Texas A&M vs. Ole Miss: Score, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

In as thorough of a victory you will see between two ranked opponents, the No. 24 Ole Miss Rebels defeated the No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies 23-3 on Saturday night in Oxford, Mississippi.

Both teams were coming off losses, with Ole Miss falling to the Memphis Tigers and Texas A&M being outplayed by the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide a week ago.

But Saturday was the first time all year that Texas A&M has played a true road game, as its first six games were all in the state of Texas. This was the latest a team has played its first true road game of the season since 1928, according to the ESPN telecast.

The Aggies were out of sorts in enemy territory, and it showed. The offense had no rhythm, and its playmakers did little to get things going. Ole Miss outgained A&M 471-192 on Saturday night. 

Aggies quarterback Kyle Allen couldn't get anything going and experienced a stretch in which he saw 14 straight attempts fall incomplete. He finished the day 12-of-34 for just 88 yards.

The Rebels offense looked more fluid, which could have been because of the return of offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil, who was suspended for the first seven games of the season. Quarterback Chad Kelly had plenty of time to pass, even with the likes of sack master Myles Garrett pursuing him, while the running game was eating up chunks of yards.

Ole Miss rushed for 230 yards on the night.

 ESPN.com's Edward Aschoff was watching:

Ole Miss got on the board first after Kelly threaded the needle to Evan Engram from seven yards out. ESPN College Football shared the replay:

Kelly started off hot, completing 12 of his first 14 passes before cooling off. He finished the night with 241 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

A&M's start wasn't as successful. The Aggies punted on their first three possessions, and their fourth ended when Ole Miss recovered a botched handoff. 

Garrett finally got the better of Tunsil, breaking his way into the backfield on a screen play, deflecting the pass and intercepting it all on his own. Max Olson shared ESPN's replay of the interception:

Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee summed it up best:

It came a play after a chop-block penalty wiped out a 43-yard Ole Miss touchdown pass. But Texas A&M couldn't take full advantage of the turnover and settled for a field goal.

The turnover parade was in full swing by the end of the second quarter. Freshman star Christian Kirk fumbled an Ole Miss punt, giving the ball back to the Rebels in the red zone. Kirk was a non-factor Saturday, catching his first pass with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.

But on the following play from scrimmage, Jordan Wilkins had the ball ripped out of his hands by Armani Watts on the A&M 14-yard line.

Wait—there's more. On the next play, Allen's pass was deflected and intercepted by Kendarius Webster, giving Ole Miss another chance to extend its lead before the half. It was the third turnover in 38 seconds, as Fox Sports Southwest's Greg Tepper looked on:

Ole Miss, though, couldn't punch it into the end zone again as it tacked on another three to end the first half with a 16-3 lead.

But the Rebels did come out swinging in the third as Kelly hit Laquon Treadwell on a 58-yard bomb to open up the lead to 20 points. It was the longest play from scrimmage that the Aggies have allowed all season. 

ESPN shared the replay:

Rebels alum and current Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Donte Moncrief loved what he was seeing:

In the fourth quarter, A&M decided to bench Allen, but instead of inserting Kyler Murray, who has been Allen's backup all season, it went with sophomore Jake Hubenak. In three minutes, he had half as many completions as Allen had all night but was just as unsuccessful when it came to finding the end zone.

Post-Game Reaction

Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze was happy to have his best offensive lineman back in action. It looked like he hadn't missed much time at all, let alone seven games:

On the opposite side, Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin obviously was not happy with his team's effort, saying that they "got whipped," in his postgame press conference:

A win like this might have saved Ole Miss' season, who will surely move up in the rankings next week. Combined with Alabama's continuous rise in the polls, a team that Ole Miss beat, things are looking up for the Rebels despite their two losses on the year.

They still sit in third in the SEC West behind Alabama and LSU. While they will be hoping for an LSU loss to create a three-way tie at the top if they stay at one loss, Ole Miss still has an opportunity to play the Tigers on Nov. 21. If they can start rolling by using the momentum of this win, the SEC West is in for an exciting finish this season. 

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com.