There were injuries. There were turnovers. There were penalties and mistakes, a blown lead and a loss.
A lot of things went wrong, and not much went right for Ole Miss on Saturday night in a 27-16 loss to California.

It was the first loss of the season for the Rebels (2-1), and made for a long late-night flight home from the West Coast as they headed into a bye week and then a showdown with top-ranked Alabama on the other side.

“We’ve been through a lot together and we’re going to keep staying together,” Ole Miss coach Matt Luke said in his postgame press conference. “The only way you can get a bad taste out of your mouth is to go back on the practice field and get back to work.”

There is a lot to work on, though.

The Rebels committed 16 penalties for 131 yards, including having 12 men on the field for a punt to extend a Cal drive in the fourth quarter.

The penalties disrupted an offense that scored on two long pass plays in the first half. The Rebels led 16-7 at halftime, but were shut out in the second half. They finished with 53 rushing yards.

“We really struggled offensively, especially in the second half with turnovers and penalties. Overall, just disappointing. I thought our defense was better, especially in the first half stopping the run. They kept us in it,” Luke said. “There was a big turnover in the red zone that gave us a chance to win the football game, but in the end, it was just execution. We can’t have penalties and be behind the chains the way we were. We can’t turn the ball over, especially on the road against a really good Pac-12 football team. From an execution standpoint, we have a lot to get cleaned up.”

Quarterback Shea Patterson was 26-for-44 passing for 363 yards and two touchdowns, but also was sacked twice and threw three interceptions. The last interception was returned for a 32-yard touchdown by Cameron Goode with three minutes to go to give Cal a 27-16 lead.

“The defense played unbelievable and the offense did not,” Patterson said. “A lot of that’s on me. We just have to get back into the flow of things.”

The Rebels left California with bruises to more than just their pride. Starting center Sean Rawlings left the game with a sprained ankle in the first half and did not return. Luke said Rawlings could miss a couple of weeks.

A.J. Brown, the team’s leading receiver, was hit hard on his knee in the first quarter and did not return. He had 385 yards receiving the first two games but didn’t catch a pass against Cal.

Kicker Gary Wunderlich injured his hamstring on a PAT attempt in the second quarter. Freshman Luke Logan badly missed his first career field goal attempt from 48 yards, which might have played into the final outcome.

Trailing by 11 points and needing a touchdown and a field goal to tie, Ole Miss drove to the Cal 14 with 43 seconds left. Rather than taking the field goal on fourth-and-8, Luke opted to keep the offense on the field. A delay of game penalty and a sack finished off the Rebels.

Luke, however, refused to blame the slew of in-game injuries for the loss.

“No excuses,” Luke said. “Next man up, you have to step in and get your job done. Injuries are a part of football. We have to coach them better and we have to go into our open date and get these things fixed.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.