A tough Tulane team was vastly overmatched by No. 13 Ole Miss on Saturday. The Rebels (4-0, 2-0 SEC) scored early and often against the Green Wave (3-1) while the defense simultaneously held up in a 45-10 blowout.
With Austin Simmons sidelined due to a lingering ankle injury, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin leaned on Trinidad Chambliss for a second consecutive week. Chambliss, the reigning Maxwell Trophy Player of the Week, took care of business in his second start on the Division I level after transferring from Division II Ferris State. After leading the red and blue to a 41-35 thriller over Arkansas, Chambliss faced a much clearer path to victory against the non-conference, Group of Six foe.
Ole Miss opened the first half red-hot, scoring on all six drives and taking a 23-3 lead into halftime. A series of deep passes, short-yard touchdowns, and field goals by Lucas Carneiro underscored a strong offensive effort in the opening two quarters.
The Rebel defense, which led a solid showing in the first half, forced three straight turnovers on downs after halftime, virtually eliminating any hopes Jon Sumrall’s team had of playing spoiler. As Tulane ebbed offensively, highlighted by a seven-minute red zone drive resulting in a fourth-down stop by the Rebels to open the third quarter, Ole Miss continued to tack points onto the scoreboard to run away with the game.
Chambliss completed 17 of 27 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns. Six of his completions went for more than 20 yards. The Ferris State also logged a team-best 112 yards on the ground. The senior became the fourth Rebel quarterback in team history to have a 300-yard passing and 100-yard rushing performance, etching his name in the record books alongside Archie Manning, Chad Kelly, and Jordan Ta’amu.
“Coming from a DII [school]… to prove that I can actually play here and play at that level at Ole Miss and in the SEC really shows that I can do anything that I put my mind to,” Chambliss said when asked what he’s learned about himself these past two weeks. “I thank God for everything.”
The dual-threat’s top target was Deuce Alexander. The Wake Forest transfer had 94 yards and a touchdown in the air. Reliable tight end Dae’Quan Wright had 71 yards and a touchdown on three receptions. Running back Kewan Lacy assisted in the ground game with 68 yards and two scores.
Golding’s defense bent at times but it seldom broke. Kiffin and linebacker Jaden Yates confirmed that the Rebel defensive coordinator held a meeting with the players on his side of the ball to discuss what went wrong against Arkansas — a game in which Ole Miss gave up 526 total yards of offense and five touchdowns. The words uttered in that meeting appeared to have gotten through to the unit, as the defense swarmed on Saturday.
“If you look at the tape from last week, we shot ourselves in the foot a lot. We had a lot of miscues communication-wise,” Yates said, adding that he took accountability for his role in the defensive breakdowns in the prior outing. “Maybe you can say they’re growing pains, for better or for worse … I like our guys over everybody else.”
The Rebel defense, facing a quarterback in Jake Retzlaff who plays a similar style as Razorback signal caller Taylen Green, limited Tulane’s production drastically compared to what it had accomplished a week ago. Retzlaff, a BYU transfer, completed just one pass in the first half and went on to tally an underwhelming 58 total yards in the air.
Ole Miss held a Tulane ground attack that had averaged 222 yards per game through its first three performances to 178 yards and no scores. Retzlaff was Tulane’s top rusher with 51 yards on eight carries. Running back Arnold Barnes III was the number two guy on the ground with 47 yards on 11 carries.
Leading the way defensively for the Rebels was Yates, who logged 11 tackles and was in on a drop-down for a loss. Defensive tackle William Echoles was a force in the interior. His day ended with eight tackles, a pass breakup, and an assist on a tackle for loss. Defensive back Cedric Beavers had the lone interception of the contest.
An unsung hero of the game was Carneiro, the former CUSA Special Teams Player of the Year. Carneiro was perfect in all three field goal attempts and flawless in each of his four point-after shots. His longest kick came from 54 yards away from the goalpost, tying a personal-best record.
Scoring summary
Ole Miss marched down the field early, scoring a touchdown in eight plays on a five-yard pass from Chambliss to Wright. A 41-yard rush by Chambliss worked the Rebels into the red zone prior to the score.
A prompt Tulane punt gave Kiffin’s offense the ball back. Chambliss had a third-down pass batted down at the line of scrimmage, setting up Lucas Carneiro from 22 yards out. Carniero connected, putting the Rebels up 10-0 with 3:13 left in the first quarter. Carneiro heard his name called once more on the following offensive drive, and he delivered on a 54-yard kick to give Ole Miss a 13-0 advantage on the scoreboard early in the second quarter.
Tulane, which struggled to move the chains multiple times in early drives, found fortune on a 30-yard scramble by Retzlaff on 3rd and 5 in Green Wave territory. The promising drive bore fruit, ending with a 34-yard field goal from Patrick Durkin.
Ole Miss countered the Tulane score with a quick touchdown. On the first snap of the drive, Chambliss hit De’Zhaun Stribling for a 53-yard gain to move the Rebels into the red zone. A direct snap to Lacy at the one-yard line gave the red and blue a 20-3 lead with 4:09 remaining until the midway break.
After Golding’s defense forced Tulane to punt for the third time, the offense moved downfield swiftly at the close of the half. A 47-yard bomb from Chambliss to Cayden Lee landed Ole Miss in the red zone once again. Carneiro capped the drive with a 33-yard field goal. The Rebels took a 23-3 lead into halftime.
Ole Miss struck first blood in the second half. A deep ball from Chambliss to Alexander drove the Rebels into Tulane territory. The Rebels took a 28-point lead courtesy of a one-yard touchdown rush by Lacy, followed by a successful two-point conversion haul by Tre Wallace at the start of the fourth quarter.
Up four touchdowns, the Rebels kept scoring. A 53-yard bomb from Chambliss to Wright made way for Logan Diggs to find the end zone from two yards out, giving Ole Miss a 38-3 lead with 11:45 left in regulation. A 33-yard touchdown pass from Chambliss to Alexander on the Rebels’ offensive possession extended the home team’s lead to 45-3 with 8:17 left in the game.
Tulane finally scored a touchdown late in the matchup. Backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan hit Anthony Brown-Stephens for a six-yard score with under four minutes on the clock. Ole Miss walked away a 45-10 victor.
Coach’s comments
Lane Kiffin said Saturday’s blowout win was relieving, especially considering it came against a Tulane team that had already defeated two Power Four opponents earlier this season. After hard-fought SEC wins over Kentucky and Arkansas, Kiffin added that the team benefited from a contest that didn’t come down to a dramatic finish, given he envisions plenty of those types of matchups on the horizon.
“We really didn’t need another one of those tighter games, because I think in this conference, you’re going to have a lot of them,” Kiffin said. “The model is set up so that the SEC bottom is going to be really strong, so you’re going to have a lot of hard games. You have eight of them, and then nine starting next year.”
Kiffin did not announce who his starting quarterback would be moving forward, but he emphasized that Austin Simmons, who started the first two games of the 2025 campaign before suffering an ankle injury, was available to play against the Green Wave. As for Chambliss’ performance, Kiffin said his clean play and lack of turnovers were the highlights.
“I thought Trinidad played great today. I thought the most important thing was him not turning the ball over two weeks in a row. If you do that, you win a lot of games — if you take care of the ball,” Kiffin said. “It was the first time our offense didn’t turn the ball over in back-to-back weeks, and [Chambliss] played really clean.”
Next up
The biggest test of the season for Ole Miss will come next Saturday when No. 3 LSU rolls into town. The heated rivalry game will kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT with ABC and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations airing the matchup.
