Ole Miss left Nashville with a win, but the film from the Louisville game gives both sides of the ball a very different kind of message.
The Rebels needed every bit of Trinidad Chambliss down the stretch. Louisville stayed alive all night and pushed Ole Miss into a final-minute drive, one that ended with Lucas Carneiro drilling the game-winning 48-yard field goal.
Chambliss’ night started badly. He looked uneasy in the pocket, coughed up a fumble and threw a rare interception in the first half.
But the second half was a different story. He settled in, threw three touchdown passes and added another score on the ground, turning a shaky opener into a performance that finished with almost 400 yards of total offense.
A big reason for that turnaround was Deuce Alexander. The receiver question around this Ole Miss team got answered fast. Alexander caught five passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns, earning SEC co-offensive player of the week honors in the process.
Both of his scoring plays showed the same thing: he can separate in a hurry and finish once he gets into space. On the first touchdown, he simply outran a defender who had the angle. On the second, he crossed the line looking every bit like the Rebels’ top wideout.
For Ole Miss, the offense came away with plenty to build on. The defense, not so much.
Pete Golding’s group had a rough night, and it wasn’t about one player. Louisville scored four second-half touchdowns, with two of them coming after missed tackles and another after blown coverage. The Cardinals took full advantage of the mistakes, and that’s the part Ole Miss has to clean up fast.
There’s at least a short runway to do it. Charlotte is next on the schedule, giving the Rebels a chance to sharpen up tackling and coverage communication before the matchup of the decade against LSU.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Fans ESPN Moment Became A Much Bigger Story Than Expected
The season opener against Louisville gave Ole Miss plenty of drama on the field, but one fans reaction wound up getting nearly as much attention as the game itself. During ESPNs coverage, Sara M. Smith was shown looking understandably stressed after a Louisville touchdown, and the brief moment quickly took on a life of its own once it hit social media.
Smiths anxious expression spread fast enough to turn her into an unintended viral figure, prompting a flood of attention and forcing her to temporarily lock down her Instagram profile. It was a strange little subplot to a wild night in Oxford, where the Rebels eventually finished the job with a 41-38 win on a walk-off field goal. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Win Comes With One Deuce Alexander Debate
Deuce Alexander turned in the kind of breakout day Ole Miss fans will remember from a wild 41-38 win over Louisville, hauling in two 62-yard touchdown receptions to help fuel the Rebels offense. He finished with five catches for 159 yards and two scores, giving the passing game a huge lift in a game that stayed tight deep into the afternoon.
Alexanders second touchdown also left behind a small bit of sideline debate, thanks to a celebration that came immediately after he crossed the stripe. On the play, he flipped the ball behind him and may have let it go before fully reaching the goal line, but the officials did not stop to review it, allowing the score to stand and Ole Miss to keep control of a game it could not afford to lose. [Read more 🡒]
Trinidad Chambliss Answered Ole Miss Biggest Week 1 Question
The most important thing Ole Miss needed to learn in Week 1 was whether Trinidad Chambliss could steady a game that might have gotten away early, and he answered it in a big way against Louisville. After a shaky start that included turnovers, Chambliss settled in and kept the Rebels on course in a back-and-forth matchup, piling up 386 passing yards and accounting for four touchdowns while helping Ole Miss survive a 41-38 finish.
What stood out most was how the game tightened around him late, when every possession mattered and the Rebels needed someone to handle the pressure instead of adding to it. In a weekend when a lot of SEC teams cruised through lopsided openers, Ole Miss got a real test, and Chambliss final drive gave the Rebels a much clearer idea of what they have under center as the season moves into a tougher stretch. [Read more 🡒]