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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Takes LSU Into Overtime, Falls 23-20
11/18/2006 | Football
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Colt David kicked a 26-yard field goal in overtime to lift No. 9 LSU to a 23-20 victory over Ole Miss on Saturday night.
JaMarcus Russell and Dwayne Bowe hooked up on a fourth down touchdown pass in the final seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime.
LSU (9-2, 5-2) could have won in regulation after Bowe's touchdown, but the Rebels blocked the extra point.
Ole Miss (3-8, 1-6 SEC) opened overtime on offense, but LSU's Daniel Francis forced Rebel quarterback Brent Schaeffer to fumble and Tyson Jackson recovered for the Tigers.
It was a crushing loss for the Rebels, who were 27-point underdogs and were in position to pull out a shocking victory.
LSU trailed 20-7 when the Tigers opened a drive on their own 41-yard line with 11:13 to play.
Russell marched LSU down the field in 2:27, hitting Doucet for a leaping grab in the end zone on a 4-yard pass to make the score 20-14. Russell completed five passes for 46 yards on the drive, misfiring only once.
LSU's final drive began at the Tigers' 42 with 2:35 remaining. Russell drove quickly drove LSU downfield with a pair of completions and scrambles of 15 and 12 yards to set up a first-and-goal at the 5.
But three straight incompletions left Ole Miss one play from victory when Russell and Bowe connected for the second time in the game. It was the 22nd connection between the pair in their college careers, a school record that had been held by Tommy Hodson and Wendell Davis, who combined for 21 touchdowns in the late 1980s.
Russell finished 19-of-35 for 217 yards and three touchdowns. Bowe had seven catches for 64 yards.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis carried the load for Ole Miss, rushing for 96 yards and a touchdown. Ole Miss' two quarterbacks, Schaeffer and Seth Adams, combined for only 95 yards passing and one touchdown from Schaeffer to Bruce Hall.
Ole Miss held the Tigers to a scoreless tie through the first quarter, even converting a fake punt on fourth-and-1 on its opening drive.
But the Rebels paid for trying a second fake punt in their own territory late in the first quarter. It failed and led to LSU's first score off the game as Russell hit Bowe on a third-and-goal from the 13 for a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The ensuring kickoff went into the end zone for what should have been a touchback, but LSU was called offsides. On the rekick, Marshay Green found an opening on the left side, then cut right for a 53-yard return to the LSU 34. Six plays later, Hall took a screen pass 22 yards for a score.
Ole Miss gambled again, recovering an onside kick on the LSU 39. After a 15-yard personal foul took Ole Miss to the LSU 19, Green-Ellis carried five times in a row, the last a soaring dive over a pile at the goal line to put the Rebels up 14-7 before a shocked crowd of 92,449 in Death Valley.
It was the first time all season LSU had found itself trailing in eight games in Tiger Stadium.
Green came up with anther big return, this one for 62 yards, as Ole Miss opened the second half on the LSU 33. Kicker Joshua Shene, who missed a late field goal from 37 yards late in the first half, hit from 38 to put Ole Miss ahead 17-7.
Riding the back of Green-Ellis' powerful runs again, the Rebels took a 20-7 lead on Shene's 45-yard field goal late in the third quarter.