Ole Miss may not need to ask much of its top running back this weekend, but Kewan Lacy’s thigh injury has put the Rebels’ backfield depth in the spotlight anyway.
Lacy exited the season-opening win over Louisville in the third quarter, and with Charlotte on deck, Ole Miss could have reason to be cautious with a player who handled more than 300 carries last season. That opens the door for a running back room that was reshaped this offseason and may now be asked to carry more of the load.
The Rebels added two transfer backs to help ease that burden: Makhi Frazier from Michigan State and JT Lindsey from LSU. Against Louisville, both got seven carries and combined for 52 yards. Even with those matching workloads, Frazier seemed to operate as the next man up before Lacy left the game.
Lindsey is a redshirt freshman who never appeared in a game for LSU before making the move to Ole Miss. Frazier brings more of a proven résumé, having logged 116 carries for Michigan State last season and finishing with 520 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
If Ole Miss chooses to test more of its depth against Charlotte, there are other names waiting for a chance. Joshua Dye and Shekai Mills-Knight could both see the field if the Rebels go beyond the two transfers.
Mills-Knight, a sophomore, has eight career carries for 25 yards, all of them coming against Charlotte last season. A four-star in the class of 2025, he has been waiting for an opening.
Dye arrived this offseason from Southern Utah and offers a different kind of production. At his previous stop, he ran for more than 1,800 yards and 28 touchdowns last season.
For now, Lacy’s status against Charlotte remains uncertain. If Ole Miss decides he needs a week to heal up before the LSU game on September 19, the Rebels have enough options in the backfield to keep things moving.
In Other News...
Lane Kiffin Keeps Giving Ole Miss Fans A Reason To Boil
Lane Kiffins exit from Oxford was always going to leave a mess, but the timing made it sting even more for Ole Miss fans. He accepted the LSU head coaching job just before the Rebels were set to compete in the College Football Playoff, and the move was enough to get him removed from Ole Miss program access as the school turned the page on a coach who had become impossible to separate from the programs recent rise.
Since then, LSU has wasted no time building under Kiffin, leaning heavily on the transfer portal and landing several former Ole Miss players as part of a class that has drawn plenty of attention. The drama around Kiffin has only followed him, too, from a profane halftime speech to public criticism from media figures like Paul Finebaum, giving Rebels fans plenty of reasons to keep one eye on Baton Rouge even after the breakup became official. [Read more 🡒]
Former Ole Miss Playmaker Stuck In Limbo As Next Move Looms
DaeQuan Wrights football future remains in limbo as he waits on an NFL ruling that will determine whether he can play this season. The former Ole Miss playmaker, who spent time with the Cleveland Browns in the offseason, had been linked to LSU at one point, but he has not signed there and is no longer pursuing a return to Baton Rouge.
For now, Wright is weighing his next step while his agent says multiple NFL teams have shown interest. Legal action is also being considered as he looks for a path forward, leaving one of Lane Kiffins former Rebels in a holding pattern while the league sorts out his eligibility. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Book Reopens Ole Miss Anger Over How He Left
A new book from John Talty is bringing fresh attention to the way Lane Kiffins exit from Ole Miss unfolded, revisiting the tense final stretch before his move to LSU in November 2025. Lane Being Lane looks at Kiffins career path and personality, but for Rebels fans the sharpest interest is in how the book frames his departure and the strain it created with Ole Miss officials along the way.
The book also digs into the ripple effect on the program after he left, including allegations that Kiffin tried to recruit Ole Miss players Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy to follow him to LSU. For a fan base that was already frustrated by how the separation played out, the new details are likely to stir the same anger again and keep the conversation going well beyond the last chapter. [Read more 🡒]