OXFORD — Ole Miss’ pash rush once again exerted its will on Saturday.
The Rebels recorded nine quarterback sacks in their 26-14 win over Oklahoma. Two of those came on Oklahoma’s final real scoring threat. In total, the Rebels recorded six of their sacks of the Sooners’ Jackson Arnold in the second half, a stanza Ole Miss won, 19-0.
It was the second week in a row Oklahoma surrendered nine sacks. The Sooners allowed nine to South Carolina in a loss in Norman last weekend.
Suntarine Perkins recorded three sacks for Ole Miss. JJ Pegues and Princely Umanmielen, returning from an injury earlier in the season, had two each. Jared Ivey and Akelo Stone each recorded one sack.
“It was great to see,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “It was good to have Princely back. We missed him before."
"It felt really, really good," Umanmielen said. "These past two weeks, it was really hard for me watching my time and not being able to help, especially against LSU. ...It feels amazing. We work it day-in and day-out. When we get into games and it pays off, it feels great and I think it shows how great our D-line is."
Umanmielen said the Rebels' defense felt it had to "step up to the plate" after trailing at halftime.
"It's amazing," Umanmielen said. "We were really tired of being in those close games. We wanted to come out and dominate. It does a lot for our confidence and our team dynamic moving forward."
Nolen injured: Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen appeared to injure his left leg late in the second quarter Saturday. Nolen did not return to the game. He spent the second half on the Ole Miss sideline, without his helmet, walking with a noticeable limp.
Kiffin declined to provide an update on Nolen’s status.
“That’s all I’ve got for you,” Kiffin said. “I actually thought he was going back in and he decided he wasn’t going in.”
Harris sits, offensive line shuffled: Ole Miss’ leading receiver, Tre Harris, did not play Saturday after suffering a new injury two weeks ago in a loss at LSU. Harris first suffered a foot injury in a win over South Carolina three weeks ago.
With Harris out, Ole Miss spread the football around. Caden Prieskorn was the Rebels’ leading receiver, catching five passes for 71 yards and a touchdown. Jordan Watkins and Cayden Lee had four catches for 59 yards each. Dae’Quan Wright and Juice Wells had three receptions each.
“We told them this needed to be a big tight-end game,” Kiffin said. “That was good to see. We worked the middle of the field with them and started personnel-wise with them.”
"We just really wanted to bounce back and we did it in a big way," Prieskorn said. "The last two weeks, we've been focusing on the fundamentals. I thought it showed today. We made some mistakes still. ...(Harris) will be back and I feel like we'll keep this thing rolling."
“I thought the coaches did a great job scheming up the past two weeks,” Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart said, adding a third-down, 26-yard pass to Micah Davis was a turning point Saturday. “We knew what we had to do.”
Ole Miss shook up its offensive line Saturday as well. Julius Buelow moved into Micah Pettus’ right tackle spot. Gerquan Scott started at right guard. Reese McIntyre played center, flanked by Nate Kalepo and Diego Pounds on the left side. Pettus, who has a knee injury, per sources, didn’t play. Jayden Williams, who started the season at left tackle, missed yet another game with a knee injury. Caleb Warren played sparingly at guard.
“We’ll go back and look at the film,” Kiffin said. "I’m not sure how they played.”
Kiffin said Pettus informed the Ole Miss staff before the game he couldn’t play. Kiffin said he entered Saturday believing Pettus would play.
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Scary moment: In the second half Saturday, Oxford-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kurre Luber appeared to collapse on the Ole Miss sideline. Play stopped while medical personnel attended to Luber. The entire Ole Miss team gathered for a prayer for Luber while he was on the ground.
Luber eventually walked off with assistance, but under his own power.
“He’s been awesome around here, awesome to my family,” Kiffin said. “He’s a great man. That was a scary moment. …It was pretty neat that he was back. We saw him after the game.”
Miscellaneous: Saturday marked the first time in the Lane Kiffin era that anyone who had a carry, could not run break a run longer than nine yards. Henry Parrish Jr. was Ole Miss’ leading rusher Saturday, rushing 15 times for 44 yards, with a long of nine yards. Jaxson Dart had an eight-yard run. …Ole Miss’ captains Saturday were McIntyre, TJ Dottery and Trey Washington. …Oklahoma won the toss, deferred. ...Several Ole Miss players Saturday expressed congratulations for Watkins, who became a father to a daughter earlier in the week.
NFL presence: Scouts from the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Los Angeles Chargers, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans, in addition to a representative from the Reese’s Senior Bowl, attended Saturday’s game.
