No. 13 Missouri walked into Oxford with a chance to stack a signature win on top of another one, but the Tigers never came close to that finish.
Instead, No. 9 Ole Miss controlled the game from the second quarter on and rolled to a 31-3 win Saturday.
Missouri had openings to keep things tight. It just never cashed in.
The Tigers moved the ball at times, found themselves in Ole Miss territory multiple times and still came away empty. That’s what made the loss look so lopsided: Missouri could not turn opportunities into points, while Ole Miss kept piling on.
The Rebels’ offense was comfortable for most of the afternoon against Missouri’s defense. Trinidad Chambliss finished 20 for 36 for 241 yards with three touchdown passes and a rushing score, and even with some uneven accuracy, he found plenty of success when Missouri sat in zone coverage. By the fourth quarter, Ole Miss was consistently pushing the ball downfield and finishing drives.
The ground game did its part, too. Makhi Frazier ran for 101 yards, and Kewan Lacy added 122 as the Rebels steadily wore Missouri down, especially after halftime.
Ole Miss put up 300 total yards in the first half alone and finished with 498. Missouri, meanwhile, managed just one tackle for loss, four quarterback hurries and no sacks.
That lack of disruption stood out. Ole Miss was able to get the kind of pressure it wanted on Missouri quarterback Austin Simmons, and the Rebels finished with two sacks, five tackles for loss and five QB hurries.
Pete Golding’s defense used blitzes, simulated pressure and four-man stunts to force hurried throws and batted passes. Missouri came into the game having allowed only six sacks and 11 hurries, and Ole Miss made that number matter.
The Tigers’ offense never found a rhythm either. Simmons went 25 for 44 for 339 yards with an interception, but Missouri’s passing attack was too often stalled by pressure, missed throws and batted balls. Donovan Olugbode was one of the few steady outlets, catching nine passes for 127 yards, while Cayden Lee had five catches for 62 yards.
The run game was nowhere near enough. Jamal Roberts finished with 39 yards on 20 carries, and Missouri as a team ran for just 39 yards on 26 attempts. That made it hard for the Tigers to sustain anything.
A key stretch buried Missouri. From 10:04 in the second quarter to 8:57 in the third, the Tigers had four straight drives end in Ole Miss territory without scoring.
Blake Craig missed a 23-yard field goal that would have cut the deficit to 14-6 with under six minutes left in the second quarter, and Ole Miss answered by scoring its third touchdown before the two-minute warning on the next drive. Missouri later recovered a fumble at the Ole Miss 40-yard line, but after opening the third quarter with a punt, the Tigers went four plays and turned it over on downs.
In other games this season, Missouri’s slow starts had been balanced out by one phase helping another. That never happened here. The Tigers couldn’t get enough from any side of the ball to stop the slide.
The loss also came after a physical stretch that included seven straight games to open the season, and Missouri now gets a bye week to reset. Several Tigers were banged up during the game, including Roberts, defensive end Darris Smith, Lee, linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez and safety Santana Banner, though Roberts later returned.
Missouri still has plenty ahead, with Texas, Georgia and Kentucky among its remaining conference opponents.
The game also carried the subplot of former teammates on opposite sidelines, with Missouri’s Austin Simmons, Cayden Lee and cornerback Chris Graves Jr. facing the Ole Miss program they once played for. The pregame talk centered on a friendly, no-hard-feelings reunion. On the field, Ole Miss made the statement, and Lacy - the former Tiger - added to it with a big day.
Missouri now heads into the stretch run of the 2026 season with work to do.
In Other News...
Mizzous SEC Push Suddenly Looks Tougher After Drinkwitz Injury Update
Missouris trip to Ole Miss brought an injury list that grew into a real concern before kickoff, with a season-high 24 players appearing on the report during the week. Several of the Tigers key names bounced in and out of availability as the game approached, and the uncertainty was obvious by the time the team took the field, with some players ultimately unable to go and others limited in action.
Eli Drinkwitz confirmed the hit Missouri took physically and added another layer of concern by saying linebacker Robert Woodyard Jr. is scheduled for a medical procedure after the game. For a team trying to keep its SEC push on track, the bigger question now is how many of those banged-up contributors can get back on the practice field and how long the Tigers will have to manage this kind of weekly juggling act. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Just Got Exposed In The Areas That Matter Most
Missouri's trip to Ole Miss laid bare the sort of problems that tend to travel badly in SEC play. The Tigers were pushed around in a 31-3 loss as the Rebels piled up 498 yards, leaned on a 257-yard ground game and kept Missouri stuck at 1.5 yards per rush, a combination that made the game feel out of reach long before the final quarter.
Austin Simmons did his part to keep Missouri moving through the air, completing 25 of 44 passes for 339 yards, but the day still turned on the kinds of missed chances that can define a lopsided road loss. An interception near the goal line ended one of the Tigers' best opportunities, while Trinidad Chambliss kept Ole Miss in command with three touchdown passes and a rushing score, leaving Missouri with plenty to sort out after a game that exposed exactly where the margin was widest. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Heads Into Bye Week With Its Biggest SEC Problem Exposed
Missouri left Oxford with the kind of loss that can linger through a bye week. The No. 13 Tigers fell 31-3 to No. 9 Ole Miss, and while the offense did move the ball at times, it could not turn those possessions into points. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss kept the pressure on with a productive passing night, and Missouris defense spent too much of the game trying to chase the game rather than control it.
Eli Drinkwitz did not hide the biggest concern afterward, pointing to the defense and its issues getting off the field, especially on third downs. For a team that has now dropped eight straight road games against ranked SEC opponents, the open week arrives with some real fixing to do, not just a need to reset. Missouri has shown enough in stretches this season to suggest the ceiling is still there, but the gap between good possessions and complete games looked wide again in Oxford. [Read more 🡒]