No. 15 Football Downed by No. 23 Ole Miss

Saturday, October 24

Oxford, Miss.

6:00 PM

Texas A&M

5-2 , 2-2

Ole Miss

6-2 , 3-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Texas A&M

Ole Miss

Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics

Oct 24, 2015 | Football

Box Score

By: Associated Press

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Chad Kelly threw for 241 yards and two touchdowns and No. 24 Mississippi used a dominant defense to beat No. 15 Texas A&M 23-3 on Saturday night.

Ole Miss (6-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) bounced back from last week's loss to Memphis. Laquon Treadwell caught five passes for 102 yards and a touchdown and Jaylen Walton ran for 97 yards.

Texas A&M (5-2, 2-2) has lost two straight. Sophomore Kyle Allen completed just 12 of 34 passes for 88 yards before being replaced by Jake Hubenak early in the fourth quarter.

Ole Miss jumped out to a 16-3 lead by halftime and put the game out of reach with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Kelly to Treadwell with 9:16 left in the third quarter.

Ole Miss then relied on its defense to coast to a surprisingly one-sided win.

The victory was vital for Ole Miss as it continues to control its own fate in the Western Division thanks to a win over Alabama in September. The Rebels are still a game behind first-place LSU, but host the Tigers on Nov. 21 in Oxford.

Ole Miss wasn't at its best offensively -- Kelly threw three interceptions -- but still pushed out to a 13-0 lead midway through the second quarter following a 7-yard touchdown pass from Kelly to Evan Engram and two field goals.

The final few minutes of the second half were eventful with three turnovers on three consecutive plays -- two by Texas A&M and one by Ole Miss. The Rebels were able to convert the Aggies' second miscue into a field goal for a 16-3 halftime lead.

Ole Miss left tackle Laremy Tunsil started his first game of the season after serving a seven-game NCAA suspension for receiving illegal benefits. It appeared the All-SEC junior had an immediate impact -- the Rebels ran for 141 yards in the first half after having just 40 yards on the ground total in last week's loss to Memphis.

It was the first true road game for Texas A&M this season and its offense looked disjointed for most of the night. It was a tough night for Allen, who was 0 of 13 passing in the third quarter, missing badly on several throws.

Ole Miss played without star defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, who suffered a concussion last week against Memphis.

The Rebels didn't seem to miss him. Texas A&M managed just 192 total yards.

TEAM/GAME NOTES

• Texas A&M falls to 5-2 overall and 2-2 against SEC opponents.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

• Sophomore WR Ricky Seals-Jones had a team-high 75 yards (on three catches) and he's now been the Aggies' leading receiver in consecutive games for the first time in his career.
• Sophomore RB James White saw his first extensive action of the season with nine carries for 31 yards. White had seen action in just two games prior to tonight due to injuries and had only five carries in those games.
• Junior QB Josh Hubenak, a transfer from Blinn JC, saw his first extensive action in relief of starter Kyle Allen. Hubenak, who threw 47 touchdowns for the Buccaneers last year, completed 6-of-12 passes for 46 yards.

DEFENSIVE NOTES
•   Sophomore FS Armani Watts had a huge night, becoming the first Texas A&M defender to reach the 20-tackle plateau in nearly 20 years (LB Dat Nguyen had 20 vs. UCLA in the 1998 Cotton Bowl). Watts finished with 20 tackles, including 16 solo stops. He also had an interception (return of 10 yards), two tackles for loss (-7 yards), a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Texas A&M Single Game Tackles
1. Larry Horton          24 vs. Baylor, Oct. 20, 1990
      Larry Kelm             24 vs. SMU, Nov. 2, 1985
2. Johnny Holland      22 vs. Alabama, Sept. 14, 1985
      Jacob Green           22 at Baylor, Sept. 15, 1979
3.  Armani Watts        20 at Ole Miss, Oct. 24, 2015
      Johnny Holland      20 vs. USM, Sept. 27, 1986
      Dat Nguyen            20 at Kansas St., Oct. 18, 1997
      Dat Nguyen            20 vs UCLA, Jan. 1, 1998

• Sophomore DE Myles Garrett continued to find ways to fill the stat sheet as he added an interception to his defensive repertoire. Garrett batted a Chad Kelly offering straight up in the air, grabbed it and returned it four yards. He finished the night with seven tackes, including six solo stops, with two tackles for loss, a batted down pass, an interception and a forced fumble.
• Sophomore nickelback Donovan Wilson continued his penchant for contributing big plays with two tackles for loss (-2 yards) and an interception while also chipping in nine tackles.

• The Aggies had a season-high three pickoffs against the Rebels, with interceptions from Garrett, Watts and Wilson. It's the first time since the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl against Duke that the Aggies have recorded more than a single interception in a game. The last time the Aggies had three in a game was also 2013 when they had three in back-to-back games against Vanderbilt and UTEP.

SPECIAL TEAM NOTES

• Senior P Drew Kaser had another strong game with four punts downed inside the Ole Miss 20 while averaging a healthy 47.9 yards on a career-high 10 punts. With his four "coffin corner" boots tonight, Kaser surpassed 50 for his career and now has 51 for his career. His previous high for punts in a game was nine vs. Alabama in 2014.

GAME CAPTAINS / COIN TOSS

• Game captains were OC Mike Matthews, RT Germain Ifedi, DE Myles Garrett CB Brandon Williams. The Aggies won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
• Senior DB Sam Moeller was the Aggies' 12th Man for the 33rd straight game, which is a school record.