Saturday afternoon’s football game between the Ole Miss Rebels and Kentucky Wildcats was an offensive shoot-out, and the Cats came up short as they fell to the Rebels 37-34. 

The loss drops UK’s record to 6-3. After starting off the season 5-1, the Cats have dropped two of the last three games.

The shoot-out began early as seven of the nine drives from both teams in the first half resulted in points being put on the scoreboard. Kentucky was a perfect 4-4 on their drives, including two touchdowns from Benny Snell in the second quarter.

Snell’s second touchdown from the one-yard line gave the Cats a three-point lead heading into halftime after trailing for 24:12 in the first half. Snell had 66 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

The Cats got the ball to start the second half, and increased their lead to 10 with a 46-yard touchdown from C.J. Conrad. Conrad also had a big day, catching five passes for 75 yards, plus the touchdown.

Going into the fourth quarter, however, the game was tied after Ole Miss’ defense picked up the intensity, while their offense made up the point deficit. Ole Miss would take the lead off a 49-yard field goal from Gary Wunderlich early in the fourth quarter.

During the span where Ole Miss scored 13-unanswered points, UK’s four drives all resulted in three and outs, while gaining a total of 14 yards.

After the four consecutive punts, UK’s offense was able to break out of their slump with a 12-play, 95-yard touchdown drive led by Snell. The sophomore running back accounted for 77 yards on the drive and scored the then game-winning touchdown from one-yard out with 2:14 remaining.

Ole Miss would get the ball back one last time with over two minutes remaining, and was able to generate the game-winning touchdown drive. Quarterback Jordan Ta’amu led the Rebels down the field, and threw his fourth touchdown of the game to D.K. Metcalf with five seconds remaining.

Kentucky attempted to score on the ensuing kickoff return, but wasn’t able to generate the magic needed to get their seventh win.

In a losing effort, Snell would finish with 176 yards and on 28 carries, including his three touchdowns. It was the first time Snell has had back-to-back three-touchdown games in his young career.

The Cats will have a week to get over their dissppointing loss before playing their next two games on the road, starting at Vanderbilt on Nov. 11. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. on the SEC Network.