Former LSU linebacker Darry Beckwith sees a different Tigers defense this season, but he’s not ready to let that become the story Saturday night in Oxford.
LSU has opened the year with back-to-back blowouts, holding Clemson to 145 total yards and 40 rushing yards in a 51-10 win, then limiting Louisiana Tech to 140 total yards and minus-3 rushing yards in a 45-14 victory. That kind of start has impressed Beckwith. Still, when he looks at Ole Miss, one name jumps out above everything else: Trinidad Chambliss.
Chambliss already showed LSU what he can do last season. Against the same defensive coordinator in Blake Baker and several of the same players, he completed 23 of 39 passes for 314 yards with a touchdown and an interception and added 71 rushing yards on 14 carries in a 24-19 win in Oxford. Ole Miss closed that game by holding the ball for the final 5:04 after LSU had trimmed the lead to five points with 5:07 remaining.
Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy were the engines of that finish. Lacy rushed 23 times for 87 yards and a 15-yard touchdown, while Chambliss helped burn clock with a series of runs and a 20-yard completion to tight end Dae’Quan Wright before kneeling it out three straight times.
The matchup comes again Saturday, with No. 7 LSU (2-0) visiting No.
8 Ole Miss (2-0) at 6:30 p.m. on ABC. This time, Lane Kiffin is coaching LSU after leaving Ole Miss as head coach following the 2025 regular season.
Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. also followed Kiffin to LSU, along with six other offensive assistants from Kiffin’s Ole Miss staff after last season’s playoffs.
Kiffin tried to bring Chambliss and Lacy with him, too, but both remain with Ole Miss.
On Tiger Rag Radio Tuesday night, Beckwith made his view plain.
“Trinidad Chambliss - the guy is incredible,” Beckwith said. “He can hurt you when he scrambles. He is most effective when he breaks the pocket because he constantly keeps his eyes downfield, and he’s accurate.”
Chambliss’ production backs that up. Last season, he finished No. 3 in the nation in passing yards with 3,937, going 294 of 445 with 22 touchdowns and only three interceptions as Ole Miss went 13-2 and reached the College Football Playoff semifinal after an 11-1 (7-1 SEC) regular season. He also ran for 527 yards on 133 carries with eight touchdowns.
This season, now operating under offensive coordinator John David Baker, Chambliss has completed 44 of 68 passes for 561 yards and five touchdowns with one interception. He has also rushed 12 times for 62 yards and a touchdown.
“I think Trinidad Chambliss is going to win or lose this game for Ole Miss,” said Beckwith, a three-year starter at LSU from 2006-08 and a national champion in the 2007 season.
Beckwith believes LSU’s defense will have a plan for him, but he says the challenge starts with making sure Chambliss doesn’t get comfortable.
“I’m sure that Blake Baker’s defense is going to be well prepared for him,” he said. “Obviously, you have to put pressure on him.
You can’t let him sit back in the pocket and pick you apart. And you have to make sure that if your first guy doesn’t hit home, you have a second-level guy that’s spying on Trinidad Chambliss.
If he breaks contain, you’re going to have to have Whit Weeks or TJ Dottery (linebackers) spying to make sure that gap is closed. If not, that’s where he’s going to hurt you.”
Beckwith is less worried about Lacy, even after the running back finished third in the nation last season with 1,567 yards on 306 carries and 24 touchdowns. Lacy has 148 yards on 30 carries this year with three touchdowns.
LSU’s run defense has been one of the early strengths of the season, and Beckwith pointed to that as a reason he expects a tougher day for Ole Miss on the ground. The Tigers are allowing just 18 rushing yards per game, which ranks No. 2 nationally.
“You’ve got to remember last year, Lacy had Charlie Weis and Lane Kiffin calling the plays,” Beckwith said. “They’re very creative in the run game.
They do a lot of misdirection to get the linebacker’s eyes in different directions. I just don’t see the creativity in the run game this year that Ole Miss had last year.”
Ole Miss is currently 96th in the nation in rushing offense at 139.5 yards per game, while LSU ranks No. 27 at 228 yards per game.
“I just don’t think Kewan is going to matter as much this year as he did last year,” Beckwith said. “My main focus is stopping Trinidad.
I’d rather Kewan beat me than Trinidad. I just cannot see this LSU defense with its experience and talent and line play and linebackers letting Kewan Lacy run the football down their throat like he did last year.
Because this defense takes pride in stopping the run. But you have to stop Trinidad.”
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