their way into field-goal range. On fourth-and-seven from the 31-yard-line, veteran kicker Caden Davis set up from 48 yards out. A high snap, a hurried setup, and a hooked kick prevented Ole Miss from sending the game to overtime, stamping the Rebels’ first loss of the 2024 campaign.
The big difference in Saturday’s contest boiled down to costly penalties and a failure by the Rebels to convert on 3rd down. Ole Miss was penalized eight times for 53 yards. A bulk of the flags were against various members of the Rebels’ secondary on third-down plays. On offense, the Rebels’ traditionally high-powered unit was ineffective on third down, moving the chains just once on 10 attempts.
On the injury front, a few guys were banged up in the matchup. Edge rusher Princely Umanmielen, defensive tackle Walter Nolen, and Parrish were each sidelined at one point after dropping onto the field. However, all three returned to action. Return specialist Micah Davis exited the game after suffering an apparent injury on the opening kickoff. He did not see the field again.
Ole Miss’ loss took place in front of yet another record-breaking crowd. The attendance was reported to be 67,616, surpassing the record of 67,505 that was set just one week ago.
State leaders:
- Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart: 18-27, 261 yards, and one touchdown
- Ole Miss running back Henry Parrish, Jr.: 13 carries, 62 yards, and one touchdown
- Ole Miss wide receiver Tre Harris: 11 receptions, 176 yards, and one touchdown
- Ole Miss edge rusher Princely Umanmielen: Five tackles (three solo), three tackles for loss, and 1.5 sack
- Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff: 18-28, 243 yards, and one touchdown
- Kentucky wide receiver Dane Key: Eight receptions, 105 yards, one touchdown
- Kentucky linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson: Seven tackles (three solo), 1.5 tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks
Coach’s comments:
Ole Miss was spoiled with being the victor in close contests last season, especially at home. However, fortune was not on the Rebels’ side against the Wildcats. Kiffin acknowledged that the SEC opener could have gone anybody’s way and that he’s still confident in his players after a subpar performance.
“All of a sudden, our program isn’t terrible when they miss a field goal or don’t get a two-point conversion at the end of the game. I wouldn’t tell you that we have all the answers. We have seen a lot of these where we have won them and all kinds of things can happen there,” Kiffin said.
While the Rebels took one to the chin on Saturday, the team’s frontman is not ready to hit the panic button. Kiffin acknowledged that either team could have won the nail-biter, but his team has work to do to prepare for upcoming matchups.
“If they do a go route on fourth and seven or we have a great kicker and he misses or if our defense gives up a touchdown. It could have gone either way so I’m not going to sit up here and say if it goes the other way, then all of a sudden we got it all figured out,” Kiffin added. “I would have said the same thing about third downs or penalties. I’m not going to overreact in a loss like I don’t overreact in a tight win or a tight loss.”
What’s next:
Things won’t get any easier for the Rebels next Saturday as Ole Miss will continue conference play at South Carolina (3-1, 1-1 SEC) at 2:30 p.m. central. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.