Dart, Judkins lead No. 15 Ole Miss past Texas A&M 31-28

Oct 30, 2022, 04:58 am

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- — Quinshon Judkins had quite the 19th birthday.

Judkins rushed for 205 yards, Jaxson Dart passed for three touchdowns and No. 15 Mississippi beat Texas A&M 31-28 on Saturday night.

Judkins had a 1-yard touchdown run with 7:18 remaining, helping Mississippi rebound from its first loss of the season.

“That’s very unusual to turn 19 today and be at A&M and carry the ball 34 times,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “That’s like Derrick Henry carries when he was winning the Heisman three years older. That’s really special.”

Judkins is up to 1,036 yards rushing on the season, the most by a freshman in school history.

“Q is special,” Ole Miss wide receiver Jonathan Mingo said. “He’s probably like a once-in-a-lifetime-type player. It’s crazy that he’s a freshman because we get to have him for at least another two more years.”

Dart threw touchdown passes of 18, 1 and 2 yards. He was 13 for 20 for 140 yards, and also had 17 carries for 95 yards on the ground.

“It’s huge for our team to rebound after last week,” Dart said. “We felt like it got out of hand because of the mistakes we made, not anything they did. It was huge coming into this week that we prepared the best that we could and get a big week going into the bye week.”

Zach Evans, who missed last week’s 45-20 loss to LSU with a leg injury, returned against the Aggies and rushed for 75 yards. Mingo had four catches for 89 yards and a touchdown for the Rebels (8-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference).

Ole Miss rushed for 390 yards, including 134 yards in the first quarter, and finished with 530 total yards. It was the most rushing yards Texas A&M had allowed since allowing 393 yards against Texas in 2003.

“We would have liked to really get back after a game of not running great, so 63 carries and 390 yards against the best players high school can provide is pretty impressive for our guys,” Kiffin said.

Connor Weigman was 28 of 44 for 338 yards and four touchdowns for Texas A&M (3-5, 1-4). The Aggies lost their fourth straight game for the school’s longest slide since losing four straight at the end of the 2005 season.

“To go out and do what he did, I thought he had an outstanding game,” Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said of Weigman’s starting debut. “He gave us a chance to win the game in the end.”

Devon Achane rushed 25 times for 138 yards, and Moose Muhammad III caught eight passes for 112 yards and a score.

Texas A&M cut the lead to three on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Weigman to Achane with 1:25 remaining. The Rebels then went three-and-out, but the Aggies turned the ball over on downs to end it.

Trailing 14-7 in the first quarter, the Rebels reeled off the next 17 points. Ole Miss had a field goal before halftime, and Dart connected on touchdown passes to Casey Kelly and Mingo to take a 24-14 lead with a minute left in the third.

THE TAKEAWAY

Mississippi: After a slow start, the Rebels scored on three of four drives to end the first half and start the second half to open up the 10-point lead. Ole Miss’ fast-paced offense gave Texas A&M problems throughout the game.

Texas A&M: Penalties hurt Texas A&M once again. The Aggies finished with nine penalties for 51 yards and were 5 of 13 on third downs.

GUTSY CALL

Facing fourth-and-4 on its 16 with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter, Ole Miss faked a punt, and J.J. Pegues ran it up the middle for the first down. The drive ended in a 46-yard field goal by Jonathan Cruz.

HE SAID IT

“You guys saw whatever it was. At one point, it was eight, nine defensive injury timeouts. All on defense, so whatever. It is what it is. There’s a way around the rule, and I’m not going say they did it, but what are the analytics of that happening and seeing the players a play or two later out there.” — Kiffin on Texas A&M’s defensive injuries.

CHANGING THE MUSIC

Texas A&M ran onto Kyle Field with a different song playing on Saturday. The Aggies had entered the field to “Power” by Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) since 2012, but following Ye’s recent antisemitic comments, Texas A&M made a change and ran on to the field to an instrumental of “Bonfire” by Childish Gambino. Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork had announced the decision earlier this week.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The Rebels could move up a couple spots in the Top 25 poll.

UP NEXT

Mississippi: Hosts No. 6 Alabama on Nov. 12.

Texas A&M: Hosts Florida on Saturday.

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