Texas A&M
7-4 , 4-3
Ole Miss
5-6 , 2-5
Football Tops Ole Miss in Oxford, 31-24
Nov 18, 2017 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Texas A&M's offense has been rejuvenated thanks to the return of freshman quarterback Nick Starkel. The defense isn't looking too bad, either.
Starkel threw for 272 yards and the defense didn't allow any second-half points as Texas A&M rallied for a 31-24 win over Ole Miss on Saturday night.
"We weren't perfect," Sumlin said. "But our guys played really hard. I'm happy for them."
Texas A&M (7-4, 4-3 SEC) trailed 24-21 at halftime, but took a 28-24 lead in the third quarter on a pick-six by Derrick Tucker, who snared a Jordan Ta'amu pass and ran it back 19 yards for the touchdown.
The Aggies never trailed again, using a stellar defense to hold the Rebels scoreless in the second half. Texas A&M's defensive line was especially dominant after halftime, putting constant pressure on Ta'amu that resulted in busted plays and bad decisions.
"In one of the early drives in the second half we got two sacks back-to-back and after that I think (Ta'amu) was kind of flustered," Texas A&M defensive lineman Landis Durham said.
Texas A&M's Damion Ratley caught five passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Starkel completed 19 of 32 passes and also ran for a 1-yard touchdown. It was another solid performance from Starkel, who returned from an ankle injury last week and threw for 416 yards against New Mexico.
He wasn't quite as dominant in his first career start against an SEC foe, but he didn't make many mistakes and hit some big passes when needed, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ratley.
Ole Miss (5-6, 2-5) couldn't generate any offense after a promising first half. Jordan Wilkins led the Rebels with 147 yards rushing, including a 64-yard touchdown run. Ta'amu completed 19 of 34 passes for 189 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Ole Miss managed just 66 total yards in the second half.
"The defense did a really nice job in the second half of creating more negative yardage plays," Sumlin said. "Forced the issue a little bit with their quarterback and that translated into them not putting any points on the scoreboard in the second half."
The two teams traded touchdowns throughout the first half until the final minute, when Gary Wunderlich kicked a 28-yard field goal to give Ole Miss a 24-21 lead going into the break. But the second half was a different story for the Rebels.
"We couldn't get any rhythm," Ole Miss interim coach Matt Luke said. "We struggled to protect to our passer. Too many penalties. We just didn't get it done in the second half."
ABOUT THE WIN
• The win snapped a three-game losing streak to Ole Miss, the Aggies improved to 7-3 all-time against the Rebels and 3-1 in Oxford, Miss.
• The win guarantees the Aggies their eighth straight winning season, the third longest streak in school history.
FIRST TIMES
• Redshirt freshman QB Nick Starkel logged his first career rushing touchdown on a 1-yard plunge in the second quarter.
• True freshman DB Derrick Tucker logged his first career pickoff and first career pick six INT (19-yard return) to give the Aggies their first lead of the night in the third quarter.
BIG GAME FOR TUCKER
• True freshman DB Derrick Tucker made a case for SEC Freshman of the Week honors with an enormous game against Ole Miss.
• In just his sixth career start (ninth game), Tucker logged a game-high 14 tackles, including a tackle for loss, a pick-six INT (19-yard return), a forced fumble and two passes broken up.
RATLEY FINDING ENDZONE
• Senior WR Damion Ratley tallied a receiving touchdown in the third straight game on a 10-yarder from Nick Starkel late in the first quarter.
• It was Ratley's fifth receiving TD in the last three games. Prior to this three-game hot streak, Ratley had two TD catches in his previous 32 career games.
• He finished with a career-high 111 receiving yards on five catches. His previous best was 86 yards (on two catches) vs. Louisiana earlier this season.
• Ratley entered the game with 22.4 per catch average, which was third-best in the SEC. Against the Rebels, Ratley made five catches for 111 yards for a 22.2 yards per catch average.
KIRK STATISTICAL UPDATE
• Junior WR/RS Christian Kirk made five catches against Ole Miss to surpass the 50-catch level for a third straight season. He is the first junior to do it, and he joins Ryan Swope, Jeff Fuller and Josh Reynolds as the only Aggies to catch at least 50 balls in three seasons.
• Kirk improved his FBS-best streak of consecutive games with two or more catches to 37 games.
DURHAM KEEPS SACKING
• Junior DE Landis Durham tallied his seventh QB sack vs. SEC opponents with a third-quarter trap of the Ole Miss QB.
• Durham is now just one sack away from matching the Aggies' school record for single season sacks vs. SEC opponents (8.0 by All-American Damontre Moore in 2012).
• Durham, who entered the game tied for No. 3 in the SEC in QB sacks, now has a team-high 8.5 QB sacks for the season.
RANDOM NOTABLES
• The Aggies logged six tackles for losses against the Rebels, tallying at least four tackles for loss in every game this season. Texas A&M leads the SEC in TFL this year at 55.
• Texas A&M's defense registered a trio of sacks against Ole Miss, bringing their season total to 36 QBS. The Maroon & White were tied for 6th in the NCAA in QBS sacks entering Saturday's games.
• Sophomore Trayveon Williams registered a team and season-high 26 carries Saturday. The RB finished with 75 yards on the day to increase his team-leading rush total to 678 on the year.
• After the half, the Texas A&M defense stiffened up only allowing 66 yards on 32 plays and not allowing a second half point.
• Texas A&M came back to win the game against Ole Miss after trailing in the second half, its fifth win this year while trailing at intermission.
GAME CAPTAINS, 12TH MAN
• Game captains for the Aggies were Cullen Gillaspia, Christian Kirk, Trayveon Williams and Armani Watts. Ole Miss won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
• The Aggies' 12th Man representative was junior LB Cullen Gillaspia (Katy, Texas) in his 24th straight start.
Here's another look at the only touchdown of the second half, a #PickSix by @DerrickTucker19.#12thMan pic.twitter.com/IQpnnHloJ5
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 19, 2017
The Aggie defense came up big, shutting out the Rebels in the second half! #12thMan pic.twitter.com/NuusnMyWQD
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 19, 2017
First thoughts from @CoachSumlin following the win in Oxford #12thMan #TAMUvsMISS pic.twitter.com/7RUQBzUCHq
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 19, 2017
"I'm just trying to make plays for my team...they're all my brothers." -Damion Ratley #12thMan pic.twitter.com/VviNwUDVhG
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 19, 2017
Team Stats
TAMU 0, OM 7
OM - A.J. Brown 27 yd pass from Jordan Ta'amu (Gary Wunderlich kick) 7 plays, 70 yards, TOP 2:31
TAMU 7, OM 7
TAMU - Keith Ford 1 yd run (Daniel LaCamera kick), 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:28
TAMU 7, OM 14
OM - Jordan Wilkins 64 yd run (Gary Wunderlich kick), 1 plays, 64 yards, TOP 0:13
TAMU 14, OM 14
TAMU - Damion Ratley 10 yd pass from Nick Starkel (Daniel LaCamera kick) 7 plays, 81 yards, TOP 2:18
TAMU 14, OM 21
OM - Braylon Sanders 30 yd pass from Jordan Ta'amu (Gary Wunderlich kick) 8 plays, 82 yards, TOP 3:19
TAMU 21, OM 21
TAMU - Nick Starkel 1 yd run (Daniel LaCamera kick), 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:22
TAMU 21, OM 24
OM - Gary Wunderlich 28 yd field goal 8 plays, 54 yards, TOP 1:33
TAMU 28, OM 24
TAMU - Derrick Tucker 19 yd interception (Daniel LaCamera kick)
TAMU 31, OM 24
TAMU - Daniel LaCamera 18 yd field goal 11 plays, 47 yards, TOP 4:48
