The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
1-2
Ole Miss
3-0
No. 25/25 Ole Miss defeats Football, 44-23
09.14.2013 | Football
QB Case McCoy goes 24-of-36 for 196 yards and a touchdown and RB Jonathan Gray runs for 97 yards.
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AUSTIN, Texas - Texas quarterback Case McCoy went 24 of 36 for 196 yards and a touchdown and running back Jonathan Gray ran for 91 yards, but No. 25/25 Ole Miss rallied to win 44-23 Saturday night in sold out Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
The Longhorns (1-2), playing without starting quarterback David Ash, built a 23-17 halftime lead behind McCoy, Gray and place-kicker Anthony Fera's three field goals. McCoy went 11 of 13 for 104 yards and a TD, while Gray ran for 88 yards in the first half.
Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace went 17 of 25 for 177 yards and two touchdowns while running back Jeff Scott ran for 164 yards on 19 carries.
A 5-yard touchdown run from Scott and an 18-yard touchdown pass from Wallace to Donte Moncrief put the Longhorns in a 14-point hole early in the first quarter.
But the UT defense held the Rebels (3-0) to 38 total yards on their next four possessions and McCoy got the offense on track with five straight scoring drives. He connected with Mike Davis on a 13-yard touchdown pass and Fera hit a 28-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 14-10 with 13:12 left in the second quarter.
Gray had an 8-yard TD run on the following possession and Fera hit two more field goals, including a career-long 47-yarder, to increase the lead to 23-14. HIs second field goal of the game was set up by an Ole Miss fumble.
After Texas' offensive surge, the Rebels (3-0) responded with 30 unanswered points. The Rebels finished the half with a 52-yard field goal by Andrew Ritter that was setup by a 15-yard targeting penalty.
"You've got to go back and take your momentum back in the second half," head coach Mack Brown said. "We let them have the momentum going in. We didn't take the momentum going out in the second half, and we never got it back."
Ole Miss scored three touchdowns in the third quarter when the Texas offense was only able to muster 48 yards of offense. Wallace ran for a 15-yard score and found Evan Engram on a 17-yard touchdown pass, then Scott had a 73-yard punt return for a TD, increasing the Rebels' lead to 37-23 with 0:09 left in the third.
Rebels running back Jaylen Walton provided the game's final points with an 8-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter, putting the Rebels up 44-23.
Scott had 243 all-purpose yards for Ole Miss.
Ash suffered head and shoulder injuries against BYU and was ruled out of the game Friday. McCoy made his seventh-career start and first since last season's Kansas State contest.
With the loss, Texas had its three-game winning streak in the series snapped. The crowd of 101,474 was the third largest in stadium history.
Team Stats
UM 7, UT 0
UM - Jeff Scott 5 yd run (Andrew Ritter kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:38
UM 14, UT 0
UM - Donte Moncrief 18 yd pass from Bo Wallace (Andrew Ritter kick) 8 plays, 57 yards, TOP 2:15
UM 14, UT 7
UT - Davis, Mike 13 yd pass from McCoy, Case (Fera, Anthony kick) 9 plays, 78 yards, TOP 4:29
UM 14, UT 10
UT - Fera, Anthony 28 yd field goal 10 plays, 35 yards, TOP 3:55
UM 14, UT 17
UT - Gray, Johnathan 8 yd run (Fera, Anthony kick), 7 plays, 69 yards, TOP 2:19
UM 14, UT 20
UT - Fera, Anthony 30 yd field goal 5 plays, 5 yards, TOP 1:48
UM 14, UT 23
UT - Fera, Anthony 47 yd field goal 10 plays, 50 yards, TOP 4:13
UM 17, UT 23
UM - Andrew Ritter 52 yd field goal 4 plays, 37 yards, TOP 0:33
UM 24, UT 23
UM - Bo Wallace 15 yd run (Andrew Ritter kick), 12 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:50
UM 31, UT 23
UM - Evan Engram 17 yd pass from Bo Wallace (Andrew Ritter kick) 11 plays, 81 yards, TOP 4:36
UM 37, UT 23
UM - Jeff Scott 73 yd punt return (Andrew Ritter kickblocked)
UM 44, UT 23
UM - Jaylen Walton 8 yd run (Andrew Ritter kick), 4 plays, 59 yards, TOP 1:26
