OXFORD — Jared Ivey hadn’t scored a touchdown since the fifth grade.
Sure, he’d scored on the receiving end of a couple of 2-point conversion passes in high school, but defensive linemen don’t exactly spend a lot of time in the end zone.
Late Saturday, however, Ivey picked up a fumble on the tail end of a quarterback sack and rumbled 20 yards for a touchdown to put Ole Miss’ 37-20 win over Tulane away.
“It was a great feeling,” Ivey said. “We called in the Thick 6. I haven’t been across that white line in a long time. I’m very blessed.”
Ivey joked about the touchdown in the fifth grade, noting that he was a tight end facing double coverage who scored on a slot fade throw from his quarterback.
“That was my last time really scoring six,” Ivey said, laughing.
Ivey and the 17th-ranked Rebels (2-0) entertain his former team, Georgia Tech, on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised on the SEC Network. Georgia Tech heads to Oxford with a 1-1 record.
Ole Miss trailed Tulane, 17-7, in the second quarter and didn’t put the Green Wave away until late. Ivey said that’s something Ole Miss can use to its advantage moving forward.
“I think that’s super valuable to experience early in the season,” Ivey said. “It’s something we didn’t experience last year and we kind of got hit in the mouth there in the back half. I think that’ll speak volumes into our improvement moving forward and I think that will be a quick turnaround into next week.”
Ole Miss defended more than 80 snaps on Saturday, but Ivey said he felt fresh in the second half, even while playing in 95-degree heat and on artificial turf.
“I think that speaks to our depth,” Ivey said. “We’re able to just roll guys. …The trust is unbelievable. The bond is unlike any bond I’ve ever had in a room. Everybody wants to see everybody eat. I’m super grateful to have those guys around me.”
Ole Miss dominated Georgia Tech last season in Atlanta, but Ivey said no one in Oxford will be overlooking the Yellow Jackets Saturday.
“Keep on a roll and keep the preparation where it needs to be — super detailed in practice, super physical with the scout team,” Ivey said. “We need the scout guys to come out and give us a great look. This will be a team coming off a high-scoring game and with a little bit of confidence. I know they fell early (to Louisville) in a game they should’ve won, so they’re going to come with a chip on their shoulder and the attention has to be there to combat that from the start to the finish.”
Davis receives SEC honors: Ole Miss football senior kicker Caden Davis has been named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week, as announced by the conference on Monday morning.
Davis played a pivotal role in Ole Miss’ 37-20 ranked victory at No. 22 Tulane last week, going a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals and 4-for-4 on PATs. Davis’ biggest moment of the day came with 1:53 left to play in the fourth quarter, when he nailed a career-long 56-yard field goal to put the Rebels up 10 after being down by 10 points in the first half. That field goal registers as the fourth-longest in school history, as well as the best by a Rebel since 1988. This season, Davis’ kick leads the SEC and ranks tied for No. 2 in the FBS.
Davis is currently a perfect 4-for-4 in field goals this season. Prior to transferring to Ole Miss, Davis had just one in four career tries in three seasons at Texas A&M, where his career long was 40 yards.
Ole Miss-Alabama set for CBS: Ole Miss’ SEC opener at Alabama on Sept. 23 is set for 2:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by CBS.
Next Saturday will mark the 71st all-time meeting between Ole Miss and Alabama. The Crimson Tide holds a 57-10-2 series lead, with the original record being 58-11-2 before vacated wins.
