Ole Miss walked out of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday with a win that looked bigger than the final score suggests, outlasting No. 13 Missouri 21-3 and stacking a second straight victory.
The Rebels knew this one would be different after the road win at Vanderbilt, and Missouri brought the kind of challenge Ole Miss had been circling all week. The Tigers came in with an offense built around the run, and they entered with Jamal Roberts having piled up 433 rushing yards across his previous two games. That strength never got going.
Ole Miss turned Missouri’s run game into a dead end. The Tigers managed only 38 rushing yards on 20 carries, a staggering falloff for a team that had been averaging nearly 180 on the ground per game. Forced away from what they do best, Missouri spent much of the second half searching for answers it never found.
Pete Golding’s defense delivered its sharpest performance yet, holding Missouri to three points and limiting the Tigers to a 35 percent success rate on third down. The finish fit the tone of the afternoon, too: Ole Miss intercepted Austin Simmons on Missouri’s final possession near the goal line and slammed the door before the Tigers could reach the end zone.
On offense, the Rebels did plenty of damage on the ground themselves. Kewan Lacy wasn’t at full strength while dealing with a lingering left shoulder injury, and he also took another lower body hit during the game, but he still turned in his best outing of the season against his former team. He rushed for 122 yards on 16 carries, good for 7.6 yards per attempt.
Makhi Frazier gave Ole Miss another boost as the backup, and the two backs combined for 223 rushing yards on 31 carries. That kind of production gave the Rebels room to control the game, even if the offense around them wasn’t perfectly clean.
It wasn’t a spotless afternoon for Ole Miss by any stretch. Fumbles, including one lost, dropped passes, batted balls, penalties and several missed throws all showed up along the way. Those mistakes could have made the game tighter if the defense hadn’t been so dominant.
Trinidad Chambliss started slowly and finished a little over 50 percent passing, but he still came away with four total touchdowns: three through the air and one on the ground. Even with the uneven start, the performance left a clear message for the rest of the schedule - there’s still more in this offense, and that should be a problem for whoever lines up next.
In Other News...
Missouri's Loss Exposed An Ole Miss Problem Tigers Couldn't Contain
Missouris defense found out the hard way just how many different ways Ole Miss can hurt an opponent. Even with injuries limiting Edwin Joseph and Kewan Lacy, the Rebels still got steady production from Joenel Aguero on defense, a big receiving night from Caleb Cunningham and enough from Lacy on the ground to keep the Tigers chasing for much of the afternoon. It was the kind of win that reminded everyone Ole Miss can survive bumps in the lineup and still dictate the terms of a game.
What stood out afterward, though, was how the Rebels still left room for more. Deuce Alexander had a quieter outing than usual, but he remains a key part of the offense, and that matters as Ole Miss keeps pushing into the heart of the season. If the Rebels can keep getting impact plays from different spots even when injuries show up, the bigger question is how much more dangerous this group becomes once the offense is fully healthy and clicking at the same time. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Suddenly Has A Kewan Lacy Concern Fans Feared
Kewan Lacys status was already something Ole Miss fans had been tracking closely before the trip to Missouri, and Friday night added another layer of concern. The running back went down with a lower-body injury in the first half on Oct. 17, was evaluated on the field and wound up missing most of the second quarter before returning after halftime.
For a Rebels offense that has already had to manage Lacy through a shoulder issue earlier this season, it was another reminder of how fragile the backfield can be. He had already sat out the previous game against Florida, so even though he came back in the second half, his availability moving forward is now something Ole Miss will have to monitor carefully. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Gets Texas At A Moment The Longhorns Desperately Needed Stability
Texas arrives in Oxford trying to steady itself after a rough stretch that has turned a promising SEC debut into a much shakier proposition. Floridas 27-24 win sent the No. 7 Longhorns to back-to-back conference losses, and the latest defeat came with Arch Manning enduring another uneven outing, capped by a critical late fumble that helped swing the game away.
For Ole Miss, the timing could hardly be more interesting. The Rebels are getting Texas at a moment when the Longhorns are searching for answers and staring at a remaining schedule packed with ranked opponents, a combination that has put their playoff path in real jeopardy. It is the kind of crossroads game that can say plenty about both teams, even before the seasons biggest questions are answered. [Read more 🡒]