LSU Tigers vs Ole Miss Rebels Match Player Stats On Nov 21, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Nov 21, 2015

OXFORD, Miss. -- Two weeks after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Arkansas at home, the No. 22 Mississippi Rebels returned to form against the No. 15 LSU Tigers.

A week away from football proved beneficial for the Rebels, who defeated LSU 38-17 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Ole Miss (8-3, 5-2 SEC) never trailed, jumping out to a 24-0 lead in the first half.

Chad Kelly's 57-yard pass to Quincy Adeboyejo on the first play from scrimmage set up the first points for the Rebels -- a field goal from Gary Wunderlich.

It also set the tone for several other successful possessions for the Rebels, who had little trouble picking up yards in bunches against the mistake-prone Tigers (7-3, 4-3).

LSU made penalty after penalty in the first half. First downs and a couple of long gains from running back Leonard Fournette were wiped away by the miscues, aiding the Rebels' feeding frenzy on defense.

Up 3-0 after the first quarter, the Rebels and Kelly kicked things up a notch on offense. He engineered an eight-play, 80-yard drive early in the second quarter to give the Rebels some breathing room. Senior running back Jaylen Walton capped the drive with a 2-yard run, the Rebels' first touchdown of the contest.

Kelly kept the pressure on the Tigers as he engineered a 10-play, 70-yard drive later in the second. His 5-yard run with 7:13 left before the half put the Rebels up three scores at 17-0.

Ole Miss kept the pedal down on offense following an interception of LSU quarterback Brandon Harris by linebacker Christian Russell. Not wanting to take time off the clock, Kelly went up top to Laquon Treadwell for an 11-yard touchdown with 3:24 left in the half.

The Tigers found their groove early in the third quarter.

That's when Kelly really showed his importance, and talent, driving the Rebels for some much-needed points to quell the Tigers' flurry.

The Landshark Defense of Ole Miss did a good job of keeping Fournette in check. Fournette had his moments, finishing with 108 yards on 28 carries, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Tigers from losing for the third straight game under coach Les Miles, who is on the hot seat with the LSU faithful.

Kelly had another impressive outing as he threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns. He threw for 188 yards in the first half, and then came back to account for two touchdowns in the final 30 minutes.

Kelly also led the Rebels in rushing, carrying the ball 12 times for 81 yards. He finished with two touchdowns on the ground. His second, an 11-yard run, came after the Tigers had cut the lead to 24-17 midway through the third.

Then, facing a third-and-long situation, Kelly executed a well-designed throw back to tight end Evan Engram, who weaved his way into the end zone to complete the 36-yard play.

NOTES: Ole Miss defeated LSU for the second time in three seasons. Both have come at home. ... The Rebels remain in the hunt to win the SEC West. They are a game behind Alabama heading to play at Mississippi State. ... The Rebels broke the school's single-season point total previously set in 2003 when Eli Manning was the quarterback.