Missouri vs. Ole Miss: Score, Grades and Analysis

No. 8 Missouri took one step closer to the SEC Championship on Saturday, going in to Oxford and knocking off No. 24 Ole Miss, 24-10. 

James Franklin returned after a month-long absence with 184 total yards, and Henry Josey tallied 96 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, as the Tigers moved to 10-1 overall and 6-1 in the SEC. 

Ole Miss tallied 378 total yards of offense and held the ball for nearly 27 minutes, but an inability to score once inside the red zone stifled the Rebels, who fell to 7-4 and 3-4.

Missouri started the game with an impressive, eight-play, 72-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a four-yard plunge from Josey:

Wallace was intercepted by Randy Porter on the subsequent drive, but Ole Miss' defense—put in a difficult position—held tough and forced a punt. 

The Rebels next drive went 85 yards on 18 plays and lasted nearly eight minutes...and ended with zero points. They eventually got to 1st-and-goal from the one, but after three unsuccessful tries at the end zone, they brought on the field-goal unit. 

But freshman Harold Brantley broke through for the block, leaving the Rebels with nothing on the scoreboard:

After the teams exchanged field goals in the second quarter, Marcus Murphy scored on a three-yard run to push the Tigers' lead to 17-3 at halftime. 

Much like Mizzou in the first quarter, however, Ole Miss would explode out of the locker room. On the second play from scrimmage, Jaylen Walton scampered for 31 yards on a reverse, and two plays later, I'Tavius Mathers raised the pot with a 45-yard touchdown run:

The Tigers quickly bounced back, though. Following a Franklin interception and Ole Miss punt, they went 85 yards on eight plays, the last of which being Josey's second touchdown of the day, to take the 24-10 lead. 

Ole Miss nearly cut that lead in half. But a Ja-Mes touchdown was overturned after it was revealed his toe went out of bounds, Donte Moncrief, who finished with 115 receiving yards, dropped a would-be touchdown and Wallace missed on a fourth-down throw, as the Tigers once again came away from the red zone with zero points. 

That was enough for Missouri, which would hold onto the ball for the next eight minutes to seal the victory.

With Oregon and (probably) Baylor losing on Saturday, the Tigers are primed to move up in the BCS rankings. A win at home against No. 12 Texas A&M next week puts them into the SEC Championship, where they would have a chance to seriously send chaos into the national title picture. 

Player Grades

James Franklin, Missouri: B+

Some may try to criticize Franklin for compiling just 141 yards through the air, but he only threw 19 times and completed 7.4 yards per toss, so he was actually far more effective than it may seem on the surface. 

He also made some key plays with his legs, including an 11-yard run on 3rd-and-long to extend a key touchdown drive in the third quarter and finished with 42 yards on the ground.

The senior missed some throws and made a bad decision on his interception, so his night was far from perfect. But in his first game in over a month, the Tigers couldn't have asked for much more. 

Bo Wallace, Ole Miss: B-

First of all, as ESPN noted, Wallace was playing under some less-than-ideal conditions:

The junior QB, who was forced to the sideline at times in the second and third quarters because of the sickness, deserves credit for at least toughing it out and playing as much as he did. 

That being said, it was pretty clear he wasn't 100 percent, as he threw an early interception and made some other throws into coverage that also could have been picked. In the end, his 105.9 QB rating was his second-worst mark of the season.

It was a gutsy effort from Wallace, and his final line would have looked better if not for some drops, but it wasn't quite enough.

Harold Brantley, Missouri: A

The big 290-pound freshman wasn't involved on defense, but he found a way to make a huge impact. Not only did he block an early field goal, but the former high-school fullback took a fake punt 26 yards for a first down:

While special teams often gets overlooked, Brantley made two game-changing plays despite not seeing much time on the field.

What's Next

The Tigers host Texas A&M next Saturday in a crucial contest, while Ole Miss finishes its regular season in Starkville against Mississippi State.