Ole Miss Climbs the Top 25 Rankings following a Thriller in Knoxville

The dust has finally settled.

After a four-and-a-half-hour-long clash between Ole Miss and Tennessee, and the Rebels have once again moved up in the AP Poll. The Rebels move up one spot after a chaotic win that was earned by the defense and Heisman Candidate Matt Corral.

Corral continued his Heisman campaign Saturday in Knoxville and put on an absolute show.

In front of a sold-out Tennessee crowd, Corral threw for 231 yards two touchdowns, and scampered for 195 yards on the grounds on 30 carries. Putting up running back numbers on the ground once again, it felt like Corral was running for the first down every third down attempt and there was nothing that could be done to stop him.

Corral was only five rushing yards away from becoming the first SEC quarterback since Johnny Manziel to pass and rush for 200 yards in the same game.

The star quarterback threw one interception, but it was a tipped pass. The only thing I would ask Corral to do differently going forward is to maybe slide a little more.

The Landshark defense was hungry and lived in Tennessee’s backfield last night thanks to defensive back Jake Springer returning from injury, linebacker Mark Robinson, and defensive lineman Sam Williams.

 The Rebel defense totaled 4 sacks, 12 tackles for loss and was applying pressure to Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker all game.

This was a big improvement for the defense after giving up 51 points to Arkansas last week. The part that should really excite fans is they did it against a Tennessee offense that has been on fire in the last few weeks.

With the Volunteers in the rearview, the No. 12 Rebels will head back to Oxford and prepare to take on unranked SEC rival LSU next Saturday. The Tigers upset No. 20 Florida yesterday winning 49-42 and there is no doubt they would love to spoil the Rebel’s season. Ole Miss will look to beat LSU for the first time since 2015 and it looks like they will have the team to do it.