OXFORD, Miss. -- Quarterback Chad Kelly continued to break records for the Mississippi Rebels on Saturday, while the heat under Les Miles' seat at LSU got more uncomfortable.

Kelly and the No. 22 Rebels used an off week to their advantage as they defeated No. 17 LSU 38-17 to claim the Magnolia Bowl trophy at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Kelly broke the school record for touchdowns in a season. He rushed for two and threw for two more to reach 34 in his career.

The Rebels (8-3, 5-2 SEC), meanwhile, remained in the hunt for the SEC West title, headed to play at Mississippi State next week. If No. 2 Alabama stubs its toe at Auburn, and the Rebels topple the Bulldogs in Starkville, then the Rebels will play Florida in the SEC championship game.

A year after suffering their first loss of the season at the hands of the Tigers, the Rebels continued the demise of Miles, who has now lost three straight after starting the season 7-0.

Two weeks after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Arkansas at home, the Landshark Defense of Ole Miss returned to form, while Kelly kept things rolling on the cold night.

Ole Miss never trailed, jumping out to a 24-0 lead in the first half. Kelly's 57-yard pass to Quincy Adeboyejo on the first play from scrimmage set up the first points for the Rebels -- a field goal from Gary Wunderlich.

It also set the tone for several other successful possessions for the Rebels, who had little trouble picking up yards in bunches against the mistake-prone Tigers, who are now 4-3 in the SEC heading to play Texas A&M.

"I'm really excited for our kids, especially our seniors who have put so much into changing this program," Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. "They've suffered some of the more gut-wrenching losses you could experience as a team. It's hard in this day and time to keep focused on team first, but those guys have continuously bounced back after disappointment after disappointment."

Ole Miss may have won by three touchdowns, but the Tigers, for as many penalties that they made in the first half, finally gained some momentum to start the third quarter.

They erased the 24-point lead with three straight scores. It was 24-17 with just over 10 minutes left in the third. That's when Kelly really went to work, leading the Rebels for two scoring drives over a five-minute stretch later in the quarter.

His 11-yard touchdown run capped a seven-play, 83-yard drive. His throw to tight end Evan Engram on a well-designed throwback gave the Rebels their final touchdown.

Freeze put the play in before the Rebels played Texas A&M, but never found a time to use it until Saturday.

"I've been waiting to call that for the last couple weeks. It's something we haven't shown getting in that motion package and then sprinting out away from it," Freeze said. "That was a huge play in the game, I think. It really solidified us with some momentum. I was frustrated before that because I thought we had some catches there towards the end zone and didn't get them."

Kelly kept the pressure on LSU's defense all night. Up 3-0 after the first quarter, Kelly engineered an eight-play, 80-yard drive early in the second quarter to give the Rebels their first breathing room.

Senior running back Jaylen Walton capped the drive with a 2-yard run. Kelly then led the offense on a 10-play, 70-yard drive later in the second. His 5-yard run with 7:13 left in the half put the Rebels up 17-0.

Following an interception by LSU quarterback Brandon Harris, Kelly went up top to Laquon Treadwell for an 11-yard touchdown with 3:24 left in the half.

Ole Miss did a good job of keeping LSU's Leonard Fournette in check. Fournette had his moments, finishing with 108 yards on 28 carries, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Tigers from stopping the bleeding.

"It's not something I enjoy. It is a tough stretch, but the coaches, the players work hard," Miles said. "I'm going to see how we can improve. That will be the move as we go into Monday practices."

Kelly threw for 280 yards, while Harris had 324 and a touchdown in the loss. Kelly also led the Rebels with 81 yards on 12 carries.

NOTES: Ole Miss defeated LSU for the second time in three seasons. Both have come at home. ... Kelly now has 3,768 yards through the air, breaking the team's total set in 2003. ... The Rebels broke the school's single-season point total previously set in 2003 when Eli Manning was the quarterback. ... Ole Miss has secured winning SEC records in back-to-back years for the first time since the 1989-90 seasons. ... The Rebels have defeated Alabama, Auburn and LSU in the same season for the first time in program history.