REBELS:After slow start, Ole Miss finds the running lanes
OXFORD – The end result was what it needed to be, even if the beginning was a little messy.
Ole Miss sleep-walked through the warm September night with penalties and a turnover early . But the Rebels regained form and precision on offense in a 34-10 win over Samford, the final non-conference game before SEC play begins later this week against Vanderbilt.
A Vaught-Hemingway Stadium crowd of 52,780 watched the Rebels (2-1) pull away with three straight touchdowns after trailing 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.
“It was a win, and they’re all precious,” Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said. “After a rocky start I thought we were able to put together some impressive drives.”
Ole Miss was hoping to establish a running game that was missing in last week’s 30-28 loss at No. 20 Wake Forest, and the Rebels accomplished that with 196 yards on 37 carries.
Ole Miss (2-1) outgained Samford (2-1) 424-198.
“There were some running lanes in there, and that’s what we wanted to do,” Nutt said. “Our offensive line was physical. We saw some running lanes we had not seen, and Cordera and those guys ran hard.”
djournal.com
9/14/08
