(suspenseful bell music)
- [Narrator] The start of the 2016 football season
for the Ole Miss Rebels placed them
on the biggest stage of the opening weekend.
The only primetime game on Labor Day night,
the Rebels would square off against
the Florida State Seminoles
in what was essentially their own backyard.
- Being able to play on that stage was an awesome feeling
for me personally and then for our players as well.
- Only game on TV, eight o'clock primetime,
everybody's watching so a lot of emotions were going too.
We were really hyped.
- Fly around, 11 hats to the ball on every snap.
If you need a blow, I'll get you out.
- Play the game the way it's supposed to be played.
You've prepared and you're ready.
- All camp we talked about rise up,
rise up, this matter's in--
- [Team] Our hands.
- Your hands.
Nobody else really matters.
No one gets to define for you who we are.
It's time now to finally
finally put the ball down and let's go play.
- When we're able to run the football effectively
and throw play-action off of it,
we're a pretty salty offense.
And that's what we were able to do in the first half:
mix the run up with the pass and be very balanced.
- Our offensive plan in the first half was really effective.
We went tempo; we went fast.
We got the ball downfield.
We protected well.
Chad made great decisions and threw great balls.
In the first half we were really clicking.
♫ Oh
- [Announcer] Kelly well protected, loops a ball
to a wide open man, AJ Brown!
- Hey, he's only a freshman; he's only gonna get better.
- [Announcer] Kelly, slant, caught.
Touchdown, Damore'ea Stringfellow!
- Who messing with us?
- [Announcer] And the Rebels strike
in less than two minutes.
- It got so loud, I couldn't hear nothing at first.
- [Announcer] Fake, over the middle.
Caught by Engram!
He's down the middle of the field to the 15.
- Tell 'em to move the sticks, man.
Move the sticks, man!
- [Announcer] DK Metcalf, the freshman from Oxford
is in at wideout to the left.
One-on-one, left corner of the endzone,
and it is going to be caught!
Touchdown, the freshman DK Metcalf!
- For him to be able to jump high enough to reach
over the defender and tip that ball up to him,
that's pretty special, by anybody,
but very special by a true freshman.
- [Announcer] The hometown kid, welcome to college football!
- Hey, that ain't that much weight (mumbling).
- [Teammate] Hey, good job out there!
- [Announcer] Play-action pass nearside.
He caught it, midfield!
- [Announcer] He sees all these young guys making plays.
Now the veteran getting involved.
- [Announcer] An empty set. Kelly over the middle.
He's got his man. Caught, touchdown!
- Oh yeah, baby!
- [Announcer] Hit him in stride.
And the Rebels get six more.
- They went two-high safeties so I just broke in the middle,
and literally as I stuck the ball was already in the air
so as soon as I turned my head the ball
was literally right in my hands.
It was a beautiful ball by Chad.
- [Announcer] That's anticipating from Chad Kelly.
Engram wasn't even looking for the football.
- [Announcer] Second-down handoff, Judd, stutter-steps,
and gets into the endzone!
Rebels in the red zone, stay perfect tonight.
- [Announcer] Four red zone trips, four touchdowns.
(low grungy bass music)
- [Narrator] As the Rebel offense was heating up,
the Seminole attack was frozen in place.
- [Announcer] Dropped in the backfield.
Cook has nowhere to go.
- We knew that if we could stop the run game
with Dalvin Cook then it would kinda
force them to pass more.
- Our d-line controlled the line of scrimmage.
Our linebackers were flying around.
Our defense was playing really great.
They fought all game.
And I think they got some room to grow and get better,
and that's the scary part.
- [Announcer] Handoff left side.
Stuck is Patrick by Benito Jones.
- [Announcer] Francois hit and dropped.
Marquis Haynes grabbed the quarterback.
- Francois, he took some hits now.
He got stoked a little bit in that game,
so to see us put pressure on him in the first half
was very very satisfying for us.
- [Announcer] Second down, 10, for the Seminoles.
He gives to Cook, and he's hammered at the 40!
Issac Gross, welcome back, the senior.
- Landshark nation, baby. We're gonna set a statement, baby.
We come here tonight and make a statement, baby.
- They start to run, that's dumb.
They're not used to no d-line like y'all, swarming.
(mumbling)
- It's showtime.
It's showtime.
(rock music)
- [Narrator] For all that went right in the first half
of play for Ole Miss, there was one play above all others
that cast a long shadow on the game.
- [Announcer] Sets to throw, settles,
fires deep down the middle.
One-on-one coverage.
The pass is gonna be incomplete at the 10 yard line,
intended for Kermit Whitfield.
And back there defensively to knock
the ball away was Kendarius Webster,
but Webster is shaken up.
Laying flat on his face at the eight yard line.
- [Announcer] Looks like he came down on his knee, guys.
It does not look good.
That left knee, looks like he came up
holding it after he hit the ground.
- Whenever he got hurt, it was just,
it was devastating, but at the same time
it was amazing that he was trying to encourage us
to get those guys, BFSU.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.
"You guys do your job.
"Don't worry about me.
"Y'all go ahead and get this win for me."
And I just thought that was amazing that he wasn't
even worried about his self in a time like that.
He was selfless, and he wanted what was best for the team.
- We talk about family all the time
and playing for the guy next to you.
At the end of the day, you wanna make sure
that you do more for him than you do for yourself.
For him to do that, while he knew that his season
was possibly over, speaks volume of his character.
And that's what we try to teach on this team,
just to put team first.
- [Narrator] It was a game of two halves,
with the Rebels dominating the first
and Florida State controlling the second.
- [Announcer] Kelly to throw, swings it nearside.
Deflected and intercepted!
- Anytime you turn the football over,
especially on your end, it's gonna be tough.
You give those guys a short field,
the whole playbook is open.
[Announcer] And Lewis' pick, Francois' scramble,
Stevenson's touchdown, and here come the 'Noles.
- [Announcer] Kelly to throw, in trouble,
and he's gonna lose the football, as he's sacked.
It's spinning on the ground.
There's a pileup, and Florida State recovers it at the 11.
Toss-pitch, sweeping to the left.
Getting to the corner and in the endzone.
- [Announcer] A furious rally fueled by
a couple of turnovers, and the 'Noles are in front.
- Man, it's real tough.
We had it in our hands and then it just
kinda slowly starts seeping away.
- It was tough.
I think those two turnovers really changed the momentum
and got the crowd back into the game,
and that's something we control.
Those are mistakes that we control,
as taking care of the football.
- [Announcer] Here's the play-action.
Looking to throw, Francois.
Fires, back corner of the endzone, right side.
Touchdown, Izzo.
Wide open.
- [Announcer] The 'Noles have put together a 30-nothing run.
Rebels reeling now in Orlando.
- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Eyes up.
Eyes up, big fella.
Eyes up, eyes up, dude, eyes up.
Hey, eyes up, eyes up!
- [Announcer] And the Seminoles figured out a way
to right the ship and get the win.
The fourth-ranked 'Noles over the 11th-ranked Rebels.
45-34 our final score.
- The thing you knew is that a good football team
was gonna come in here tonight;
one was gonna win, one was gonna lose.
And now, all the things we talked about,
rising up and all that stuff, so now you get tested.
We have to take it on the field
and go earn our way through the Southeastern Conference.
We got a great home schedule.
We gotta get back on a short week
and play a difficult offense to defend.
And we've got to fix all the mistakes
and start taking care of the football.
But then you've gotta stay together
and leaders have to lead.
There's so much buildup into these games like this
that how you handle it will determine that.
You know that the last three national champions
have lost a game and had to come back from it.
So what kind of team will we become?
Keep your head up.
We win together, we lose together,
and we move forward together.
They definitely came out of the locker room
with a lot more life.
And we turned the ball over twice.
That really shifted the momentum to their favor.
And when you're playing in a game against
one of the nation's best teams,
you can't turn the ball over like that.
We wanted to stay balanced and we just didn't.
We weren't balanced at all.
And then the two turnovers that kinda just shifted
the whole momentum of the game.
Then we didn't feel like we had an opportunity to run.
That front is very very talented.
That whole defense is.
They returned so many kids and they're very talented
and once they got momentum and knew we were one-dimensional
it makes for a difficult task.
We get ready to start a home stand at...
Our September's very brutal.
We gotta play a difficult offense to defend in a short week,
and then we've got two big conference games coming in,
so there's no time to sit around
and feel sorry for yourself.
It's a long season.
We gotta get ready to play.
- One thing we take from this game is finishing.
We looked unstoppable.
We were unstoppable in the first half.
- We won't hold our heads down.
We use it as motivation to definitely just step up
and as a wake-up call.
- We couldn't be any more excited.
We're ready to get this bad taste out of our mouth
and get back home in front of our fans.
- Wilfred, just watching film on them,
they're gonna be a nice challenge for us;
one that we wanna get back on the field and get
back going and get this sour taste out of our mouths.
- It's gonna be a fun weekend and I can't wait
to see our fans and the new stadium.