Ole Miss beats Kentucky in critical money downs

All plays matter in football but the snaps on third and fourth down loom much larger than the rest. These are the plays that determine if drives are extended or not. In a SEC clash where both offenses struggled to move the chains, some critical win or go home downs emerged.

Ole Miss won the ones that mattered do.

As we do after every Kentucky game at KSR, we’re taking a look at the plays that determined the outcome. Ole Miss was the big winner on money downs despite finishing the game converting just 4-of-14 attempts on offense.

Ole Miss swings for the fences on fourth-and-one

After consecutive Austin Simmons interceptions led to Kentucky taking an early 10-0 lead in the game, Ole Miss faced at their own 46 with under 13 minutes left in the third quarter. Lane Kiffin decided to roll the dice.

The Rebels come out in a condensed package with multiple tight ends. What looks like a run formation is used for deception. Despite having a young quarterback coming off two bad moments, Kiffin decides to ask Simmons to make a big play. The redshirt freshman delivers.

Ole Miss sneaks wide receiver Harrison Wallace III out on a wheel rote with Kentucky in man coverage. Safety Jordan Lovett catches up to Wallace but the Penn State transfer makes a nice adjustment on the ball with a broken tackle on top of it. The fourth-and-short play would go down as the game’s largest gain (55 yards).

From there, the Rebels would go on a 20-0 scoring run before Kentucky would tie the game at 20. After having full control, this explosive play completion opened the floodgates for the Ole Miss offense against Kentucky’s defense. This was the biggest swing of the game. A stop here gives Kentucky terrific field position and a chance to extend the lead to three possessions in the second quarter.

Ole Miss came up big in the huge moment. Credit to Kiffin for a gusty call.

Kentucky settles for another red zone field goal

After failing to turn a first-and-10 at the Ole Miss 32 into a touchdown, Kentucky settled for a field goal and watched the Rebels quickly come storming back. However, the offense responded after the road team took a 14-10 lead.

A 16-yard completion from Zach Calzada to Hardley Gilmore IV on third-and-four at the Ole Miss 34 created a red zone possession for Kentucky. Unfortunately, the offense bogged down in the red zone again.

After a five-yard rush by Dante Dowdell created a third-and-medium, Kentucky drops back to pass with a condensed trips bunch lined up into the field and Willie Rodriguez playing split out into the boundary. Nothing comes open. Instead of moving to Dowdell on a checkdown, Calzada decides to leave a clean pocket and scrambles left. The play ends in a prayer to the endzone that probably should’ve been intercepted.

Instead of taking the profit and seeing what Dowdell can potentially create after the catch, Calzada gambles and comes up empty. It leads to a field goal but was a sign of things to come. Kentucky struggled to finish drives. They struggled because they could not extend these drives once it got to third and fourth down.

The final chance ends in a sack

Following the turnover on downs in the red zone, Kentucky’s defense responds and produces a quick three-and-out to give the offense the football back with 6:12 left in the fourth quarter. Redshirt freshman Cutter Boley then enters the game after Zach Calzada suffers a shoulder injury.

The Cats quickly get cooking after starting the possession at their own 40.

UK draws a pass interference on first down and then gets a 15-yard from Dante Dowdell. That creates first-and-10 at the Ole Miss 30. The offense creates another scoring opporunity only to waste it.

After a first down incompletion, two running plays gain only three yards to create a fourt-and-seven. The Cats roll the dice. Some of Boley’s inexperience shows up.

Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan yet again goes with a bunch trips formation into the field with tailback Dante Dowdell leaking out in to the boundary. Cutter Boley has a clean pocket at right but right tackle Alex Wollschlaeger is beat inside at the top of the rush. Boley shows a willingness to stay in the pocket but this was a time to bail. The ball has to come out no matter the circumstance in this game situation. Instead, UK’s young quarterback runs into a sack instead of pivoting out to extend the play. This is a learning experience.

Ole Miss unofficially ends the game when their offense picks up a couple first downs on the ground in the next possession. This game was filled with some big opportunities in scoring territory for the Kentucky offense but the Wildcats could not take advantage.