FINAL: Ole Miss 41, No. 25 MSU 24 (w/Mullen, Banks Video)

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Brad Locke — 3 Comments ↓

Recapping No. 25 MSU’s 41-24 loss to Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday.

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OXFORD | Mississippi State had its chances early, missed them, and then paid for it. Ole Miss outscored the Bulldogs 24-7 after halftime to snap a three-game losing skid in this series. The win made the Rebels (6-6, 3-5 SEC) bowl eligible for the first time in three years.

The Bulldogs (8-4, 4-4) simply had no answer to the Ole Miss passing game. Linebacker Cam Lawrence had a couple of first-half interceptions, but otherwise Bo Wallace carved up the MSU secondary. The Rebels had six pass plays of 20-plus yards, five of them in the first half. One of them was a 77-yard pass to Donte Moncrief to give Ole Miss a 17-14 lead in the second quarter. It was 17-17 at halftime, and MSU didn’t score again until the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

Wallace turned it over three times total in the first half – including a fumble – but MSU got zero points off of those miscues.

The Rebs led 20-17 when Wallace hit Moncrief from 21 yards, and then the two hooked up from 16 yards. Moncrief had seven catches for a career-high 173 yards and three touchdowns. Wallace finished 15 of 22 for 294 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. Ole Miss outgained State in total yardage, 527-333, and the Bulldogs were held to 30 rushing yards on 25 carries. LaDarius Perkins netted 45 on 16 totes.

Tyler Russell was sacked three times and took hits all night. He was 18 of 33 for 268 yards, a TD and two picks. Chad Bumphis had a big first half and ended with six catches for 146 yards and two scores. He’s now the school’s career leader in receiving yards with 2,252.

Jameon Lewis had a 100-yard kickoff return for touchdown – the longest play in the history of this series – to tie it at 7-7. State was leading 14-10 in the second quarter when it failed to convert a fourth-and-2 at the Ole Miss 18-yard line. The 77-yard TD came two plays later.

Scoring

FIRST QUARTER

OM – Jamal Mosley 25 pass from Bo Wallace (Bryson Rose kick), 13:17 (4 plays, 71 yards, 1:40)

MSU – Jameon Lewis 100 kickoff return (Devon Bell kick), 13:02

MSU – Chad Bumphis 42 pass from Tyler Russell (Bell kick), 2:46 (4 plays, 58 yards, 1:22)

SECOND QUARTER

OM – Rose 43 field goal, 13:36 (9 plays, 58 yards, 1:47)

OM – Donte Moncrief 77 pass from Wallace (Rose kick), 5:19 (2 plays, 82 yards, :51)

MSU – Bell 23 field goal, 3:21 (5 plays, 69 yards, 1:58)

THIRD QUARTER

OM – Rose 41 field goal, 10:08 (11 plays, 49 yards, 3:22)

OM – Moncrief 21 pass from Wallace (Rose kick), 6:47 (4 plays, 50 yards, 1:00)

OM – Moncrief 16 pass from Wallace (Rose kick), 3:40 (3 plays, 41 yards, :57)

FOURTH QUARTER

OM – Vince Sanders 16 pass from Wallace (Rose kick), 11:44 (11 plays, 87 yards, 4:59)

MSU – Bumphis 8 pass from Dak Prescott (Bell kick), :07 (9 plays, 75 yards, 3:20)

About

I've covered Mississippi State athletics for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (djournal.com) since August of 2008. I like sports, but I love writing.

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  • darkcooger

    A pretty sad showing by the Dawgs, but it’s only fair to give credit where credit is due. State was down, but the Rebels didn’t win simply because State didn’t show up – they played well in their own right. I’m afraid the days of walking all over the silly ol’ Bears were short-lived and have now passed.

    Congrats to the Rebels for an encouraging season and best of luck to them in their bowl game!

  • MabenMaroon

    Agreed! This is probably the beginning of the rivalry taking on more national significance over the next few years and should prove to be extremely intense, even more than we already know it to be. Should benefit both programs and the state significantly. That was extremely well played and schemed by the Rebels and my hat is off to them. My biggest disappointment with the Dawgs this year, is that we did not have that “killer” instinct and jump all over the opportunities when we had them. If we got a break or the momentum, we seemed to ease up off the gas pedal, start to coast or lose our focus/concentration. Got to jump all over it and bear down even harder when the opportunities present themselves. To me that was the difference between 8-4 and 10-2……

  • msufanpc

    Even though the rebel bears were down last year and had a few players leave the program, Freeze still inherited a roster filled with players that were 3 and 4 star recruits from Nutt’s tenure, plus a few of his own he signed in February. Ole Miss has consistently had higher recruiting rankings than MSU over the last several years even when they were losing the egg bowl. Last year was the first in a while where MSU had better recruiting rankings and that didn’t help last week. The team speed of Ole Miss, especially on defense showed up big time. MSU had better try and recruit fast players, or Dan the Man will be eating more crow instead of turkey with more egg on his face next Thanksgiving. I’m a state fan but I give the rebel bears and Freeze credit for being better this year. Dan needs to do his talking on the field and in recruiting, not through the media. Ole Miss has more speed and talent and the results proved it. MSU’s recruiting hopes lie in the new stadium expansion and humility on the part of Mullen and his staff, not in arrogance. Vanderbilt is now proving that any school in the SEC can recruit even without great resources or stadiums (their current recruiting rankings are top 20). MSU’s staff had better step it up in the next two months or February will be more of the same.

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