Ole Miss' Second Half Comeback Leads to Road Win at Tulane
NEW ORLEANS -- The No. 24 Tulane Green Wave gave them all they wanted, but the No. 20 Ole Miss Rebels left Yulman Stadium victorious on Saturday afternoon with a 37-20 final score.
Ole Miss struck fast to start the game, scoring on three plays in less than a minute of game time. Quarterback Jaxson Dart found wideout Tre Harris twice on that drive, including on the score. Harris, however, reportedly left the game with an injury in the first half, and that was his last reception of the day.
The story of the game (and source of Ole Miss' struggles in the first half) came in the trenches. Despite not facing Tulane star quarterback Michael Pratt, the Rebels found themselves trailing at halftime as the Green Wave dominated up front on both sides of the ball. At halftime, Ole Miss had only accrued 30 yards of rushing offense and trailed 17-10.
Despite a relatively-quiet day from running back Quinshon Judkins, the Ole Miss offense did enough to pull out a win on Saturday in the second half.
The second half, however, saw the Rebels defense buckle down and keep Tulane backup quarterback Kai Horton at bay, and Ole Miss outscored the Green Wave 27-3 after the intermission. At the end of the day, Jaxson Dart surpassed 260 yards passing, helping carry the offense with his legs and arm alike.
One of the largest sequences of the game came in the fourth quarter when it appeared that Horton had converted a fourth down with his legs in Ole Miss territory, but the play was overturned after review showed that he stepped out of bounds. Jaxson Dart then found Dayton Wade with an acrobatic catch for 40 yards, and the Rebels converted on a fourth down of their own as Dart escaped pressure and found Michael Trigg for the deciding score in the game.
Tulane did strike for a field goal late in the fourth quarter, but Caden Davis of the Rebels hit a 56-yarder of his own, and Jared Ivey accounted for a scoop-and-score on the next possession to push the game to its final score in favor of the Rebels.
With the win, the Rebels improve to 2-0 on the year, and they will return home next week to host the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. That game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
