It wasn't the most pristine offensive performance of No. 13 Ole Miss' season, but the Rebels secured the win over the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville to the tune of a 31-26 final score.
Matt Corral and the Ole Miss offense looked rattled early on, but the Rebel defense put together one of its best halves of the season in the win prior to halftime. Tennessee finished with 428 yards of total offense. Despite looking shaky at times, Corral and the Rebels put up over 500 yards in Knoxville and ran over 60 plays in the first half alone.
Corral finished the night going 21-of-38 for 231 yards, and two touchdowns. It was on the ground, however, that he made something out of nothing on multiple drives, rushing for 200 yards.
The Rebels played a rotation of wide receivers on the night, due in part to the departure of Braylon Sanders' injury in the first quarter. Dannis Jackson hauled in his first touchdown as a Rebel in the second quarter from 33 yards out.
One of the largest storylines of the night, however, was the Ole Miss defense. A unit that gave up 51 points to Arkansas a week prior, the Rebel defense held Tennessee to 141 yards of total offense in the first half and came away with five sacks of Volunteer quarterback Hendon Hooker.
The end of the game was delayed after Tennessee failed to convert a fourth down with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter and fans threw debris onto the field. Following the delay, Ole Miss was able to force Tennessee to use its timeouts and got a defensive stop to secure the win.
Ole Miss now sits at 5-1 overall and 2-1 in SEC play with LSU coming to Oxford next week. Kickoff between the Rebels and Tigers is slated for 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.
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