For the second time this season, Memphis traveled to play a top-11 opponent. For the second time this season, the Tigers will return home with a loss.
Ole Miss-Memphis final score: 3 things we learned from the Rebels’ 24-3 win
Ole Miss remains undefeated after a defensive showdown.
No. 1 Ole Miss escaped with a 24-3 victory over Memphis Saturday night, with three fourth quarter scores padding the victory in what was one of the day’s biggest defensive battles.
The Tigers were the first team able to contain the Rebels’ offense so far this season -- Ole Miss scored 35, 41 and 56 points, respectively, in their previous three games -- but the Tigers’ offense (also normally proficient) was unable to take advantage. Some individual players ended up with good numbers for the Rebels (led by Laquon Treadwell’s 123-yard, two-touchdown performance), but Ole Miss averaged just 6.6 yards per pass and 4.3 yards per run on the day.
For Ole Miss, it’s their first 4-0 start since 1970. Memphis just narrowly missed the program’s first win over a ranked Rebel team, but the future looks bright for Justin Fuente’s program.
Three things we learned
1. Ole Miss’s defense is one of the SEC’s very best. Chief among Memphis’s many offensive struggles was their inability to contain the Rebels’ defensive front, and Ole Miss punished the Tigers’ offense throughout the night. Memphis had just 103 yards of total offense, converting on three of 16 third down attempts (after starting 1-13). The Tigers averaged 2.3 yards per pass attempt and 0.7 yards per rush on the day.
2. The Rebels are still raw. Despite their defensive excellence, Ole Miss’s inability to put points on the board kept the Tigers in the game. The Rebels gave the ball away four times, had 10 penalties for 125 yards (including one that brought back a long rushing touchdown) and generally struggled to move the ball. With Alabama and Texas A&M right around the corner, Ole Miss needs to play much cleaner football if they want to remain undefeated and in the playoff hunt.
3. Memphis may be East Carolina’s biggest threat in the AAC. The Tigers wrap up non-conference play 2-2, but close losses to UCLA and Ole Miss are a pretty nice way to end up 2-2 if you’re an AAC program. We’ll get a better read on Memphis next week, when they travel to Cincinnati (blown out by Ohio State Saturday). The bad news for football fans? These two don’t play each other this season. Still, Memphis looks like the team best suited to take East Carolina’s presumed crown: if the Pirates don’t up and leave to pillage the ACC Coastal, that is.
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