Ole Miss vs. Texas A&M: Score and Twitter Reaction from Rebels' Upset Win

The Ole Miss Rebels moved to within one win of becoming bowl-eligible with a stunning 29-28 road victory over the No. 10 Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday night.

The Rebels trailed 21-6 when the fourth quarter started, but quarterback Shea Patterson engineered three straight touchdown drives and threw for 24 yards on his final drive to set up Gary Wunderlich's game-winning field goal with 37 seconds remaining.

Patterson hadn't started a game in his college career. Ole Miss pulled the redshirt off the freshman Friday after Chad Kelly's season ended prematurely because of a knee injury.

Just 19 years old, Patterson came to Mississippi with a mountain of hype. Greg Biggins of Scout.com listed him as the best quarterback prospect to come out of the southern region of the country in the last decade.

Patterson's first career touchdown pass was reminiscent of a former Texas A&M superstar, per CFB on ESPN Radio:

Patterson finished the game 25-of-42 with 338 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Redshirt Rebellion had a message for the rest of the SEC after the breakout performance:

Ole Miss' comeback victory wasn't all about Patterson. Running back Akeem Judd was terrific with 100 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. It was his first 100-yard rushing performance against Power Five-conference competition all season.

On Texas A&M's side, after starting out at No. 4 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, the Aggies have lost back-to-back games. This one will be particularly painful because it appeared as though everything was in hand through three quarters.

Even when Ole Miss was threatening to make a comeback early in the fourth quarter, Jake Hubenak hit Josh Reynolds for a 13-yard touchdown to help Texas A&M extend its lead to 28-19 with less than seven minutes remaining.

The Aggies defense was a huge problem, however, allowing 490 yards and 30 first downs while letting Mississippi control the ball for 33 minutes. If you can't get off the field, especially late in the game, it's hard to win.

Michael W. Bratton of Saturday Down South doesn't see the Aggies as being worthy of a Top 25 spot:

The Aggies have suffered two bad losses against teams that have a combined record of 9-11, continuing an alarming trend in recent years. They started 9-0 in August and September in each of the previous two years, only to finish a combined 6-10 from October through December.

Brad Crawford of 247Sports also pointed out that Kyle Field doesn't seem to faze opponents anymore:

Texas A&M's latest post-September slide could lead to questions about head coach Kevin Sumlin's job status.

Brian Rice of Sports Radio WNML noted Sumlin isn't doing himself any favors:

All of the criticism thrown in Texas A&M's direction after the first CFP standings were released has been proved right. The only thing for the team to do now is find a way to move forward and salvage the regular season before heading into a bowl game.

Next week will provide a nice respite for the Aggies, who will take on Texas-San Antonio as a warm-up before their Nov. 24 regular-season finale against LSU.

Ole Miss was having a year to forget before Saturday, but Patterson's performance gives the Rebels something to pay attention to. He can also lead the team to a bowl appearance with one more victory against Vanderbilt or Mississippi State over the next two weeks.

Postgame Reaction

Mississippi head coach Hugh Freeze had the highest of praise for his young quarterback following the victory.

"I've recruited this kid since he was a ninth-grader and I've kind of always known that he has that 'it' quality," Freeze said, per ESPN.com. "The guy just makes plays. He doesn't get rattled a lot."

Patterson didn't seem to know what he should make of an outstanding first game as the starting quarterback of a major college football program.

"It's crazy, my first start—Johnny Manziel was my favorite player growing up," Patterson said, per ESPN.com. "It's ironic that I get my first start at Kyle Field. It's awesome."

Texas A&M seemed to be at a loss for words after the difficult loss.

"They just made some great plays at crucial times and they got one over on us," Aggies defensive end Myles Garrett said, per ESPN.com.