In his first start, Jeremiah Masoli threw for a long score and ran for another, and the Ole Miss defense was able to avoid a second consecutive late-game collapse as the Rebels defeated Tulane 27-13 in New Orleans.

Ole Miss jumped out early, scoring on their first two drives with a 4th down sneak by Masoli and a 16-yard run by Brandon Bolden.

The Rebels would cap the first half of scoring with Masoli completing the first of two key throws to Markeith Summers. The first, a 70-yard strike, gave Ole Miss a 24-3 lead at halftime.

“I was really excited about our effort, especially in the first half,” Nutt said. “We talked really hard about finishing, I thought we finished very hard in the fourth quarter.”

The third quarter would be a different story, however, as Ole Miss failed to amass a single yard of offense as Tulane started their comeback.

The Green Wave marched down the field with a 12-play, 84-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown by Tulane running back Darkwa Orleans.

The fourth quarter started similarly as Santos Cairo hit a 38-yard field goal, cutting Ole Miss’ lead to 24-13.

It appeared that Ole Miss would follow last game’s blueprint that saw the team blow a 31-13 lead to Football Championship Subdivision opponent Jacksonville State.

If the game was not on the fan’s mind, it was certainly on the players,.

“Ah man, every day I replay it,” said safety Johnny Brown. “After the game I couldn’t even sleep.”

Jeremiah Masoli completed his second long pass of the game again to Summers, who had 165 yards receiving on the night. Masoli’s 61-yard strike set up a 29-yard Bryson Rose field goal with eight minutes remaining in the game.

The defense was able to hold Tulane scoreless the rest of the contest thanks to increased quarterback pressure by the likes of Jonathan Cornell, who led the team with 11 tackles and three sacks.