Southern Illinois Salukis vs Ole Miss Rebels Match Player Stats On Sep 08, 2018

Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta'amu threw for 448 yards and five touchdowns as the Rebels overcame a shaky defensive first half to defeat the visiting Southern Illinois Salukis 76-41 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.

The senior completed 23 of 33 passes with no interceptions in outdueling Salukis fifth-year senior quarterback Sam Straub, who passed for four touchdowns and rushed for another as the Salukis (1-1) matched the Rebels (2-0) score for score throughout the first half.

Ole Miss finished with 646 yards, while Southern Illinois of the Missouri Valley Conference racked up 629.

Junior running back Scottie Phillips, the SEC's offensive player of the week after he rushed for 204 yards and two touchdowns in the Rebels' opening win over Texas Tech last week, rushed for 107 yards and two more touchdowns on 15 carries Saturday.

Ole Miss finally took the lead for good on junior A.J. Brown's second touchdown reception of the game, a 46-yarder he caught at the pylon, and the extra point gave the Rebels a 42-38 lead about four minutes into the second half.

Wide receiver Elijah Moore and Braylon Sanders also caught touchdown passes of 50 yards and 30 yards, respectively, for the Rebels. Brown finished with eight catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns. Sanders piled up 133 yards on four catches.

Straub, who completed 29 of 47 passes for 382 yards, engineered scoring drives on all six of the Salukis' possessions of the first half. He found Raphael Leonard for touchdowns of 70 yards and 9 yards in the second quarter. The 6-foot-2 senior Leonard finished with six catches for 117 yards.

Southern Illinois also got 121 yards on 16 carries by 5-8 junior D.J. Davis.

Nico Gualdoni's second field goal of the game, a 26-yarder, brought the Salukis to within 42-41 with five minutes left in the third quarter, but the Rebels quickly answered with a five-play, 75-yard drive capped by Ta'amu's 5-yard touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf to go up 49-41.

Metcalf finished with seven catches for 93 yards.

Ole Miss used its defense's first takeaway of the season to pull away, when linebacker Vernon Dasher ended a 12-play drive by the Salukis, picking off Straub and bringing it back 88 yards early in the fourth quarter. The missed extra point left the Rebels up 55-41.

Off an interception in the next series, Isaiah Woullard ran for a 2-yard touchdown to make it 62-41, and defensive end Victor Evans returned a Straub fumble 56 yards to make it 69-41.

Backup quarterback Matt Corral rushed for a 1-yard touchdown to finish the scoring.

Nigel Kilby (9-yarder) and Landon Lenoir (7-yarder) had touchdown receptions for Southern Illinois in the first quarter.

--Field Level Media