The NCAA forced Ole Miss to vacate 33 wins over six seasons as the final part of the sanctions on the program Monday. Games from 2010-13, 2014 and 2016 were scratched from the record books due to the participation of ineligible players. The Rebels are able to keep the Music City Bowl win from 2013 and the 2015 Sugar Bowl blowout, but they had to give up the 2012 BBVA Compass Bowl.
The sanctions erase some of the biggest moments in recent Ole Miss football history. According to the NCAA record books, none of these games ever happened. But to Ole Miss fans, these games are gone but not forgotten. We’ll take a trip down memory lane, looking back at the three most memorable games slashed by the NCAA on Monday.
Oct. 4, 2014
No. 3 Alabama – 17, No. 11 Ole Miss – 23
The stage was set for a perfect October afternoon in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Both teams came into the game 4-0, and Ole Miss was looking as complete as ever. The rivalry that had been lopsided in the years before had been re-ignited, and defensive back Cody Prewitt added lighter fluid when he told a reporter this:
“We understand that we haven’t played a team that’s going to be as good as ‘Bama. But we don’t really think ‘Bama is as good as they have been. And we’re better than we have been. We’re looking forward to getting to the game plan and really nailing down all the tweaks and stuff that we’re going to have to put into ‘Bama.”
The Rebels went into the locker room at halftime down 14-3 after a missed facemask call allowed Alabama defender Cyrus Jones to strip the ball from I’tavius Mathers, scoop it and score it in the final minute of the half.
The Landshark defense held a Tide offense featuring Amari Cooper, O.J. Howard, T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry to three points in the second half. Bo Wallace threw touchdown passes to Laquon Treadwell, Vince Sanders and Jaylen Walton to put the Rebels ahead. An improbable interception from Senquez Golson in the back of the north endzone clinched Ole Miss’s first win over the Crimson Tide since 2003.
Hollingsworth Field flooded with students, and the goalposts were torn down and paraded through the Square in celebration of the iconic win.
Oct. 20, 2013
No. 6 LSU – 24, Ole Miss – 27
Ole Miss was 3-3 coming into the Magnolia Bowl with losses to Alabama, Auburn and Texas A&M. Bo Wallace and the Rebels took on an LSU team featuring
Jeremy Hill, Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham, Jr.
The Ole Miss defense delivered an incredible performance considering they were missing five starters, including leading tackler Serderius Bryant. Chief Brown, Cody Prewitt and Charles Sawyer all had interceptions.
The Rebels led 17-0 early in the third quarter and held off a comeback in the second half to win. Wallace completed 30 of 39 passes with 346 yards, and Jaylen Walton ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns. The hero, however, was Andrew Ritter, who kicked the 41-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.
Nov. 12, 2016
Ole Miss-29, No. 8 Texas A&M-28
The keys to the Ole Miss offense were handed over to Shea Patterson after record-breaking quarterback Chad Kelly went down with a season-ending knee injury against Georgia Southern.
Patterson and the Rebels came into the matchup with the No. 8 Aggies with a 4-5 record. Hugh Freeze elected to deploy Patterson and burn his redshirt in a last-ditch effort to win the final three games of the season and earn bowl eligibility.
Patterson struggled to find his stride in the first three quarters of his Ole Miss career. The offense then exploded in the fourth quarter. Patterson used his best Johnny Manziel impression for a six-yard touchdown pass to Damore’ea Stringfellow at the beginning of the final quarter. Patterson rolled out to the right and got all the way to the sideline before reversing and finding Stringfellow in the middle of the endzone.
A touchdown run from Akeem Judd and a 32-yard beauty of a touchdown pass to Van Jefferson brought the Rebels within two points. Gary Wunderlich punched in a 39-yard field goal to take the lead with 37 seconds left.
Honorable Mention: Nov. 24, 2012
Mississippi State – 24, Ole Miss – 41 (the one with Feed Moncrief)
