January 1, 2022 Postseason Neutral site Belt changed hands

Baylor takes the belt, 21–7, at a neutral site over Ole Miss.

Home · Defending Holder

Ole MissAP No. 8 7

Away · New Holder

BaylorAP No. 6 21

AP poll, week 15: Baylor No. 6 at Ole Miss No. 8 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Baylor took the belt here, ending Ole Miss’ run of 49 days and 2 defenses (reign #317) and starting reign #318. It lasted 252 days and 1 defense, until BYU took it on September 10, 2022.

For Baylor this was its 14th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 6 times before — and it took it back here.

This is the only time Baylor and Ole Miss have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Baylor's defense dominated Ole Miss in this Cotton Bowl matchup, forcing four interceptions to secure the College Football Belt with a 21-7 victory. Ole Miss struck first with an early field goal attempt that missed, but the Bears' defense took over when Al Walcott returned an interception 96 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to give Baylor an early lead. Though Ole Miss answered with a Braylon Sanders touchdown reception in the third quarter to cut it to 7-7, Baylor's ground game and defensive pressure proved too much, with Monaray Baldwin scoring on a 48-yard run and Gerry Bohanon finding Tyquan Thornton for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Ole Miss's offense, led by Luke Altmyer, struggled with accuracy and decision-making throughout, coughing up the ball repeatedly and missing two field goal attempts.

Al Walcott 96-yard interception return for touchdown in Q2 -- gave Baylor early control after Ole Miss had moved into scoring position
Monaray Baldwin 48-yard touchdown run in Q4 -- extended Baylor's lead to double digits when Ole Miss was trying to mount a comeback
Four interceptions by Baylor defense -- systematic dismantling of Ole Miss's passing game proved to be the difference in securing the belt

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

Ole MissBaylor

Total yards322319

Rushing yards138279

Passing yards18440

First downs2012

3rd down conv.6/227/15

Turnovers31

Penalties–yards7–495–55

Time of possession31:3628:24

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 14:27	Ole Miss	+0 yd	Matt Corral pass intercepted JT Woods return for no gain to the Bayl 38
Q1 1:48	Ole Miss	+49 yd	Cale Nation 49 yd FG MISSED
Q2 10:16	Ole Miss	+96 yd	Luke Altmyer pass intercepted for a TD Al Walcott return for 96 yds for a TD (Isaiah Hankins KICK)
Q2 8:00	Baylor	+49 yd	Abram Smith run for 49 yds to the Miss 46 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:01	Baylor	+23 yd	Abram Smith run for 23 yds to the Bayl 46 for a 1ST down
Q3 15:00	Ole Miss	+27 yd	Mac Brown kickoff for 64 yds , Jalen Pitre return for 27 yds to the OLEMISS 38 OLE MISS Penalty, Defensive Offside (-5 Yards) to the Bayl 33
Q3 9:13	Ole Miss	+37 yd	Luke Altmyer pass complete to Braylon Sanders for 37 yds for a TD
Q3 3:19	Baylor	+9 yd	Gerry Bohanon pass intercepted Miles Battle return for 9 yds to the Miss 9
Q4 13:09	Ole Miss	+35 yd	Cale Nation 35 yd FG MISSED
Q3 2:22	Ole Miss	+29 yd	Luke Altmyer pass complete to Dontario Drummond for 29 yds to the Miss 41 for a 1ST down
Q4 11:14	Baylor	+48 yd	Monaray Baldwin run for 48 yds for a TD (Isaiah Hankins KICK)
Q4 9:58	Ole Miss	+16 yd	Luke Altmyer pass intercepted JT Woods return for 16 yds to the Miss 15
Q4 7:24	Baylor	+2 yd	Gerry Bohanon pass complete to Tyquan Thornton for 2 yds for a TD (Isaiah Hankins KICK)
Q4 6:50	Ole Miss	+31 yd	Jerrion Ealy run for 31 yds to the Bayl 36 for a 1ST down
Q4 1:48	Ole Miss	+25 yd	Luke Altmyer pass complete to Dontario Drummond for 25 yds to the Miss 32 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Ole Miss

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Luke Altmyer	15/28	174	6.2	1	2	23.2
Matt Corral	2/6	10	1.7	0	1	52.5

Baylor

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Gerry Bohannon	7/17	40	2.4	1	1	16.9

Rushing

Ole Miss

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Jerrion Ealy	12	65	5.4	31
Snoop Conner	11	42	3.8	11
Matt Corral	7	17	2.4	15
Dontario Drummond	3	16	5.3	10
Henry Parrish Jr.	4	11	2.8	4
Luke Altmyer	17	-13	-0.8	12

Baylor

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Abram Smith	25	172	6.9	0	49
Monaray Baldwin	1	48	48.0	1	48
Trestan Ebner	6	36	6.0	0	17
Gerry Bohannon	6	20	3.3	0	6
Dillon Doyle	1	3	3.0	0	3
Drew Estrada	1	1	1.0	0	1
Team	1	-1	-1.0	0	0

Receiving

Ole Miss

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Dontario Drummond	9	104	11.6	0	29
Braylon Sanders	1	37	37.0	1	37
Jonathan Mingo	2	33	16.5	0	18
Henry Parrish Jr.	1	4	4.0	0	4
Jerrion Ealy	2	4	2.0	0	2
Snoop Conner	2	2	1.0	0	2

Baylor

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Drew Estrada	2	14	7.0	0	10
R.J. Sneed	2	10	5.0	0	9
Drake Dabney	1	8	8.0	0	8
Abram Smith	1	6	6.0	0	6
Tyquan Thornton	1	2	2.0	1	2

Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

Ole Miss

Player	TOT	SOLO	TFL	PD
Chance Campbell	10	8	0	0
Otis Reese	5	4	0	0
Cedric Johnson	5	3	0	0
Lakia Henry	4	4	0	0
Mark Robinson	4	3	0	0
Keidron Smith	4	3	0	0
Jake Springer	3	3	0	1
A.J. Finley	3	2	0	1
Tysheem Johnson	3	1	0	0
Deantre Prince	2	2	0	0
Henry Parrish Jr.	2	2	0	0
Ashanti Cistrunk	2	2	0	0
Deane Leonard	2	1	0	2
Mac Brown	1	1	0	0
Tylan Knight	1	1	0	0
Miles Battle	1	1	0	0
Sam Williams	1	1	1	0
Isaiah Iton	1	1	0	0
KD Hill	1	0	0	0
Snoop Conner	0	0	0	1

Baylor

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	TD
Terrel Bernard	17	10	2	2	1	0
Garmon Randolph	8	4	1	1	0	0
Dillon Doyle	7	5	0	0	0	0
Mark Milton	5	4	0	0	1	0
Siaki Ika	5	3	0	0	0	0
Jalen Pitre	5	2	1	1	0	0
Brayden Utley	5	2	1	1	0	0
Bryson Jackson	4	4	2	2	0	0
JT Woods	4	3	0	0	1	0
Cole Maxwell	3	3	1	1	0	0
Matt Jones	3	3	0	0	1	0
TJ Franklin	3	2	0	0	0	0
Team	2	1	1	1	0	0
Qualan Jones	2	1	1	1	0	0
Jairon McVea	2	0	0	0	1	0
Christian Morgan	1	1	0	0	0	0
Tyquan Thornton	1	1	0	0	0	0
Kalon Barnes	1	1	0	0	1	0
Lorando Johnson	1	1	0	0	0	0
AJ McCarty	1	1	0	0	0	0
Chidi Ogbonnaya	1	0	0	0	0	0
Rob Saulin	1	0	0	0	0	0
Devin Neal	1	0	0	0	0	0
Michael Mastrodicasa	1	0	0	0	0	0
Raleigh Texada	0	0	0	0	1	0
Al Walcott	0	0	0	0	0	1

Interceptions

Ole Miss

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Miles Battle	1	9	0

Baylor

Player	INT	YDS	TD
JT Woods	2	16	0
Al Walcott	1	96	1

Kick Returns

Ole Miss

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jerrion Ealy	1	19	19.0	19	0

Baylor

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tyquan Thornton	2	45	22.5	27	0

Kicking

Ole Miss

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Cale Nation	0/2	0.0	0	1/1	1

Baylor

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Isaiah Hankins	0/0	0.0	0	3/3	3

Punt Returns

Ole Miss

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Dontario Drummond	1	15	15.0	15	0

Baylor

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Trestan Ebner	3	27	9.0	12	0

Punting

Ole Miss

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Mac Brown	5	238	47.6	0	3	58

Baylor

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Issac Power	6	216	36.0	0	4	59

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401331240) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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