Kentucky 20, Mississippi 17
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 28, 2024
Where: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Mississippi
Temperature:
66°
Head Official:
Wayne Winkler
Attendance:
67616
By Field Level Media
Kentucky's Brock Vandagriff completed a 63-yard pass on fourth down, Josh Kattus scored the game-winner on a fumble recovery, and the Wildcats shocked No. 6 Ole Miss 20-17 in Southeastern Conference play on Saturday afternoon in Oxford, Miss.
With Kentucky trailing 17-13 with 3:51 left and backed up at its own 20, Vandagriff heaved a 63-yarder to Barion Brown.
Gavin Wimsatt then fumbled on a keeper and tight end Kattus caught the ball and fell two yards for the winning TD with 2:25 left.
Ole Miss kicker Caden Davis hooked a 48-yard field goal with 48 seconds left that would have forced overtime.
In their first road game this season, the 17-point underdog Wildcats (3-2, 1-2 SEC) won for the first time in Oxford since 1978 but had to rally.
Vandagriff was 18 of 28 for a career-high 243 yards with a touchdown. Dane Key caught eight passes for 105 yards and a score.
The FBS' top-scoring squad at 55 points per game, Ole Miss (4-1, 0-1) saw Jaxson Dart go 18 of 27 for 261 yards and a TD, with receiver Tre Harris notching 176 yards and a score on 11 receptions.
Mississippi's high-powered offense struck right away on an 83-yard drive that Dart set up with a 39-yard catch-and-run to Harris to the 1. Parrish then tallied his eighth rushing TD just 2:09 in.
Kentucky answered impressively, traveling 66 yards in 15 plays as Alex Raynor connected with 5:13 left on a 27-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
The visitors took a 10-7 lead on Vandagriff's 5-yard scoring pass to Key with 27 seconds left to end a penalty-aided drive.
Like it did against then-No. 1 Georgia two weeks ago at home, the Wildcats' defense frustrated Dart and the offensive unit and held a 21:39-8:21 time of possession edge in the half.
The 10-7 deficit marked only the second time fifth-year coach Lane Kiffin trailed at halftime at Ole Miss, the other occurring in his Rebels' debut against Florida in 2020.
After Davis' 31-yard field tied it at 10 early in the second half, Raynor stretched his consecutive field goal streak to 14 by nailing one from 48 yards with 6:31 left in the third quarter.
With seconds remaining in the quarter, Kiffin gambled on fourth-and-7 at midfield and hit Harris on a slant. The received then dashed 48 yards for a 17-13 lead.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Receiving
Kentucky |
|
Mississippi |
Dane Key
|
Player |
Tre Harris
|
8 |
Receptions |
11 |
105 |
Yards |
176 |
13.1 |
Avg Yards |
16.0 |
1 |
Touchdowns |
1 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Kentucky
|
336 |
93 |
243 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4.0 |
1 |
Mississippi
|
353 |
92 |
261 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5.0 |
1 |