Ole Miss 52, Vanderbilt 17: A 28-point second quarter and four turnovers

No. 9 Ole Miss settled this one before halftime. The Rebels scored 28 points in the second quarter, two of those touchdowns in the final 43 seconds, and took a 42-3 lead into the break at FirstBank Stadium. Vanderbilt held the ball longer and converted more third downs, but four turnovers undid all of it.

The 52-17 win puts Ole Miss at 4-1 a week after a 52-28 loss at Florida. Vanderbilt falls to 3-3 with a third straight defeat.

How it was won

Trinidad Chambliss opened the scoring with a 10-yard run at 10:37 of the first quarter. Brock Taylor answered with a 45-yard field goal for Vanderbilt, and that was as close as it got. Kewan Lacy ran in from 2 yards to make it 14-3 after one.

The second quarter was the game. Chambliss found Jamarious Brown from 2 yards at 9:09 and Deuce Alexander from 39 yards at 4:41. Then, with 43 seconds left in the half, Suntarine Perkins fell on a fumble in the end zone for a 5-yard defensive touchdown. Twenty seconds later Chambliss hit Michael Smith from 4 yards. Lucas Carneiro's kick made it 42-3.

Vanderbilt got its only offensive touchdown of the half that mattered at 7:27 of the third, Jared Curtis throwing 13 yards to Ja'Cory Thomas. Carneiro added a 42-yard field goal early in the fourth, and Shekai Mills-Knight broke a 35-yard run at 8:20 to reach 52. Jamezell Lassiter's 1-yard run with 42 seconds left closed the scoring.

The box score shows a closer game than the scoreboard. Ole Miss had 409 total yards to Vanderbilt's 343, and 22 first downs to 19. The Commodores held the ball for 33:56 and went 9 of 17 on third down; Ole Miss went 5 of 11 and had the ball for 26:04. The difference was turnovers: Vanderbilt gave it away four times, Ole Miss once.

Chambliss went 20 of 30 for 213 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, and added the rushing score. Alexander led the receivers with 5 catches for 74 yards, and Traylon Ray had 4 for 43. Makhi Frazier carried 13 times for 73 yards as Ole Miss ran for 196.

For Vanderbilt, Curtis was 19 of 32 for 222 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Thomas caught 3 passes for 60 yards and Junior Sherrill 5 for 55. Makhilyn Young led the ground game with 37 yards on 9 carries.

Against the number

Ole Miss closed at -9.5 and won by 35, covering by 25.5 points. The moneyline closed at Ole Miss -355 and Vanderbilt +280, so the market had the Rebels as clear favorites, though not by anything like this margin.

The total closed at 54.5 and 69 points were scored, over by 14.5. The 45 first-half points did most of that work on their own. Full prices and the line history are on the game page.

What's next

Ole Miss stays home against No. 13 Missouri on Saturday, October 17, on SEC Network. It is the Rebels' third ranked opponent of the season, after a win over No. 24 Louisville, a win over No. 7 LSU and the loss at No. 21 Florida.

Vanderbilt hosts Arkansas the same day on ESPN2. The Commodores started 3-0 against Austin Peay, Delaware and NC State, and have since lost to Auburn, No. 2 Georgia and Ole Miss. Cutting down the turnovers is the first item on the list.