Young stars show Rebels’ potential
OXFORD, Miss. — The temptation for Ole Miss football coach Matt Luke to look to the future would be understandable.
After all, the Rebels’ most productive skill-position players are freshmen, and a rebuilt defensive unit is filled with first-year starters and newcomers in key roles.
Luke, though, refuses to ignore the present possibilities for his young team.
Snoop Conner and Jerrion Ealy each had a big touchdown run in the third quarter to help Ole Miss pull away from Vanderbilt for a 31-6 win late Saturday night. Ealy got most of his 97 rushing yards on a 78-yard run to the end zone, and of Conner’s 91 yards on the ground, 84 came from his touchdown.
“It’s great to see two freshmen break off touchdown runs like that,” Luke said. “It’s fun when you see a team grow and get better for the future, but our goal is to win right now. We want to build off this and be one week better next week.”
Ole Miss (3-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) broke open a precarious 10-6 halftime lead with the scoring runs on its first two possessions of the third quarter.
Freshman quarterback John Rhys Plumlee was the game’s leading rusher, totaling 165 yards on 22 carries and scoring on a 33-yard run in the first quarter. Scottie Phillips added a 24-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the Rebels, who finished with 512 yards of total offense that included 413 yards on the ground, the highest output by an SEC team since 1979, when the Rebels ran for 443 yards against Vanderbilt.
Ryley Guay kicked field goals of 22 and 43 yards for Vanderbilt (1-4, 0-3) in the second quarter, but the Commodores never seriously threatened in the second half.
Ke’Shawn Vaughn rushed for 69 yards as the visitors were limited to 62 net yards on the ground and finished 2-of17 on third-down conversions.
“We had our chances on defense to get these guys off the field,” Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason said. “Their ground game was really good. But this game comes down to making plays. We didn’t make enough and they made their fair share.”