A win, no matter how it’s accomplished, is a win. It was not always pretty for No. 7 Ole Miss on Saturday in the first home matchup following back-to-back SEC road stops, but stellar performances by Kewan Lacy and Pete Golding’s defense guaranteed a 30-14 win over South Carolina.
Lacy scored a 54-yard touchdown to ice the game with just under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The score followed a fourth-down sack by Rebel defensive end Da’Shawn Womack that upended a last-ditch effort by Gamecock quarterback LaNorris Sellers to claw back into the game.
On an admitted off night for quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, it was imperative for the home team’s defense to set the tone for the night — and that it did. Getting to Sellers was a challenge Ole Miss (8-1, 5-1 SEC) gleefully accepted. The Rebels tallied a season-high six sacks and eight tackles for loss, taking advantage of a battered South Carolina (3-6, 1-6 SEC) offensive line.
The defense also forced Sellers to throw two interceptions and held the Gamecocks to a mere 230 total yards on the night. Standout linebacker Suntarine Perkins and Rebel safety Wydette Williams Jr. were responsible for the picks. South Carolina was especially ineffective in the running game, mustering up only 50 yards on the ground. Perkins led the defense with 1.5 sacks, while Kam Franklin had 1.5 tackles for loss. Linebacker Andrew Jones was also all over the field, wreaking havoc.
“I’m so proud of them. They stepped up today. It was really them who carried the whole game,” Chambliss said of the Ole Miss defense. “You know, on offense, we really couldn’t get stuff going. And they were getting stops and sacking the quarterback, putting pressure on him, and just making it foggy and, you know, the coverage and what our [defensive backs] did a great job with route coverage. And yeah, just credit to our defense today.”
Lacy’s ability to break tackles and move upfield also aided Lane Kiffin’s crew in an otherwise suboptimal offensive showing. In addition to putting the game away, the Missouri transfer had a career-high night on the ground, logging 167 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.
Trinidad Chambliss completed 12 of 21 passes for 159 yards, a touchdown, and a head-scratching late-first-half interception. He logged 59 yards and a score on the ground. Deuce Alexander was the leading receiver with 52 yards on two receptions. Tight end Dae’Quan Wright was responsible for 32 yards and a score.
South Carolina struck first blood in the matchup after a three-and-out turned into a rare special teams miscue by Ole Miss wideout Harrison Wallace III, who muffed the fourth-down punt, landing the Gamecocks in the red zone. A one-yard keeper by Sellers gave the visitors a 7-0 advantage with nine minutes left in the first quarter.
A 17-0 run in favor of Ole Miss, kick-started by a 21-yard gain by wide receiver Deuce Alexander on a fourth-and-short carry, found Ole Miss carrying a 17-7 advantage into halftime. A 21-yard field goal by Lucas Carneiro, an eight-yard receiving touchdown by Wright, and a 15-yard rushing score by Chambliss were the catalysts for the pendulum swing. Wright’s score, in part, was set up by a fourth-down stop by the Ole Miss defense, putting the Rebels’ offense at midfield to start the touchdown drive.
It was the visiting team that punched first in the second half, as it had done to begin the contest. A costly pass interference penalty on Ole Miss defensive back Ricky Fletcher cost the Rebels a chance at forcing a South Carolina punt on its first offensive possession of the third quarter. Instead, Sellers found a wide-open Nyck Harbor for a 47-yard score to cut the deficit to three points.
While Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks had momentum, Ole Miss had luck. An Oscar Bird punt that was muffed by South Carolina’s Jalon Kilgor, and recovered by Rebel safety Andy Jaffe, found the home offense in the red zone. Three plays later, Carneiro nailed a 27-yard field goal for Ole Miss to go up 20-14.
The third quarter ended with a bang for an Ole Miss team looking to put its opponent away. On a crucial third and 13, Perkins took Sellers down in the backfield for a loss of 13 yards. A 24-yard pass by Chambliss to Wright placed the Rebels in Carneiro’s range, and the Western Kentucky transfer delivered from 34 yards. Ole Miss reclaimed a two-score advantage with 11:54 left in regulation.
After Lacy gave Ole Miss a 16-point delta as the fourth quarter clock ticked, Perkins slammed the game’s door shut with an interception, prompting a unique celebration. Perkins told the media after the game that Kiffin encouraged him to go to the student section, and he did so, recreating the Green Bay Packers’ famous “Lambeau Leap” with Ole Miss pupils.
Worth noting, Carneiro was a perfect three-of-three when called on to put a trio of points on the scoreboard. He was also perfect on his three extra-point attempts. Bird, the Australian punter, booted the ball three times, averaging 37.5 yards per punt. He was also effective in extending a drive, earning 18 yards to move the chains on the Rebels’ first fake punt of the season.
All week, leading up to the game, the official Ole Miss football social media accounts called on the fans to pack Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. In post after post, the Rebel faithful were urged to show up and show out in order to make an impact on the game itself. According to Kiffin, the fans answered the call, as 67,491 people were in attendance, the vast majority of whom were present for all four quarters.
“If we’re going to [have] an elite environment, you’ve got to get there early because it starts in warmups with the other team and how you ‘feel it,'” Kiffin said. “I thought when we came back out [of the tunnel], it was really intense. I looked up and it was loaded. It was great to see. I think teams feed off of that, especially defensively.”
Saturday’s win kept the Rebels in the driver’s seat for a spot to compete for a title, and the public will know where the red and blue fare when the debut 12-team College Football Playoff poll is released on Tuesday night. Next up for Ole Miss is a home battle against the Citadel on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 12 p.m. CT. The game will air on SEC Network+, along with participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
