Shea Patterson highlights: Quarterback leads Ole Miss over Texas A&M

Published 10:46 pm Saturday, November 12, 2016

It was a night a new star in college football emerged — Shea Patterson, Ole Miss quarterback. You will want to see some of the highlights below, because Patterson showed he’s got serious game.

Shea Patterson, in his first collegiate game ever, threw for 338 yards and two touchdowns in his debut and Gary Wunderlich made a 39-yard field goal with 37 seconds left to lift Ole Miss past No. 10 Texas A&M, 29-28 on Saturday night.

But first, why does Shea Patterson wear number 20 on his jersey? Read that here. Then see the highlights below.

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The Rebels pulled the redshirt off Patterson, the highly regarded recruit, to start in place of Chad Kelly, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week. And Patterson became a star in a matter of hours, with announcers comparing him to Johnny Manziel’s on-field play and social media lighting up.

“Shea Patterson is legendary,” tweeted Donte Moncrief, the former Rebel who plays for the Indianapolis Colts.

Here’s a highlight of Patterson’s first touchdown that began the shooting star.

Ole Miss (5-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) trailed by 15 entering the fourth quarter before Patterson got going.

A 13-yard touchdown reception by Josh Reynolds put A&M up 28-19. Patterson then connected with Van Jefferson on a 32-yard reception for his second TD pass of the quarter to cut the lead to 28-26 with 5:17 remaining.

A&M (7-3, 4-3) had to punt and Patterson moved the offense into position for Wunderlich’s game-winning field goal.

The Aggies had a chance to win it late, but Jake Hubenak was intercepted by Deontay Anderson to secure the victory. Hubenak was making his first start this season in place of Trevor Knight, who injured his shoulder last week.

Early in the fourth quarter Patterson looked like he was channeling A&M Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel when he scrambled to one side, avoided the rush and ran the other way before launching a 6-yard touchdown pass to Damore’ea Stringfellow to get Ole Miss within 21-13.

On their next drive Stringfellow reached out with his right hand and tipped the ball with his fingertips before reeling it in with one hand for an eye-popping 40-yard reception. Akeem Judd’s 21-yard run made it 21-19, but the two-point conversion failed.

The Aggies led 21-6 at halftime thanks to two touchdown runs by Keith Ford.

The Rebels had turnovers on their first two possessions of the second half, but Texas A&M couldn’t convert either of them into points. Patterson threw an interception on the first one and Jason Pellerin was sacked and fumbled after that.

THE TAKEAWAY

MISSISSIPPI: Patterson showed why he was the No. 1 rated dual-threat quarterback recruit by Rivals last year, and should make Ole Miss fans excited about his potential for next season. But first he’ll look to get the Rebels a win over Vanderbilt next week to make them bowl eligible for the fifth straight season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.