10. Ole Miss showed serious clout downing Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium
Attack. Attack. Attack.
That’s all Ole Miss (No. 15) had on its mind in its 43-37 win over Alabama (No. 2) on Saturday night. The visiting Rebels absolutely punished ‘Bama in front of its home crowd, dominating on both sides of the ball — until the end when things got absolutely crazy.
After a see-saw first half that saw Ole Miss take a tenuous 17-10 lead into the locker room, the Rebels turned on the jets to open the second half. Before you knew it, Ole Miss was up by 20 points with a comfortable 30-10 lead.
During this stretch, the Rebels pulled off one of the craziest plays you’ll ever see on a botched snap that ended up g0ing for six in the most improbable way.
What just happened pic.twitter.com/vRlChboC7u
— Dan Lyons (@Dan_Lyons76) September 20, 2015
It seemed fate had destined for the mighty Crimson Tide to go down in flames this weekend.
But the football gods weren’t content with a blowout — they wanted an epic finish, and they got it.
The final quarter was ridiculous.
‘Bama opened up with a quick-strike touchdown drive to move to within six points with the scoreboard reading 30-24 in favor of Ole Miss. Then in a period of just a couple of minutes the Rebels answered with two touchdown strikes to go way ahead 43-24.
Thinking the game was over, many of the home fans started a mass exodus, but they missed a heck of a finish.
Jake Coker, who filled in for Cooper Bateman (who got leveled by Robert Nkemdiche and had to leave the game early), was magnificent in the final stanza, leading Alabama to within six points. Unfortunately he ultimately threw the game-sealing interception with two-and-a-half minutes left, allowing Ole Miss to leave with a huge upset win.
Huge plays were the order of the evening, and Ole Miss proved it certainly belongs in the top 10. On the other side, it’s going to be interesting to see how far down the rankings ‘Bama tumbles when the next polls are released.