By CHRIS BURROWS
The Associated Press
OXFORD — Ole Miss coach Matt Luke believed his Rebels had not lost confidence despite disappointing performances against Alabama and LSU in Southeastern Conference competition. As it turned out, he was absolutely correct.
“We had shown flashes of being really good offensively, even in our losses. Today, we were really consistent,” said Ole Miss coach Matt Luke, as the Rebels scored touchdowns on their opening nine possessions Saturday in a 70-21 win over Louisiana-Monroe at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Jordan Ta’amu was 21-of-24 for 374 yards and accounted for five touchdowns. Ta’amu threw touchdown passes to A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf and DaMarkus Lodge for 20, 62 and 16 yards, respectively. Ta’amu added touchdown runs of 1 and 39 yards, individually accounting for 437 yards of total offense before sitting out the second half.
“I’m very, very proud of Jordan,” Luke said. “Am I excited about the way we started offensively? Absolutely I am. I could sense our team’s focus and confidence was there. They were disappointed by how they had played, but I sensed they still felt good about themselves and our goals.”
The Rebels (4-2) scored on drives of 78, 61, 97, 66, 72 and 74 yards to build an insurmountable 49-7 halftime lead.
Ole Miss freshman quarterback Matt Corral extended the touchdown streak to nine with drives of 75 and 92 yards in the third quarter. Corral passed 11 yards to Phillips before breaking a 61-yard run to cap the opening touchdown series. Corral finished the scoring with a 24-yard TD pass to Elijah Moore.
Corral finished 10-of-10 passing for 143 yards and had six rushes for a game-high 78 yards.
“Matt looked really good on those scoring drives to open the second half,” Luke said. “What I saw in him today was really strong, really positive.”
ULM (2-4, 0-2 Sun Belt Conference) dropped its fourth consecutive game and never seriously threatened. The Warhawks pulled within 28-7 on an 11-yard scoring run by Derrick Gore. Marcus Green scored on a 71-yard punt return and reserve quarterback Colby Suits threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Zachari Jackson in the second half.
“From an offensive standpoint, I thought we could move the ball and we did,” ULM coach Matt Viator said. “We never really got into a rhythm. We just didn’t finish enough drives.”
Caleb Evans was 17-of-28 passing for 206 yards and rushed for 37 yards on 13 carries. The Warhawks finished with 427 yards of offense, but they were largely ineffective in the red zone. R.J. Turner had five receptions for 112 yards.
The Rebels finished with a school-record 826 yards of total offense, 536 in the first half. Lodge and Brown had nine catches apiece for 179 and 133 yards, respectively. Metcalf added four receptions for 115 yards.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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