No. 16 Ole Miss fends off Tulsa, 35-27
Quinshon Judkins and Jaxson Dart both eclipsed 100 yards rushing, and No. 16 Ole Miss knocked out the nation’s top passer in the Rebels’ 35-27 victory over visiting Tulsa on Saturday afternoon in Oxford, Miss.
Judkins went for a game-high 140 yards on 27 carries and found the end zone twice as the Rebels (4-0) totaled 308 yards on the ground on 51 attempts.
Quarterback Dart added 116 yards on 13 rushes and was 13-of-24 passing for 154 yards and two scores for Ole Miss. Zach Evans added a rushing touchdown while Malik Heath and Jonathan Mingo had TD receptions.
Davis Brin — the nation’s leading passer at 402 yards per game — went 7-for-13 for 112 yards and a touchdown, adding another one rushing, before leaving the game with an injury in the first half.
Replacement Braylon Braxton was 9 of 22 for 83 yards with a touchdown and interception for the Golden Hurricane (2-2). Isaiah Epps caught four passes for 62 yards, including a pair of scores.
Ole Miss barely edged Tulsa in total yards, 462-457, and was held scoreless in the second half.
It took the Rebels 1:39 of game time to put up points, as Evans ended a six-play, 75-yard drive with a 20-yard dash for a 7-0 lead.
But Brin capped an 87-yard drive that ate up 5:21 as Tulsa matched the score. The American Athletic Conference team took its first lead when Brin found Epps from 20 yards for a 14-7 lead.
However, Ole Miss ripped off four unanswered touchdowns to give itself some breathing room, which it would need in a competitive second half.
Judkins ran in on a pair of short runs, and Heath and Mingo each caught 31-yard strikes from Dart to rebuild the lead.
Tulsa’s Zack Long kicked a 28-yard field to leave the Golden Hurricane’s deficit at 35-17.
Long connected from 20 yards early in the third to make it 35-20. Later, Braxton scrambled past rushers on fourth-and-7 and hit Epps for 17 yards to make it a one-score game with 14:38 left.
Ole Miss regained possession, with Dart running for a key first down and sealing the victory.
–Field Level Media
