Ole Miss looks poised to get its biggest offensive piece back in Week 6, with running back Kewan Lacy expected to return against Vanderbilt, Pete Golding said Monday.
Lacy, a junior, sat out the loss at Florida after injuring the same left shoulder that had required offseason surgery. The setback came in the third quarter of Ole Miss’ win over LSU on September 19, and Golding said the bye week gave him a chance to rest and reset before getting back on the field Sunday night in a limited role.
“Obviously, last week, (Lacy) rested all last week. Did rehab.
Was good for that for a solid week (of) not practicing. Practiced last night, came back,” Golding said during his availability on Monday.
“Did individual, did some team sessions. Obviously a lot of that was non-contact last night, but fully anticipate having him back this week.”
Even with Lacy expected back, Ole Miss won’t be asking him to carry the whole load right away. Golding pointed to the work of transfers JT Lindsey and Makhi Frazier, along with Josh Dye, as part of a rotation that can keep the backfield moving.
“JT continues to go to work. I think he’s a very explosive player.
I think Makhi runs the football extremely hard. Obviously that game wasn’t everything that we wanted it to be, but I think they came to work last week as well.
Same thing with Josh (Dye). That’s going to be a constant rotation based on how 5 is and how healthy he is, but even coming back he’s not going to take the toll of 40-50 snaps,” Golding explained.
“Those guys gotta come in and execute and play efficiently, which I think they will.
Lacy’s absence at Florida created a different kind of challenge than Ole Miss had faced in its earlier ranked games. Against Louisville and LSU, he left in the third quarter both times and did not return, but the Rebels still had him for part of those contests while the result was hanging in the balance. In Gainesville, he wasn’t available at all, and Lindsey got the start, taking handoffs on the first four plays before the drive ended with a turnover on downs.
“Especially the start of the game, I think it’s a little different if we keep our footing a little bit,” Golding said about the run game against Florida. “A lot of that was we were cutting up the inside foot and some of that was on us.
I felt like (Lindsey) got started early. There’s a couple that he slipped on that first drive that you’re moving the chains (if not), feeling a little different about it.
The flows a little different and all those types of things.”
Through three games played in 2026, Lacy has rushed for 191 yards and four touchdowns on 39 carries, good for 4.9 yards per attempt. That comes after a record-setting sophomore season in 2025 that featured more than 300 rushing attempts.
Ole Miss heads back to Nashville this weekend for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff against Vanderbilt on ESPN.
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