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It didn’t take long for No. 6 Ole Miss’ College Football Playoff hopes to hit a major bump in the road. Lane Kiffin’s preseason darlings fell, 20-17, at home against unranked Kentucky — the same jekyll-and-hyde Kentucky team that lost 31-6 to South Carolina and then hung tough with Georgia — in the Rebels’ SEC opener.
For Kentucky, it’s the highest-ranked road win since 1977, when the Wildcats downed No. 4 Penn State. For Ole Miss, what was meant to be a statement that the Rebels can, in fact, compete against teams with a semblance of a pulse turned into one of the biggest duds of the entire season. How Kentucky won the game was a perfect microcosm of the breaks that went the Wildcats’ way, and the boneheaded mistakes that doomed the Rebels in the end.
Kentucky faced a fourth-and-7, down 17-13, from its own 20-yard line with less than four minutes left to play in the fourth quarter. A stop would have secured the win for Ole Miss and slammed the door on any of Kentucky’s remaining hopes.
But Wildcats wide receiver Barion Brown, the one offensive weapon that Ole Miss should have locked down in such a situation given his game-breaking speed, raced deep into the Rebels’ secondary and hauled in a perfectly pass from quarterback Brock Vandagriff for a gain of 63 yards. It wasn’t bad coverage for Ole Miss, but the backend safety was way too late getting over to help and Brown made an excellent catch against the lone defensive back.
Kentucky was able to march the ball to Ole Miss’ goal line where, on second down, quarterback Gavin Wimsatt came in for a running play. He was met short of the goal line and fumbled the ball forward, affording Ole Miss another chance to save the game. Instead, Kentucky tight end Josh Kattus was in the…
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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ole-miss-fails-first-test-of-the-season-does-kentucky-loss-knock-lane-kiffins-rebels-off-their-high-horse/
Author : Will Backus
Publish date : 2024-09-28 20:23:34
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