Eli Manning isn’t hiding where his loyalties will land when Texas and Ole Miss meet on October 24.
The Ole Miss legend said on Pardon My Take that he’ll be pulling for his nephew Arch Manning and the Longhorns in that matchup, even if it means going against his own school. “I root for Ole Miss to win every other game probably besides that one,” Manning said.
That puts Eli in the same camp as his older brother Peyton Manning, the Tennessee Volunteers icon who has also said he’s rooting for Texas and Arch over his alma mater. So when the topic came up on X, the reaction mostly sounded like people shrugging at a pretty obvious family-first choice.
“Shocking revelation that he values his family more than a place he went to school,” one user said. “I’d do the exact same thing for my family,” an Ole Miss fan wrote.
“I’d root for my family as well. This is not news,” wrote another.
“I agree! Family first.”
“You have to respect both him and Peyton choosing family when Arch plays against their schools.”
For now, Manning’s focus is on Texas, which is leading the best team in the country and gets arch-rival Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry this weekend. After that comes Florida, in Texas’ first home game in nearly a month.
Ole Miss has its own stretch ahead before that October meeting with Texas. The Rebels host Vanderbilt this weekend, then face a surging Missouri team at home before the game against the Longhorns.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Has A Finishing Problem It Must Fix At Vanderbilt
Ole Miss has spent the last couple of weeks sitting on a familiar question: how does a team that builds multi-score leads keep from turning clean wins into tense finishes? The Rebels had to lean on late-game offense to get past Louisville and LSU, and those scares have made the downtime before Vanderbilt feel less like a breather and more like a chance to sort out a nagging issue.
Vanderbilt offers the next test of whether the Rebels can close the door against an SEC opponent without inviting drama. For Ole Miss, the bigger concern is not just getting ahead, but protecting the edge with sharper execution when the game tightens and the final minutes arrive. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Faces A Different Vanderbilt Test In Nashville
Ole Miss heads to Nashville for a matchup that looks different from the recent meetings in this series, and not just because it is on the road. Vanderbilt is expected to have quarterback Jared Curtis back from injury, while Kewan Lacy also figures into the lineup again, giving the Commodores a healthier look as they try to challenge a Rebels team that has handled the series well of late. For Ole Miss, the trip offers another chance to keep that run going while dealing with a Vanderbilt team that appears more capable of making it a real game.
The key for the Rebels will be sorting through a different kind of test on both sides of the ball, with the Commodores likely to lean on their returning pieces and force Ole Miss to be sharp defensively. Vanderbilt's available playmakers change the feel of the game plan, and the Rebels will have to decide how much pressure to bring while still protecting against the kind of plays that can swing momentum. In a matchup that has usually tilted one way recently, this one has enough moving parts to make the early stages worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss Is Climbing Fast With One Concern
Trinidad Chambliss has gone from intriguing name to one of the fastest-rising quarterbacks in the country, at least in the eyes of ESPN NFL Draft analyst Jordan Reid. Reid recently slotted the Ole Miss signal-caller as his No. 3 quarterback prospect for the 2027 NFL Draft, a nod to the way Chambliss has played in the 2026 season and the way he has kept defenses off balance as both a passer and runner.
For Ole Miss, the timing matters because Chambliss is expected to keep steering the offense into an important matchup with Vanderbilt. Reid pointed to the traits that have fueled Chambliss' rise, but also flagged one area that could matter as the NFL conversation gets louder: his size. For now, the Rebels have a quarterback whose stock is moving up quickly, even if the long-term evaluation is still being written. [Read more 🡒]