NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt led Ole Miss at halftime, but the ninth-ranked Rebels used five second-half touchdowns to knock off the Commodores 52-28 at FirstBank Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Rebels won their fourth straight in the series after trailing 20-10 in the second quarter. Quinshon Judkins ran for the first of his two TDs just before halftime, then the Rebels added three more in the third quarter as part of 35 straight points.
Jonathan Mingo caught nine passes for a career-high and national season-high 247 yards and two TDs, the last a short pass he caught at the line of scrimmage and took 71 yards to the end zone. The Rebels padded the lead with a 1-yard TD run by Matt Jones with 18 seconds left for the final margin.
The Commodores scored 13 straight points to go up 20-10 before being shut out after halftime. De’Rickey Wright intercepted two passes for Vandy.
Lea went for the touchdown instead of a field goal on fourth-and-3 at the Ole Miss 5, and Ray Davis capped Vanderbilt’s longest drive this season with a 5-yard TD run up the middle with 1:32 left in the first half. The Commodores ran 15 plays and chewed 8:54 off the clock for a 20-10 lead.
Then Dart hit Mingo with a 48-yard pass down to the Vandy 3, and Quinshon Judkins scored two plays later from 2 yards out to pull Ole Miss within 20-17 at halftime.
Ole Miss simply dominated the third quarter, outgaining Vandy 217-31 on offense and outscoring them 21-0. The Rebels wound up outgaining Vanderbilt 591-403 despite holding the ball only 18 minutes, 43 seconds. That included just 4:15 of possession time in that third quarter.
Zach Evans capped the Rebels’ opening drive with a 24-yard TD run for Ole Miss’ first lead since the first quarter. Ole Miss added a TD within 90 seconds. Ladarius Tennison recovered AJ Swann’s lateral dropped by Davis, and Judkins ran in from 6 yards on the next play for a 31-20 lead.
Dart padded the lead with a perfect throw to Mingo for a 72-yard catch-and-run TD making it 38-20 with 6:30 left in the third.
“As we faltered on offense in the third quarter we needed some stops,” Lea said. “We’re not to the point as a program where we can play like that and still be able to win.”
Vanderbilt falls to 3-3 (0-2 SEC) while Ole Miss improves to 6-0 (2-0 SEC). The Commodores travel to Georgia next Saturday to face the Bulldogs at 2:30 p.m. CT.
