OXFORD, Miss. – Shea Patterson hit A.J. Brown for two touchdowns covering more than 70 yards in the third quarter, helping Ole Miss break open a 13-10 game at the half to earn a 47-27 non-conference football victory over the University of South Alabama Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Patterson found Brown for a 71-yard score on the second play after the intermission, then the two connected again for a 77-yard touchdown on the Rebels' next possession less than two-and-a-half minutes later to extend the Ole Miss (1-0) advantage to 26-10 less than three minutes into the second half.  Patterson finished 28-of-35 passing for 429 yards and four scores to guide an OU offense that gained 531 total yards, while Brown caught eight balls for 233 yards and D.K. Metcalf also posted eight receptions.

Cole Garvin threw for 204 yards and reached the end zone twice on the ground in the final quarter as the Jaguars held a 170-102 advantage rushing, while Jeremy Reaves and Riley Cole recorded eight stops apiece to pace South (0-1).

Ole Miss 47, South Alabama 27 (final stats)
South Alabama/Ole Miss photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-After losing 14 yards on their first two series, the Jaguars opening scoring drive of the season covered 95 yards in 19 plays — the most snaps and time taken off the clock ever in school history on a possession ending in points — before Gavin Patterson connected on a 20-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.
-Jamarius Way tied the game nearly two-and-a-half minutes later with a 30-yard touchdown catch from Garvin on his first career reception.
-The Rebels outgained South, 214-112, while outscoring the Jags 27-3 in the third quarter.
-OM was 6-of-10 on third-down conversions while holding USA to just 10 percent (1-of-10) on third downs in the contest.
-Tra Minter gained 83 yards on 12 carries in his Jaguar debut to lead all rushers.

NOTES
-Ole Miss was the fourth different Southeastern Conference school USA has played over the last six seasons.
-The loss ended a three-game win streak for the Jaguars on opening day.
-It marked the first time in school history that South has surrendered more than 400 yards passing in a game.
-Reaves became the fifth player in USA history to surpass 200 tackles in a career with the performance, which included a personal-best two stops behind the line of scrimmage and his first-ever sack at the collegiate level.
-Cole shared game-high honors in tackles after being credited with four total stops in three appearances last fall before suffering a season-ending injury.
-Sa'Mory Collier and Sam Harris led South with four and three catches, respectively, with both recording career-high totals in the category.
-It was the first time Patterson connected on multiple field goals since he hit two in a 13-10 victory over Georgia State on Oct. 29 last fall.
-Corliss Waitman's average of 46.4 yards per punt was the best of his career in a game in which he has kicked more than once.
-Brown broke an Ole Miss game record first set in 1993 for receiving yards in a game.
-Jaylon Jones' 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter was the first allowed by the Jaguars since Nov. 6, 2010.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Joey Jones
Opening statement: "First of all, I thought our guys fought their tails off out there tonight throughout the whole ball game, and that's the first thing I had asked them to do.  One of our goals on defense tonight was to not give up big plays.  Obviously we achieved that in the first half and we didn't in the second half.  We also gave up a kickoff touchdown return which isn't good.  The positives for us were that we held [Ole Miss] to right at 100-yards rushing.  I thought offensively to rush for 170 yards against an SEC team was really good.  We had no turnovers and 22 yards in penalties, so there were a lot of positives from tonight.  Ole Miss has some great athletes and some future NFL players on that team.  They were able to make the big plays and that was the difference in the ball game"
On improvements in the running game: "I think we have two really good running backs in Tra Minter and Xavier Johnson, and our offensive line is better.  I knew one way or the other we were going to find out about that tonight and I thought we didn't a very good job.  During the first two series, the speed of the game kind of got to us with their big, fast guys on defense; we were kind of shocked, but we got settled in after that and we started playing much better."
On Cole Garvin's performance: "I thought Cole played well.  He was gutsy out there, made some really good throws and ran the ball well.  He didn't have the deer-in-the-head lights look at all and came out and played like a champion."
On the Jaguar defense: "When you stop the run, you've got a chance to beat a lot of people.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen tonight and we gave up way to many big plays.  I feel good about the way we stopped the run, but on the flip side I don't feel good about the way we tackled in the secondary; if we can correct that, we can be a pretty good football team."
On how tonight can help the team prepare for next week's game: "We saw some really good receivers tonight and I know that [Oklahoma State] has some really good ones as well.  They also have the number one quarterback in the country.  They are going to throw it and run a hurry-up offense every snap.  I'll start looking at them [on film] in the morning, but I know they are very good."

Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack
On Ole Miss's big plays in the passing game: "I thought we did a pretty decent job of taking away [Ole Miss'] first and second read, but what it came down to at the end of the day was our ability to hold the quarterback in the pocket, and when he did scramble we had to tackle and get him on the ground or they were going to make some plays.  If you look at the game, probably those two big plays in the passing game were the difference.  The thing I felt that we needed to do better was on third down; we wanted to dominate third down situations [coming into the game].  We were able to take away some of their early reads, but when he [Shae Patterson] scrambled, we didn't do a good enough job of getting off the field and that's what the game came down too."
On the play of A.J. Brown: "He's a pretty dynamic player; he had over 200 yards [receiving] himself.  I'm not sure we won't see a player as dynamic as Patterson in terms of his passing and escapability.  The most improvement that I'm looking for out of us heading into this next week is the way that we tackle inn space."
On what to take away from this game heading into Oklahoma State: "We have to look at the things we did well tonight.  Obviously we're stopping the run and we were able to get some pressure with our rush, but when it comes to the quarterback moving around — which the one we will face next week isn't quite the same as what we saw — and he makes some throws, which they're going to make, we need to get their tail on the ground.  We'll make that a huge emphasis [in practice]; from week one to week two that's where you should see the most improvement."

Malcolm Buggs
On tonight's game: "I felt like we hung in there.  We were only down three at halftime and came out in the second half and gave up a couple of big plays because of some tackling issues.  We didn't capitalize on plays that we should have made out there.  I give Ole Miss credit; they have some good receivers and a talented quarterback, but this loss is more on us."
On correcting missed tackles: "It's a fundamental thing.  We're going to get back at it in practice.  It's just something that every one of us has to take personally, from the corners, to the safeties, to the linebackers and defensive linemen.  We want to get better and we know that we can get better."
On how to bounce back during the short week: "We just need to get in the film room first and foremost.  We need to elaborate on what we did well and correct the things we didn't do so well, which was tackling and not capitalizing on big plays that we should have made.  There's still a long season in front of us and we can still be a great team."

Cole Garvin
On what to take away from tonight's game: "We were able to execute pretty well; a lot of our problem was that we left stuff on the field, especially on third down.  We were able to get inside the three [yard line] twice and didn't punch it in.  For the most part, we executed."
On what he was telling the offense on the sideline during Ole Miss's two quick scores: "We were just telling ourselves that we had to go back out there and answer on offense.  We tried and we executed, but we left [points] on the field in big-time situations."
On how he felt on the field: "I felt fine.  I just had to adjust after the first couple of drives; once I did that, I was fine."

Jeremy Reaves
On tonight's game: "I take the blame for our performance on defense; that's not what we expect out of ourselves, especially on the back end.  It was a letdown out there and losing Neiko [Robinson] was hard.  [Ole Miss] gashed us in the secondary for big plays and that hurt us; I take that blame and responsibility."
On positives from the game: "We had great energy out there.  Once we settled in, we understood that we could play at a high level and we started executing the game plan.  That was good to see, especially out of the young guys in the secondary."
On how to bounce back with the short week to prepare for Oklahoma State: "We need to get in the film room and work on our fundamentals starting tomorrow.  We have to worry about doing our job correctly and work on our tackling.  We have to take away the big play, because that's what killed us tonight.  Us older guys in the secondary need to step up and make some plays, because that's unacceptable for our group."

Up next: The Jaguars will face No. 10 Oklahoma State — a 59-24 winner against Tulsa Thursday night — Friday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium; kickoff for USA's home opener is set for 7 p.m. (CDT)

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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