No. 4 Ole Miss Football lost 52-28 to No. 21 Florida in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26. The Gators put up nearly 500 yards of offense, including over 300 rushing yards.
First half
The Gators received the kickoff, backed by a rowdy crowd, and quickly went to work. Gator tight end Luke Harpring picked up 13-yards then running back Jaden Baugh followed that up with a huge 23-yard rush to put Florida inside Rebel territory.
The Rebels were able to stop the run, but only briefly. Gator quarterback Aaron Philo rushed for five yards, which set Baugh up for a 4-yard run into the end zone, giving the Gators an early 7-0 lead.
After a shaky defensive possession to start the game, the Rebel offense had a chance to answer, but were unable to do so.
Ole Miss utilized running back JT Lindsey, who got the start over Kewan Lacy due to injury, but he was unable to give the Ole Miss offense life. On fourth down, the Rebels went for it and failed to convert, handing the ball back to the Gators.
With the hot Florida offense back on the field, Philo took a deep shot downfield to Gator wide receiver Vernell Brown III that he was unable to come up with. The Gators then attempted a short pass up the middle, but Rebel linebacker Keaton Thomas broke up.
Stalled, the Gators sent in their field goal team and the ball sailed through the uprights and gave Florida a 10-0 lead.
The Rebel offense finally began to pick up some steam and began to move the ball down the field. Chambliss fired a 5-yard pass to wide receiver Horatio Fields for the Rebels’ first first down of the game. Soon though, the Rebels began to beat themselves up.
Wide receiver Deuce Alexander had a false start, and then Chambliss scrambled around with time to throw. However, with nobody open, he took off and nearly earned a first down, but took a big hit.
The Rebels faced fourth-and-1, and punted the ball back to the Gators, who began their drive with a 19-yard gain thanks to a catch by Brown.
Later in the drive, Florida went for it on fourth-and-2, Rebel cornerback Jaylon Braxton got to the quarterback quickly, and his pressure forced a poorly-thrown ball, leading to turnover on downs.
With the ball back, the Rebels began to move quickly. As the first quarter finished, wide receiver Caleb Cunningham hauled in a 14-yard catch for a Rebels’ first down, only Ole Miss’ second of the game at that point.
Ole Miss had to punt early in the second quarter. The Gators began their next possession on their own 13-yard line. A few plays into the drive, Brown had a 67-yard touchdown run, but it was called back due to a holding penalty. The Gators’ drive ended with a punt.
On the punt return, the Gators were called for catch interference which gave the Rebels an extra 15 yards. Frazier picked up 16 yards, and the Rebels caught a break with a face mask call that gave them an another 15 yards.
The Rebels were unable to keep momentum moving downfield, and Lucas Carneiro came out for a 36-yard field goal attempt, which he knocked through to put the Rebels on the board. With 10:13 left in the second quarter, the Rebels were down 10-3.
With the ball back, the Gators faced a tough start position from their own 13-yard line, thanks to a big tackle by Rebel Iverson McCoy.
Rather than hurt the Gators, the hit only riled up the crowd, and the reenergized Gators marched down the field. At the end of nearly a seven minute drive, Baugh ran it in for a touchdown, and with 2:51 left in the second quarter, the Gators led 17-3.
The Rebels got the ball back, and played with urgency as the clock wound down.
Lindsey picked up five yards, Hasz had an 8-yard gain of his own, and then an 18-yard reception by Alexander brought the Rebels to both their own 38-yard line.
In the timeout, the Rebels gathered themselves and began to make plays. Alexander had a 10-yard reception and Lindsey ran the ball for six yards.
Chambliss then made a solid bullet throw to wide receiver Samari Reed, but Reed took a big hit and dropped the pass. With Chambliss’ next pass also broken up, Carneiro came back out to attempt a 46-yard field goal, and the kick was good. The first half ended 17-6 Gators.
Second half
Back from the half, the Rebels began to finally look like their normal, quick offense. They began the drive on their own 20-yard line. Chambliss threw a 14-yard pass to Alexander, and a few plays later, Chambliss threw 49 yards to Alexander. Frazier was able to move the Rebels inside Florida’s 10-yard line, and Chambliss punched it in for an 8-yard touchdown run, the Rebels’ first touchdown of the game.
Head coach Pete Golding then decided to attempt a two-point conversion, and Chambliss threw the ball to Horatio Fields who walked into the end zone. Now only down 17-14, the game was much more manageable for the Rebels.
When the Gators went on offense, not much had changed, Florida still progressed the ball downfield via the run game, and had a quick touchdown of its own after a 45-yard rush by the Gators’ Duke Clark. With under 12 minutes left in the third quarter, the Gators led 24-14.
With the pressure on the Rebels, Chambliss stepped up and shouldered the Rebels’ next possession. Chambliss rushed for four yards, and spread the ball around a bit amongst other receivers.
Chambliss kept the ball and emerged through the pack for a gain, and then Lindsey took a direct snap on fourth down, which he bobbled, but managed to keep it under control and get the first down.
The possession set up Chambliss, who kept it himself and ran the ball in for a 10-yard touchdown to bring the score to 24-21.
On the kickoff, Gator London Montgomery broke through the defense and ran 74 yards. In the same drive, the Gators advanced further thanks to a 23-yard pickup from a short pass to Amir Jackson. On the 1-yard line, Philo rushed for the touchdown.
With under four minutes left in the third quarter, the Gators had brought their lead back to 10 points at 31-21.
With the pressure on even more, Chambliss still looked to be the one that the Rebels relied on, and in the possession that ensued, the Rebels gained good yardage thanks to an unnecessary roughness call when offensive lineman Patrick Kutas lost his helmet. Fueled by his performance on the last possession, Chambliss scrambled, but was sacked and lost the ball on a fumble.
Running back Baugh opened the ensuing possession with a 10-yards gain, and Harpring had 21 more yards thanks to a solid run after the catch. The Gators pushed downfield, and Dallas Wilson squeaked through the Rebels defense, and was nearly stopped on the 1-yard line, but had a huge reach and extended the Gators lead to 38-21.
After Chambliss’ tough fumble on the prior possession, Chambliss proved why he could be trusted with a 21 yard throw to Reed, nine more to Cook and then another 32-yard pickup from Alexander.
Then, thanks to a pass interference, the Rebels only had two yards to go and Alexander caught the ball for Ole Miss first passing touchdown of the game to cut the Gator lead back to 10.
The Gators next possession did not go well at the start thanks to the ruckus Thomas, Will Echoles and Kam Franklin created. In a desperate attempt to save the drive, Philo took a deep shot downfield. On the play, the referee called pass interference, giving the Gators a fresh set of downs.
The Gators found their footing, and Duke Clark had a 44-yard gain that brought Florida to the Ole Miss 5-yard line. Jackson caught the ball for another Gator touchdown, with the Rebels now down 45-28.
With about nine minutes left, the Rebels began to make riskier plays. Chambliss continually looked downfield, but either nobody was open or Chambliss’ throw was rushed.
On the drive, things went south for the Rebels and they hurt themselves with an unsportsmanlike penalty that nearly forced them into their own end zone. After an incomplete pass from Chambliss, Oscar Bird came out to punt.
With the ball back, the Gators leaned heavily on Baugh. On the opening five plays of the Florida drive, Baugh had 22 total rushing yards before any other Gators got involved.
Florida tacked on another rushing touchdown and Chambliss threw an interception. On their final possession, the Gators picked up the first down, and ran the ball a few times to run out the clock. The Rebels lost 52-28.
