After starting inside its own 15-yard line on its first two drives Ole Miss finally decent field position, starting on its own 24. Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson, on a quick slant route, threw the ball right to Levi Wallace for his second career interception. Wallace would proceed untouched into the end zone putting Alabama up 14.
Fourteen would be all Alabama needed as it went on to win 66-3.
Wallace would intercept his second pass with 4:40 left in the third quarter. He would return that one 31 yards.
“I just was trying to help my team win,” Wallace said. “Its (scoring his first career touchdown) a great feeling. It was a team effort, I had blockers all around me. I give credit to the whole defense.”
Alabama’s defense was once again a terror for the opposing offense allowing just 253 yards, a full 243.67 yards less than Ole Miss’s average (496.67) in its first three games.
Patterson, who was averaging about 400 yards passing a game, finished with just 165 yards. The Rebels totaled 88 rushing yards, led by Jordan Wilkins, who finished with 102 yards.
“They averaged 400 some yards a game and they ended up getting (253), so a pretty good job by somebody,” coach Nick Saban said.
Through four games, the Crimson Tide defense only had five sacks, with the majority of them coming against Florida State in its first game. Alabama matched its total against the Rebels, sacking Patterson five times for a loss of 30 yards.
“We brought pressure in different ways,” Minkah Fitzpatrick said. “That’s one of the main goals for our defense is to always effect the quarterback. I think we got to him a little more pressure on him. (after the first quarter). Pressure is almost as good as a sack, because it forces bad throws and things like that, but when you get a sack, get to the goal, it feels pretty good.”
Fitzpatrick finished with a team high eight tackles, five of which were solo. He also picked up a sack and two tackles for loss.
Ole Miss finished with a total of 11 first downs, but faced 13 third-down attempts, failing to pick up a first-down once. The Rebels were forced to punt nine times, with an average of 36 yards a punt.
Da’Shawn Hand left the game in the third quarter because of an apparent knee injury. Saban believes that it was a MCL strain, which would be about a month recovery.
“He’s a big part of our defense,” Rashaan Evans said. “For anybody to go down like that, it was kind of devastating. He’s a guy that is one of my best friends, so when I saw him go down it was kind of personal for me. He’s a guy we definitely need.”
Trevon Diggs was also hurt late in the second quarter. He came back to the sideline on crutches and with a boot on his right foot. Both Diggs and Hand will be evaluated on Sunday.
Alabama travels to Texas A&M for its third straight SEC game on Saturday Oct. 8.
