Ole Miss certainly didn’t make Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze’s team very comfortable.
Freeze was the head coach for Ole Miss from 2012 to 2016 when he was forced to resign due to scandals involving recruiting. There were numerous allegations and investigations, which ultimately resulted in a two-year bowl ban for Ole Miss.
“I loved playing here today. It was fun,” Freeze said after the game. “Wish we’d have gotten one more and made it interesting at the end.”
Ole Miss played well on offense and defense. On the second play of the game, running back Jerrion Ealy exploded for a 70-yard touchdown run to give the Rebels an early 7-0 lead.
“That was great. I thought we were going to run the ball really well coming into the game just looking at matchups,” Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said about Ealy’s opening touchdown run. “I was very surprised after that run about our inability to run the ball.”
Kiffin went on to say about the offense, “Penalties, just not really smooth on offense in the second half. It’s hard to be really excited, but I guess we’re 7-2.”
Ole Miss had just 142 rushing yards on 28 attempts. But Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral had a great game considering most of the wide receivers are hurt.
Corral threw for 324 yards and a touchdown, completing 20 of his 27 pass attempts.
“The game plan was to start off fast through the air and then get the run game going,” Corral said when asked about throwing the ball a lot in the game. “It was expected.”
Because Ole Miss is still dealing with injuries in its receiving corps, other players are forced to step up and they certainly have.
Receivers Dannis Jackson and John Rhys Plumlee both had great games. Jackson had six receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown while Plumlee had seven receptions for 110 yards.
“I just want to build on it,” Jackson said when asked about his first 100 yard game. “My teammates helped me and put me in a position to make the plays.”
On Liberty’s first offensive play, quarterback Malik Willis was sacked by defensive back Tysheem Johnson, which helped ignite the energy early for Ole Miss’ defense.
The Rebels had a historic day defensively against one of the best quarterbacks in the nation.
The Ole Miss defense produced a season-high nine sacks and three interceptions. Two of those interceptions came from defensive back AJ Finley.
“In the beginning of the season, I didn’t like the way I was playing,” Finley said about his development throughout the season. “I’m seeing stuff differently with the more and more I’ve watched film.”
Defensive lineman Sam Williams had yet another great performance. Williams had eight tackles and two sacks, which gave him 10.5 sacks on the season. With those 10.5 sacks, Williams set an Ole Miss single season sack record with three games left to play in the regular season.
“I think it shows what an elite player he is because we’re in a three man rush,” Kiffin said about Williams’ new Ole Miss sack record. “That to me shows how special Sam is if you set the record with three regular season games left to go and you’re in three man rush. It says a lot.”
Ole Miss heads into their next game with a big matchup against Texas A&M, who just beat Auburn by 17. ESPN’s College Gameday will be making their triumphant return to Oxford after a long-awaited seven years. The game will be played this Saturday at 6 p.m. CST on ESPN.
