No. 9 Ole Miss continued its home field dominance against No. 13 Missouri at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Oct. 17 with a 31-3 win. Though quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was out of form, he still had a solid game, while running backs Kewan Lacy and Makhi Frazier had their best games of the season. Overall, Week 7 was a dominant Rebel win over a good Tiger football team.
Chambliss off his game
While Chambliss put up several touchdowns on Saturday afternoon, he missed several opportunities, especially early in the game. He started the contest 1-for-4; two of those passes would have been easy first downs and kept the drive alive.
Chambliss had tight end Michael Smith wide open down the seam, but his pass went just through Smith’s outstretched arms. Still, Chambliss is an experienced quarterback. He was able to settle in and led the Rebels to a touchdown with a pass to tight end Caleb Odom.
“Some of my passes were behind the receivers. That was all me,” Chambliss said after the game. “Accuracy wasn’t there for some of my throws, and that’s something I have to clean up.”
Accuracy is certainly something Chambliss plans to work on this week in practice. To his credit, a few passes were on-target but dropped by Rebel receivers.
Interestingly, Chambliss and wide receiver Deuce Alexander were not on the same page in the first half. Chambliss’ number one target only had two catches for 11 yards. Alexander actually dropped a pass that would have gone for more than 20 yards.
Chambliss began the third with an off-target pass to Traylon Ray. Two play later, Chambliss connected with Ray for a 19-yard pickup.
Chambliss missed Alexander on third-and-7. With Alexander’s speed, the play could have gone for 15 or more yards. In the fourth quarter, Chambliss had an open Caleb Odom but threw the ball out of his reach. Had he completed the pass, the Rebels would have likely converted on the third-and-13.
The agile quarterback only had four rushing attempts for 14 yards and hardly scrambled, though he did score a touchdown on the ground. Rebel fans did not see much magic from Chambliss on Saturday afternoon, but he still gave Ole Miss a good chance to win an important ranked matchup.
In two instances, Chambliss audibles led to a Rebel timeout and a delay of game penalty. Chambliss took a bit too much time to set the offensive line and change the play. Luckily, Ole Miss did not need the timeout later in the game and the penalty did not matter all that much.
Chambliss had some fantastic passes in the game, as he always does. He threw a perfect over-the-shoulder pass to receiver Horatio Fields for a 17-yard pick up. Earlier in the game, he connected with receiver Caleb Cunningham on a 1-on-1 in the end zone, giving the sophomore the first touchdown of his career.
Running game comes alive
Lacy looked like his normal self in the first quarter, with six carries for 59 yards, including two 17-yard pick ups. He even hurdled a defender to get a first down. Later in the game, he hurdled another defender for a couple extra yards.
Lacy and Frazier both went over the century mark in the game, rushing for 122 and 101 yards, respectively. Lacy had four runs of at least 16 yards, while Frazier had three explosive runs, two went for at least 20 yards. This was the first time since 2022 that Ole Miss had two 100-yard rushers.
Lacy missed Ole Miss’ Week 4 game against Florida. His presence was sorely missed in that game. The Rebels could not get anything going on the ground, totaling just 128 rushing yards. Lacy returned in Week 6 against Vanderbilt in the first half, but he did not play in the second half.
Injuries may still be a concern for Lacy. He left the game with a lower-body injury late in the first quarter and did not return until the second half. Still, Lacy showed real grit in the blowout win. Despite Lacy’s willingness to play more of the game, Golding took him off the field late in the fourth.
“Kewan wants to play. He’s put a lot into this,” head coach Pete Golding said in his postgame press conference. “He’s working his butt off, and he’s been frustrated, obviously. He had high expectations for this year, and he’s played well when he’s been in there. He’s fighting through it.”
Frazier held down the fort while Lacy was gone, totaling 58 yards on the ground in the second quarter. Golding spoke about Frazier after the game.
“He keeps his head down, and he comes to work,” Golding said. “It’s like, ‘Hey, wherever I fit in the game plan, I’m going to be ready when an opportunity comes,’ and that’s what I appreciated about (him).”
Lacy returned in the third quarter and fumbled on his second carry. Thankfully, the turnover did not amount to much because the Rebel defense came up with a stop. Overall, the Rebels rushed for 257 yards. Saturday was the first time since Ole Miss played Florida in 2025 that they rushed for over 200 yards.
It really is a week-to-week game
Just three weeks ago, Ole Miss lost 52-28 at Florida. Since then, the Gators lost to Missouri on the road 45-17 and South Carolina at home 38-19. Before the Rebels game on Saturday, Florida defeated No. 7 Texas on the road 27-24 in a major upset.
Missouri was fresh off back-to-back huge wins over Florida, 45-17, and Texas A&M, 27-6. Yet, the Tigers did not score a touchdown in Week 7. Alternatively, the Ole Miss defense that got run over by Florida allowed only 39 rushing yards against one of the best running backs in the country in Jamal Roberts.
Golding has said numerous times this year that football is a “what have you done for me lately” business. It truly is. Three weeks ago, the Rebels’ season felt low and dim. Suddenly, with two dominant wins and two stellar defensive performances, the season has done a complete 180.
Ole Miss seems like the hunters in a conference full of turmoil and upsets. No SEC team has been able to maintain good play. Even No. 1 Georgia took an ugly loss to unranked Auburn at home.
Of course, there are still plenty of opportunities for things to change, but the Ole Miss faithful can at least feel good for another seven days knowing that they won the week in the SEC.
