Offense stutters in 35-3 Rebels win over ULM Warhawks

The final home game of the season resulted in a 35-3 Rebels win over ULM Warhawks. It was far from a good performance from Ole Miss, with the offense stuttering in the first half.

The Ole Miss offense started the game looking a little sluggish. Judkins had two good runs on the opening drive. However, there were a handful of negative yard plays to stutter momentum on the Ole Miss drive. The Rebels had to settle for a field goal attempt, which kicker Caden Davis missed.

It was like that for most of the half on offense, with several players making uncharacteristic mistakes. Dart fumbled the ball, only the second time this season. Quinshon Judkins reacted quickly to pounce on the loose ball. Jordan Watkins dropped a catch downfield that would have been a touchdown.

Head coach Lane Kiffin looked frustrated on the sideline, with just seven points to show for 199 offensive yards and 11 first downs at the half.

The touchdown was a 14-yard run from Ulysses Bentley IV, his fifth touchdown of the season. The touchdown didn’t kick-start any momentum for the Rebels.

The defense came to play in the first quarter, holding the ULM offense to no first downs and -4 offensive yards. DE Cedric Johnson Jr recorded two sacks, taking his college total to 19. The defense was working hard to secure a Rebels win.

However, the final two drives of the half for the Warhawks were far better. The running game was starting to work, with pullers and blockers getting the better of the Reb defensive front.

The first of those drives resulted in an interception from Trey Washington on his 21-yard line after a bad throw from Jiya Wright. On the second drive of the quarter, ULM moved the ball into the red zone. They had to settle for a field goal to end a disappointing first half from Ole Miss.

Louisiana-Monroe were a 37-point underdog in the match, with ULM draining the clock when on offense. Combined with a very flat Ole Miss offense, the Warhawks were causing problems.

The half-time speeches from Kiffin and the Ole Miss coaches looked to have worked. After forcing a ULM punt, the Rebels put together nine plays for 78 yards, with Tre Harris grabbing a Dart TD pass. Dart also had two big connections to tight end Cade Preiskorn on the drive, both on 3rd down plays.

Just when Kiffin might have been feeling a tad better on the sidelines, a silly decision from Daijahn Anthony had him seeing red. The safety had an unnecessary roughness call against him. On further evidence, he was lucky to stay in the game, appearing to throw a punch at the downed opponent.

He was soon pumping his fist in the air with a 4th down defensive stop, followed quickly by a third touchdown. This time Caden Prieskorn added a TD to his already productive day. The big tight end had six catches for 69 yards and 1 TD in the game.

The floodgates started to open for Ole Miss, with Dayton Wade making it three TDs in the third quarter. Coming off his highlight reel catch last week, Wade showed his speed after the catch to break away down the middle and into the end zone for a 58-yard TD.

The defense put their 2nd quarter issues behind them, holding the ULM offense to just 62 yards on their first four possessions.

With the Rebels stopping the Warhawks on fourth down inside their own 20-yard line, the offensive back-ups entered the field for the remainder of the game. Spencer Sanders and the offense were soon back on the sideline after a three-and-out. However, a roughing of the kicker call had them back out again.

This time, freshman wide receiver Cayden Lee grabbed a pass near the sideline from Sanders, staying in bounds and racing into the end zone for a 51-yard touchdown. His second touchdown of the season, putting a rubber stamp on the Rebels win.

We saw the Ole Miss offense for two more plays after ULM drained the clock on their drive that finished on downs in the red zone.

It was a below-average performance in the Rebels win over ULM Warhawks. However, they got the job done in the final home game of the season. Another season undefeated in Oxford for Ole Miss.