The Washington State Cougars held a lead at multiple points in Oxford, Mississippi, but ultimately fell just short of an all-time upset, losing to No. 4 Ole Miss Rebels 24-21.
WSU (3-3) held a 14-10 lead
nearing the end of the third quarter before Ole Miss (6-0, 3-0 in SEC) rattled off 10 unanswered points to take their biggest lead of the game. The Cougars fought back with a touchdown to pull back within a possession with 2:43 to play and even got the ball back with just over a minute to go. WSU’s desperation laterals couldn’t go the 64 yards needed for glory, allowing Ole Miss to narrowly escape.
For entering as a five-possession underdog, WSU showed incredible fight. The defense limited the Rebels’ high-powered offense to just 24 points and gave themselves a shot to win it with one last stop to get the ball back in the final minute.
Ole Miss started the game on offense and didn’t have many issues dissecting the Cougar defense on their opening drive. The fast-paced Rebel offense quickly got inside the WSU 10 in just eight plays, but faced with a 4th and 3 at the WSU 7, the Cougar defense was able to turn the Rebels away with an incompletion to keep them off the board.
The Rebels’ second drive started around midfield, and it only took three plays for them to get in field goal range. WSU’s defense again was up to the task and forced back-to-back incompletions, setting up a 47-yard field goal attempt that was pushed wide right.
Angel Johnson kicked off WSU’s second drive with back-to-back seven-yard rushes, and Zevi Eckhaus later found Leon Neal Jr. for 18 yards to the Ole Miss 26. On 2nd and 10, WSU used some trickery with Julian Dugger entering the game as a second quarterback in the backfield. The Rebels’ confused defense completely lost track of Landon Wright who was standing wide open in the end zone for an easy 26-yard touchdown to give WSU an early 7-0 lead.
Doubt continued to grow inside the minds of the Ole Miss faithful when Isaac Terrell was able to force the ball free from Trinidad Chambliss on a sack for a WSU takeaway. For as bad as the WSU defense had looked a few weeks ago, they were incredible today against one of the best offenses in the country. After the opening scripted drive from Ole Miss, they didn’t make anything easy for their offense. They held Ole Miss to a 40-yard field goal just over halfway through the second quarter to get the Rebels on the scoreboard, and it wasn’t until the final drive of the half that the Rebels were finally able to get a big play. Chambliss hit Dae’Quan Wright for a 30-yard completion to set Ole Miss up inside the red zone, and three plays later, Chambliss again found Wright for a go-ahead touchdown.
A 10-7 deficit for WSU already felt like a win considering the expectations, but they wanted that lead back. A roughing the passer on third and long kept WSU’s drive alive and set them up near midfield. Two plays after that crucial penalty, Kirby Vorhees took the longest run of the WSU season all the way to paydirt for a 46-yard rushing touchdown to give WSU the lead back at 14-7.
The Cougar defense again shined with a quick three and out, but the offense couldn’t reward the defense for their efforts, punting it right back to the Rebels. On their second drive of the half, the Rebels were aided by a questionable targeting call on Cale Reeder that disqualified him from the game and the first half of WSU’s game next week at Virginia. The penalty put Ole Miss inside the red zone again, where Chambliss took a quarterback keeper 17 yards to the house to retake the lead before the end of the third quarter.
After a trio of punts, the Rebels looked to ice the game away with a 35-yard touchdown reception by Cayden Lee as he juked out WSU defenders en route to extending the Ole Miss lead to its largest of the game at 24-14.
WSU’s offense wouldn’t go down without a fight, however. The Cougars scratched and clawed their way down the field, aided by another crucial Ole Miss penalty, a defensive holding call on 4th and 8. Facing 3rd and 12 from the Rebel 19, Eckhaus delivered a great pass into the end zone for Tony Freeman to keep WSU in the game with 2:46 to play.
The Rebels’ first play of their “ice the game away” drive was a haymaker. Wright again torched WSU with a catch and run for 42 yards all the way to the WSU 33. A flag came in after the play for unsportsmanlike conduct on the Rebel sideline as an assistant coach got in the way of a sprinting official. The penalty cost the Rebels likely a field goal chance, as WSU’s defense was able to string three stops together to force a Rebel punt with 1:10 to go.
90 yards from glory or even just 60 yards from giving your kicker a chance to tie it with no timeouts to play with. WSU kicked off their huge drive with a run play that only got six yards and killed 19 seconds off the clock. An incompletion was followed by a sack that took even more time off the clock. On 4th and 14, Eckhaus launched a ball downfield towards Freeman, but the two Rebel defenders in the area made contact with Freeman, drawing a defensive pass interference to give WSU one last shot at a miracle with just three seconds remaining. Just outside of hail mary territory, WSU tried to lateral the ball around, but Leo Pulalasi was funneled out of bounds at the Ole Miss 38 to end the game.
The fact that WSU was even in a position to try a miracle to win the game is insane. Sportsbooks were making WSU up to a 33-point underdog, and they never allowed Ole Miss to build a lead bigger than 10. While losing always stinks, WSU gave the number four team in the country all they could handle this afternoon.
The Cougars will head back to the east coast next week to face another currently ranked opponent, the Virginia Cavaliers.
