Nick Saban learned his lesson last week, and he didn’t wait long to make it clear.
After Ole Miss knocked off LSU in Oxford behind Trinidad Chambliss, the former Alabama and LSU coach turned ESPN analyst came back on Friday’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show and put Chambliss in the highest possible category. Ole Miss now heads to Florida for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff Saturday on ABC, and Saban made it sound like he expects the Rebels’ quarterback to keep commanding the spotlight.
“I’m going to tell you one thing I learned last week. I’m never picking against Trinidad ever again,” Nick Saban said.
“I mean, that guy is the playmaker of all playmakers. You talk about a point guard who can score and create plays for other people in a game.
Nobody does it better than him.”
That kind of praise carries weight coming from Saban, who spent years coaching elite quarterbacks at LSU and Alabama before moving into his current role breaking down SEC teams. He had backed LSU in the Rebels’ matchup last week, and McAfee pointed out the mistake with “respect” during the segment.
Saban thanked McAfee, but the message was already clear: after what he saw against LSU, he’s not betting against Chambliss again.
Ole Miss enters the week 3-0 and ranked No. 4, while Florida comes in at No. 21 and riding momentum of its own. The Gators will try to slow down a Rebels team with national championship aspirations, but Saban’s view of Chambliss was the headline coming out of Friday.
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For Ole Miss, the spotlight only gets brighter with a trip to Florida on deck, one of several games that could begin to separate the true contenders from the rest of the pack. Texas at Tennessee is another measuring-stick game on the slate, and with Alabama also facing a significant test ahead, the path to Atlanta already feels crowded and fragile in a way that should keep the SEC race interesting for a while longer. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Sends Ole Miss A Clear Challenge Before Top-25 Clash
Jon Sumrall has Florida off to a 3-0 start in his first year on the job, and now the Gators are staring at one of the early-season measuring sticks that can tell a coach plenty about where his team stands. The No. 4 Rebels come to Gainesville on Sept. 26, giving Florida a ranked SEC test at home and a chance to see how its early momentum holds up when the schedule tightens.
During SEC Kickoff, Sumrall made clear he wants the Gators to lean on player leadership as the matchup gets closer. For Ole Miss, it is the kind of road game that can say a lot about how seriously the rankings reflect the teams place in the league, even before the calendar turns fully into the heart of conference play. [Read more 🡒]