Upset! No.2 Alabama goes Down at Home

19 Sep, 2015

With a desperation fling and an array of big plays, Chad Kelly and No. 15 Mississippi ended a quarter century of futility at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Kelly completed a deflected 66-yard touchdown pass and added two more long ones in the fourth quarter, and the Rebels held on to beat No. 2 Alabama 43-37 on Saturday night.

The Rebels (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) left the topsy-turvy game with their first victory in Bryant-Denny Stadium since 1988, and second straight in a one-sided series. The Crimson Tide (2-1, 0-1) had been 25-1 in Tuscaloosa against Ole Miss and had never lost two straight in the series.

Both games went down to the wire and were settled with the help of Rebels interceptions.

“We certainly think we’re at a point now where it’s not a shock,” Mississippi coach Hugh Freeze said. “I still say it would be an upset in most people’s eyes to do it here.

“I don’t think it surprises the people in our locker room. Our pregame was as short as it’s ever been. I said, `You’re good enough to win.'”

The Rebels made two final defensive stands, the first when Tony Bridges intercepted a deep ball from Jake Coker, who came off the bench to lead a comeback from a 30-10 deficit. Ole Miss scored 24 points off five Alabama turnovers.

Kelly delivered big play after big play following an ineffective first half, none wilder than a fling and a prayer in the third quarter, a 66-yard deflection caught by Quincy Adeboyejo for a touchdown.

Kelly bobbled a high snap and lofted the ball toward a crowd as he was going down before a swarm of Tide defenders. Adeboyejo grabbed a deflected ball and raced toward the end zone in front of Alabama’s student section.

“That happened in my prayer time today,” Freeze said. “That’s the only thing I can say about that.”

Kelly added a 73-yarder to Cody Core and a 24-yarder to Laquon Treadwell. Kelly passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns after producing just 36 yards through the air in the first half.

Alabama had won 17 straight at home coming into the game to tie Baylor for the longest active streak in FBS, another milestone snapped by a feisty Ole Miss team that’s established itself as an SEC contender under Freeze.

Coker was 21-of-44 passing for 201 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Henry ran for 127 yards.

AP

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