When I said the key of the game for the Ole Miss Rebels was to blitz Tim Tebow, I found it very ironic on 4th-and-1, trailing by one, Tim Tebow is stuffed by the Ole Miss blitz to seal the upset and shock around the world for Ole Miss and Houston Nutt.
This game not gives Ole Miss its first win in the SEC, but it snaps the the nine-game winless streak in the SEC for the Rebs.
I've been preaching that Ole Miss is a whole different team this season after three years of nothing under Ed Orgeron, but even I was questioning my Rebels after last week's six-turnover meltdown letdown.
Snead tossed another INT early on, but eventually ran for one and threw for two more to help the Rebels win their first SEC game since the end of 2006 against Mississippi State.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Ole Miss started off first with a Jevan Snead TD run, but Florida ended the half with 17 unanswered points to give the Gators a 17-7 edge.
Ole Miss then capitalized on two key fumbles for the Gators and turned those into 10 points to tie, with a 33-yard field goal by Joshua Shene and a 18-yard screen pass to Cordera Eason, courtesy of Jevan Snead.
Then, with :52 seconds to go in the third quarter, Dexter McCluster put on the jets for a 40-yard TD run out of the Wild-Rebel offense to make the score 24-17.
Florida responded with a one-yard TD run by Tim Tebow to make the score 24-all, but Ole Miss answered right back with an 85-yard TD pass to Shay Hodge.
Tim Tebow led another heroic drive, with less than four minutes left, he led the Gators to the end zone to tie...
No, not to tie. The key of the game for the Rebels was on the extra point as Kentrell Lockett leaped in the backfield to block the extra point wide right.
Ole Miss tried to run out the clock, but was forced to a three-and-out as Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin led the way down field. They were forced with a 4th-and-1 on the 32 yard line and elected to go for field position over the FG, but Tim Tebow was denied on the QB draw to seal the win for the Rebels.
Ole Miss improves to 3-2 (1-1 in the SEC), and Florida falls to 3-1 (1-1 in the SEC).
Derek Stephens is the Ole Miss Community Leader for BleacherReport.com
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about 1 month ago
man, the top ten is going to be wide open now that usc and florida have lost.
about 1 month ago
snead gets the last laugh?
from about 1 month ago
Snead played pretty well, but he did exactly was was expected of him. Don't turn it over a lot (1 INT) and play your role. However, the 85 TD pass was the gamechanger.
The SEC Power Rankings will be really shaken up if Bama beats Georgia and Tenn beats Auburn, and if all things, LSU is beaten by State lol.
about 1 month ago
Derek,
Congrats on the Ole Miss game today. In a previous comment, I told you all the reasons why Ole Miss was a 3 touchdown underdog and that it was no fluke that they were. However, the great game changer in football (especially college football) is turnovers. Had I had a crystal ball and knew Florida would turn it over on two of their first four plays in the second half, I would have hedged my prediction. Obviously, with Florida cruising at halftime up 17-7 at home and having the ball first in the second half, if they go score and make it 24-7, the game gets ugly just as I predicted because Ole Miss has to start changing their game plan. But sometimes you need a little luck. Ole Miss got that luck with those turnover and it ended up biting Florida. You know I'm not a Gator fan but what would frustrate me immensely is knowing that those turnovers weren't takeaways by Ole Miss (strips or interceptions) but giveaways on bad qb to rb exchanges. At any rate, lady luck plays a part in this game and today you celebrate it. There will be other weeks you curse it. Have a good weekend.
As a Razorback fan, I offer you one bit of forewarning based on experience. We used to win games we shouldn't every now and then (like Ole Miss did today) but more frequently lose games in the fourth quarter by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. We've talked about this pattern of Nutt's. He will frustrate the fans by getting that occasional upset but many more times lose games that get blown at the end due to bad coaching or bad play calling. Look no further than the "awkward" series at the end of the first half and picture that happening in the 4th quarter with the game on the line. Then you will understand why Arkansas fans weren't so enamored after a while with the occasional upset given that each one of those came at the expense of 2 or more games that should have been wins. However, coming off an 0-8 season, Ole Miss fans would rather think about that later. Enjoy.
from about 1 month ago
Donald,
First, I will totally disagree with you on that it was a fluke Ole Miss was 23 point underdogs. How can you say that? Ole Miss just went to the Swamp and won, quite possibly the most hostile environment in college football. Yes, one of the turnovers was an absolute giveaway by Tebow and Co., but one of the turnovers was a TRUE STRIP. Tebow throws to Hernandez over the middle which is absolutely clawed out by an Ole Miss defender. To say it was no fluke after what you and I saw this afternoon makes me somewhat question your credibility, Donald, sorry.
It seems your not giving Ole Miss enough credit, yet giving Florida GIVING the game away. Did you take a look at Tebow's rushing yards? 15 rushes, 7 yards. That just doesn't happen. Tim Tebow is the real deal, and it'll show the next couple weeks. Nix is a good defensive coordinator, and had the perfect gameplan vs. Florida. This wasn't just a game about turnovers, Donald, we didn't watch the same game. Turnovers played a crucial part, but execution in the clutch seemed to be the theme of the day.
Ole Miss has a legit team, Donald. Ya know, I knew, I knew, I knew, I should've betted you on that spread, but I'm not a betting man.
Turnovers are a part of the game, it all boils down to execution. Houston Nutt had his team prepared to take care of the football after a six turnover game and Meyer and Florida didn't.
Arkansas dealt with some tough losses, but so does every program. I still look at Arkansas fans being too tough on a guy that averaged 7 wins per season at a program who hadn't seen that much success in a long time.
It seems you're almost trying to "take away" from Ole Miss's upset with your statement, especially with the "luck" statement. Let's just take luck out of the equation since it's been used against Ole Miss in the past more than it's been gained today. I would hate to say you have sour grapes, Donald, but I have to say I'm questioning after that statement.
from about 1 month ago
Derek,
With all due respect (and I do respect you), how could you say the game plan was great? Florida was up by 10 at halftime, had stymied Ole Miss since the first drive (which required a fake punt to even continue it), and had found some rhythm on offense to build upon in the second half.
There were 3 turnovers lost by Florida (and 1 or 2 that they happened to recover). Yes, one was a strip but that leaves the other two that happened on two consecutive drives coming out of the half that totally changed the tone of the game. And they were both QB to RB exchanges. If that doesn't change the tone of the game, then the game keeps going the direction it was which was that it was getting away from Ole Miss. Coincidentally, that is exactly what I said would happen before the game even started. And that is why I concluded, in a nutshell, that turnovers made a liar out of my prediction that, up to that point, was coming true right before our collective eyes.
The turnovers switched "Ole Mo" to Ole Miss and they scored from easy field position twice to make a game out of it when it was previously getting away from them. You know, sometimes Derek you need to just realize that you got some breaks and be happy with it. There's no shame in that. It happens ALL THE TIME in college football. But you CANNOT (in good conscious) say that Florida didn't have the game going EXACTLY like they wanted headed into halftime. And the vaunted Ole Miss game plan you spoke of was falling apart as we both witnessed that drive with the Rebs down 10 where Ole Miss had 25 consecutive yards of penalties moving backward. So Florida was scoring and Ole Miss was moving backward. Something changed the game trajectory coming out of half. If you don't want to think the turnovers had ANYTHING AT ALL to do with that, then you are not being as objective as you should be.
Derek, I'll tell you how much I've enjoyed our exchanges of civil sports dialogue from a fan of a school where Nutt formerly coached to a fan of a school where he currently coaches. I have enjoyed them enough to watch for your article to come out and to intentionally come on and admit that I got it wrong today. I "manned up" and didn't just avoid the topic because I had made some pretty confident sounding predictions and I held my own self accountable. I am objective that way. So when I tell you that Florida had this game going in the direction that they wanted it headed into halftime, that is not me trying to take anything away from Ole Miss. I like Ole Miss. I don't like Florida (haven't since Spurrier was there). So I have no reason to "take anything away." I'm just calling it like I see it. I'm not alone either. Any college coach or informed observer will tell you that turnovers followed by penalties are the most impactful events that can happen in a game. If you don't believe that, you are bucking a lot of very knowledgeable minds on that subject...people that have been inside the game versus us mere fans.
Sorry to go so long on this. I just don't like being "put in my place" when I haven't gotten out of it. And that is especially true when I'm in the right.
from about 1 month ago
Even after the two second half turnovers, the game was only tied at 17-17. At home, the Gators should have been able to put away an "inferior" team.
It's time to give credit to the Rebels.
about 1 month ago
Well folks, we can expect a repeat of the Top 25 bloodletting that we saw last year...
If this keeps up we can expect to see two two-loss teams play for the championship in January!
USC, Georgia, Florida... just sit tight... I fully expect a flood of upsets to keep everybody in play!
about 1 month ago
Good article, I'm a big time UF fan and....
I agree with your comments with Donald entirely, Nutt showed everyone how good he really is and where he is taking this program. Donald talked about "luck", there is no "luck", its how you capitalize on your opponents' mistakes. When UF turned the ball over, MISS capitalized, it's exactly how you "upset" a team, cause I know I sure am!
Do I think If UF played them in ten straight games the gators would probably win 8-9, yes, but that's football. I can't honestly say that Gators deserved to win the game, because they DIDN'T, and they where outplayed, bottomline.
Nice write, good points, and your team played great-congrats on the win.
from about 1 month ago
I agree Carson.
Thanks for stopping by and good luck to the Gators for the rest of the season.
about 1 month ago
I am a Gator fan. Nice article. I must admit I was scratching my head at the 23 point spread earlier in the week. I watched the entire Ole Miss/Wake Forest game a couple of weeks ago and I thought Ole Miss looked fantastic. Should've won. I was really impressed with Snead. He looks like pro material to me. Nutt's just flat out a great coach.
Ole Miss played a good game, but still, Florida did kind of beat themselves. They pretty much had control of the game until they fumbled twice deep in their own territory. And how did Tebow overthrow 3 easy 20-25 yard touchdown passes? Still the Rebels needed to block a PAT to seal the win. I don't want to take anything away from them, it's just that they didn't dominate Florida the way Oregon State dominated the Trojans.
Check out my blog for my full take on the game.
http://bleacherreport.com/users/37782-Daryl1-Suretow
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