Ole Miss 27-3 South Carolina (Oct. 5, 2024) Game Recap

COLUMBIA, S.C. – JJ Pegues, a 325-pound nose tackle, ran for two short touchdowns as No. 12 Mississippi rebounded from its first loss of the season to beat South Carolina 27-3 on Saturday and give coach Lane Kiffin his 100th win. Career victory.

The Rebels (5-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) took advantage of two early chances from the Gamecocks (3-2, 1-2) to quickly build a lead and take control.

Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer — son of Frank Beamer, a coach known for his special teams prowess at Virginia Tech — faked a punt on fourth-and-1 at his own 36 and Ole Miss linebacker Chris Paul Jr. stuffed Maurice Brown II too short.

Five plays later, Henry Parrish Jr. ran for a 3-yard touchdown to give the Rebels a 7-0 lead.

On South Carolina’s next series, quarterbacks LaNorris Sellers and Robby Ashford were in the formation. After sliding in, Ashford fumbled the ball and defensive tackle Walter Nolen recovered.

The Rebels’ ensuing drive ended with the first of two 1-yard rushing scores by Pegues. The fifth-grader took the direct snap and pushed through the line for the TD.

Shortly before half time Pegues was back at the start. This time he carefully stepped left to find a clear path to the end zone as Mississippi took a 24-3 lead. It was his fifth offensive goal of his career, four of which he scored on the ground this season. He also had a TD catch in 2022.

Pegues and the defense took care of the rest as South Carolina went without a touchdown for the first time since a 34-12 four-field goal loss at Missouri last October.

It was a pleasing result for Mississippi, which was beaten 20-17 at home by Kentucky last week. Another loss and the Rebels’ chances of making the College Football Playoff would have been significantly hurt.

Kiffin, Ole Miss coach since 2020, reached the milestone of his career in his 13th season.

The takeaway food

Mississippi: The Rebels weren’t the best version of themselves as quarterback Jaxson Dart missed shots at times. He finished 14 of 27 for 285 yards and went without throwing a touchdown for the first time this season.

South Carolina: Things don’t get any easier for the Gamecocks as they follow Ole Miss with trips to No. 1 Alabama and No. 19 Oklahoma before closing out October at home against No. 25 Texas A&M. You’ll need to find an attack quickly to beat this route.

Next

Mississippi will face No. 13 LSU next Saturday night.

South Carolina faces top-ranked Alabama on Saturday.

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