Ole Miss got the kind of win that tells you plenty about where a team really stands. Under the lights at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday night, the Rebels outlasted LSU 32-24 in a game that had been circled for months and delivered exactly the kind of chaos people expected. It also sent former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and his team home with their first loss of the season.
For Ole Miss, this one was about more than just the final score. The Rebels showed real progress on both sides of the ball after some early-season issues, and the night produced a handful of clear takeaways.
Trinidad Chambliss was the engine again, even if the box score doesn’t fully capture how much control he had over the game. He finished the first half 21-for-27 for 248 yards and two touchdowns, but the bigger story was how he played.
The highlight-reel throws were there, sure, but so was the poise, the feel for the game, and the ability to escape pressure when LSU tried to close in. Ole Miss hit a lull in the third quarter, and Chambliss didn’t have much room to operate against the Tigers’ defense.
Then the fourth quarter arrived, the game was tied, and he found another gear. In a moment when the pressure could have swallowed the offense, he kept finding ways to move the ball.
Traylon Ray was one of the night’s biggest surprises, and for Ole Miss, it was the good kind. He had four catches for 72 yards and a touchdown in the first half, scoring his first touchdown in an Ole Miss uniform.
By the end of the night, he had 115 receiving yards to lead the team. His route running, hands, and willingness to fight through contact stood out, and he kept giving Chambliss a reliable target when the offense needed one.
Caleb Odom didn’t score, but he still made LSU respect every snap he played. He finished with 88 receiving yards and averaged 17.6 yards per catch, a reminder that his size and speed create problems for defenders at every level.
Defensive backs have to deal with his frame, and linebackers have to deal with his burst. That combination kept him dangerous even without a trip to the end zone.
The defense, which had been under fire after the first two games, finally looked much more settled. Sharif Denson made his first appearance of the season after sitting out the Louisville and Charlotte games, and the Florida transfer was active all over the field. Ole Miss used him in several different packages, and while there were still a few things to clean up, the secondary looked far better than it had earlier in the season.
Antonio Kite also made his presence felt. The senior, who didn’t appear in the Charlotte game and played sparingly against Louisville, brought the kind of veteran edge this defense needed.
His work against slot receivers and his tackling in space helped steady the back end. After a shaky start to the season, that part of the field looked more respectable.
Up front, Ferelli delivered one of the most impressive performances of the night. The California transfer was everywhere, moving sideline to sideline and making life miserable for the LSU offense.
His speed, recognition, and tackling stood out all night, and his work from the second level kept the Tigers under constant pressure. Six total tackles barely tell the story of how disruptive he was.
For Pete Golding and Ole Miss, the offseason move clearly paid off.
The one concern that hung over the night was Kewan Lacy. He kept dealing with injuries and left in the third quarter with an apparent "shoulder injury" before not returning.
Once he was out, the offense lost some of its balance. The passing game had leaned on his checkdowns, and the run game lost some of the burst and elusiveness that had helped it early.
JT Lindsey picked up more than 20 rushing yards on four carries, but the offense became much more one-dimensional in the third quarter.
That means Lindsey, Fraizer, and Joshua Dye will have to matter going forward, and at least one of them needs to hold up in pass protection the way Lacy did. On a night when Ole Miss handled a heavyweight opponent and answered a lot of questions, that remains one of the bigger issues to watch.
In Other News...
LSU Fans Were Shaken By A Frightening Scene Above Saturday's Game
Saturdays Ole Miss-LSU game had enough drama on the field, but one of the most talked-about moments came high above the stadium. An ESPN camera drone capturing aerial shots for the broadcast had a close call when a helicopter flew very near it, and the footage quickly spread across social media as fans tried to make sense of what they had just seen.
The scene understandably rattled viewers, including a helicopter pilot who weighed in after watching the clip. No collision occurred, and the game carried on without further incident, but the moment served as a reminder of just how much is moving around a big-time college football broadcast long before anyone starts talking about the final score. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fans Will Have Plenty To Say About This ESPN Sideline Moment
Holly Rowe and Laura Rutledge were both on the sideline for ESPN during the LSU-Ole Miss matchup, with Rowe handling injury updates and Rutledge delivering live field reports as the broadcast kept moving through a high-profile SEC night. A short clip of the handoff between the two reporters quickly made the rounds on social media, giving fans another off-field moment to dissect from a game that already had plenty of attention on it.
Rowe also ended the night on a more familiar note, conducting a postgame interview after Ole Miss beat LSU. The moment came with added context because Rowe has already been part of one of the more unusual sideline storylines of the season, when a false AI-generated video involving Texas coach Steve Sarkisian triggered public apologies from Arch Manning and Sarkisian. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Suddenly Has A Kewan Lacy Problem Again
Kewan Lacys season has become defined as much by what he cannot finish as by what he can give Ole Miss when he is on the field. The running back has already had to leave games against Louisville and LSU because of health concerns, and his latest exit came after he landed hard on his right shoulder against the Tigers and needed to be evaluated for a possible AC joint injury, stinger or clavicle issue.
For a Rebels offense that has wanted Lacy in the mix, the bigger question now is how long that uncertainty lasts. Ole Miss has been forced to lean on other backs while waiting for clarity, and with Lacys availability still unsettled, the room suddenly looks a lot thinner than the Rebels probably expected at this point in the season. [Read more 🡒]