Ole Miss still has plenty in front of it after the Texas loss, but the margin for error is gone.
The Rebels sit at 5-2, and with the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams in 2024, two-loss teams in the SEC and Big 10 can control their own fate for the first time. For Ole Miss, the path is simple enough on paper: win the final five games and the playoff conversation takes care of itself.
That is where the simplicity ends. A 5-0 run will ask a lot, starting with third-ranked Georgia, then Auburn, which beat Georgia on the road, followed by a trip to Norman, Okla., and the Egg Bowl. Pete Golding will have to keep the message tight: one game at a time, not a running tally of what the Rebels need to do to reach the postseason.
Saturday’s loss also reopened a familiar question about this team’s ceiling. The Rebels had already given people reasons to believe, with the win over LSU and the eye-catching stretch against Missouri. But the first half against Texas was flat enough, on both sides of the ball, to cast doubt on whether Ole Miss could truly hang with elite competition.
Then the third quarter happened.
Ole Miss came out and looked like a different team, the kind it had been in the previous two weeks. A defensive touchdown on the opening drive of the second half jolted the Rebels awake, and they wiped away a three-touchdown deficit in a hurry.
The game still ended in defeat, but that third quarter mattered. It showed Ole Miss can go punch for punch with the best teams in the country when everything is clicking.
The issue so far has not been whether the Rebels can reach that level. It’s whether they can stay there for four quarters.
That is the lesson Golding needs to hammer home. The performance against Texas should not become the identity of the season. It should be treated the same way the rush defense was after Florida: a problem to fix, not a label to wear.
That Florida loss had already been framed as a letdown by the media. Ole Miss came off a huge victory over its former coach and then wasn’t ready for a solid Florida team on the road. Golding took heat for the defensive showing, though he ultimately got a pass for that game.
The Rebels answered that defeat with back-to-back blowouts, which only fed the sense that the Florida result was a strange outlier.
Texas looked a lot like Florida in one important way: it exposed some of the same shortcomings. Now Golding is at a crossroads with a 5-2 team. If he can clean up the issues and spark a late-season surge, he can make a serious case as one of the best coaches in CFB.
If he can’t, the doubts will come right back. People will start asking whether he is really that good, or whether he has simply benefited from inheriting players from previous coaches.
What happens next may say more about Golding’s program than what happened against Texas. Scheme issues can be corrected.
Culture is tougher to reshape. The next three weeks should tell us plenty about the culture of Ole Miss football.
In Other News...
Pete Golding Defends The Ole Miss Decision Fans Can't Ignore
Ole Miss fought all the way back from a 24-3 hole against Texas, but the rally ended in heartbreak when Lucas Carneiros 58-yard field goal attempt was blocked late. The Rebels had given themselves a chance after digging out of a deep early deficit, and the finish came down to a choice that was as much about game management as it was about distance.
Pete Golding backed the decision to send Carneiro out there on fourth-and-long, pointing to previous decisions and the flow of the game as reasons the staff trusted the kick. Trinidad Chambliss had already put the Rebels in a tough spot with multiple interceptions, including a costly one before halftime, and the loss left plenty for Ole Miss to sort through after a game that was both resilient and frustrating. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Suddenly Has A Bigger Kewan Lacy Concern Than Auburn
Kewan Lacys availability has become a major issue for Ole Miss heading into the Auburn game on Oct. 31, and the concern is now bigger than just one matchup. The running back will not play against Auburn after suffering a dislocated left shoulder in the third quarter against Texas, adding another setback to a shoulder that has already been a problem for him.
Pete Golding confirmed there is no chance Lacy suits up for Auburn, though the door is not fully closed on a return after Week 9. Given the history with that same shoulder, including offseason surgery in 2025, Ole Miss is left waiting to see how much time Lacy actually needs before he can get back on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Let A Statement Win Slip Away And Paid For It
The latest AP Top 25 brought plenty of movement after a wild Week 8 slate, and Ole Miss was right in the middle of it after letting a statement opportunity slip away. With three top-10 teams taking losses and Texas making the biggest climb of the week after beating the Rebels, the poll made clear how quickly one result can reshape the conversation around a contender.
For Ole Miss, the drop is less about the number next to its name and more about what it surrendered in a game that could have changed its standing nationally. Miami stayed at No. 1, while Utah and UCLA kept their perfect records intact, but the Rebels are left looking at a missed chance to join that upper tier and wondering how much ground they can still make back. [Read more 🡒]