No. 9 Ole Miss Recovers From Slow Start, Tops Vanderbilt in Nashville
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NASHVILLE -- The Ole Miss Rebels trailed by three at halftime, but they rallied to knock off the Vanderbilt Commodores 52-28 on Saturday afternoon.
Jaxson Dart threw two head-scratching interceptions in the Rebel win, but he also surpassed a season-high in passing yards and threw for over 400 yards and three touchdowns. Jonathan Mingo and Jordan Watkins both surpassed the century mark in receiving yards, and Mingo (2) and Watkins (1) were responsible for receiving touchdowns on Saturday. Mingo's mark of 247 receiving yards also set an Ole Miss record for a single game.
Ole Miss put together three one-play touchdown drives in the second half en route to the win.
In the rushing department, Zach Evans began to look like his former self, rushing for 80 yards and a touchdown. Quinshon Judkins also found pay dirt on the ground in the second half.
Something that set the Rebels behind the proverbial eight ball early was penalties. In total on Saturday, Ole Miss committed nine penalties for 85 yards on the day, including six called early in the game.
The momentum belonged to Vanderbilt early in the game, but Ole Miss cut the Vanderbilt lead to three entering the half. Following that score, the Rebels got a stop to open the second half and recovered a Vanderbilt fumble on the next drive, and both possessions led to Ole Miss scores.
With the win, Ole Miss has begun the season with a 6-0 record and sits 2-0 in SEC play with its SEC East contests behind it for the year. Next week, the Rebels will play host to the Auburn Tigers with an 11 a.m. kickoff on ESPN.
You can follow John Macon on Twitter at @JMakeGillespie.
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