Garth Brooks’ popular hit “Callin’ Baton Rouge” played over the loudspeakers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium as Ole Miss players exited to the locker room and fans celebrated a 24-19 Magnolia Bowl win over top-five LSU on Saturday afternoon.
No. 13 Ole Miss (5-0, 3-0 SEC) doubled No. 4 LSU (4-1, 1-1 SEC) in penalties and turnovers. The team also opened things up with two fruitless offensive drives where the chains were not moved a single time. But after the final snap, Lane Kiffin’s bunch ended the battle with 250 more yards and five more points than its bitter rival, earning Ole Miss a spot in the playoff conversation at this point of the season.
The Tigers, feeding off a momentum-generating deep ball, struck first blood in the contest and looked to win a second consecutive matchup against the Rebels. Ole Miss finally found a crack in LSU’s highly-regarded defense on its third offensive possession, as Division II transfer quarterback Trinidad Chambliss began to settle. An 83-yard drive didn’t quite yield a touchdown but did result in three points on the scoreboard. More importantly, it swung the positive energy pendulum to the home team’s side.
From there, Ole Miss would click offensively, carrying a double-digit lead into the midway intermission, despite a peculiar turnover by surehanded wideout Cayden Lee in the red zone. A Garrett Nussmeier interception on an otherwise promising drive both negated three straight penalties by Pete Golding’s defense and primed Ole Miss to limit the potential for additional damage by the Tigers’ offense.
LSU, a team that largely derailed Ole Miss’ College Football Playoff hopes in an overtime thriller one year ago, clawed back in the second half. The Tigers leaned on an uncharacteristic interception by Chambliss — his first of the season — along with their reliable veteran kicker, Damian Ramos. The specialist, on back-to-back drives, nailed field goals from 39 yards and 48 yards out to get his team within four points of its opponent late in the third quarter.
The momentum continued to shift in Brian Kelly’s team’s favor. A holding penalty negated an 11-yard gain by Ole Miss running back on 3rd and 8 at the start of the fourth quarter. Facing 3rd and 14, Chambliss answered the bell, delivering a strike to Tre Wallace III for an 18-yard gain. A pair of 10-plus-yard completions set former LSU running back Logan Diggs up for a go-ahead score against his old team.
A six-minute rebuttal by the Tigers ended with Benny Harlem crossing the end zone. A failed two-point conversion prevented the purple and yellow from cutting the deficit to three points. Up five, with a ticking clock late in the fourth quarter, Ole Miss had one agenda — move the chains while protecting the football.
The Rebels managed to do so mostly effectively, but while still leaving the door somewhat cracked for LSU to break more than 60,000 hearts glued to every moment on the field. The Rebels found themselves in a 4th and 3 situation with 1:46 on the clock. A conversion would essentially put the game away, while a turnover on downs would give the Tigers a shot to walk it off, eerily reminiscent of what they did in 2024.
Unafraid of the moment, Chambliss floated the ball to tight end Dae’Quan Wright for a 20-yard gain that wrapped the game in red and blue. And the celebration began, while fans also refrained from storming the field as they had been instructed.
Lane Kiffin is JACKED UP after taking down No. 4 LSU pic.twitter.com/jtI7nx553v
— Caleb Salers (@CalebSalersST) September 27, 2025
Chambliss finished the night completing 22 of 39 passes for 314 yards, a touchdown, and a pick, and was sacked zero times. Eight of his completions were for 15 or more yards. The former Ferris State standout used his feet effectively in the matchup, as well, logging 71 yards on 14 carries. Kewan Lacy, however, led the ground attack with 87 yards and a touchdown.
“It’s an amazing accomplishment. I have to thank God for that one. He’s been with me the whole time,” Chambliss said of the win. “I have to thank Coach Kiffin and the whole staff here at Ole Miss for giving me the opportunity to come here and showcase my skillset and showcase what I can do with great athletes in this amazing support staff.”
Lee led the team in receiving with 70 yards and a score. Wake Forest transfer Deuce Alexander had three pivotal hauls for a combined 64 yards. Altogether, Ole Miss had 480 yards of offense against Blake Baker’s defensive unit.
The Rebel defense, following up last week’s strong showing against Tulane, was solid against its conference counterpart. Wydett Williams Jr., who made previous collegiate stops at Delta State and Louisiana-Monroe, had an interception and four complementary tackles.
“We dreamed of moments like this since we were kids. We took those steps in our lives to be who we want to be,” Wydett Williams Jr. said of joining Chambliss in being a fellow former Division II player to shine at the next level. “We had to do more than others did, and we’re here right now. We have no one but God to thank for that.”
Ole Miss’ interior was disruptive, with Mississippi natives Kam Franklin, Will Echoles, and Jamarious Brown accounting for three tackles for loss. Echoles had the lone sack of the matchup. Golding’s crew limited LSU to a mere 254 yards of offense.
In the special teams’ room, Carneiro was once again as advertised. The Western Kentucky transfer nailed his one field goal attempt of the night and was a perfect three-of-three on point-after attempts.
For LSU, an inability to consistently move the ball on the ground forced Nussmeier to go to the air throughout the afternoon. The senior, and once-Heisman hopeful, completed 21 of 34 passes for 197 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
Defensive back AJ Haulcy led LSU in tackles with 13 total drop-downs. He also had the only forced fumble of the game. Star linebacker Whit Weeks stood out on the stat sheet, logging 10 tackles, one of which was for a loss.
On the penalty front, Ole Miss was flagged a whopping 14 times, 10 of which came in the first half, for 109 yards. LSU was penalized seven times for 78 yards, in what was a flag-heavy affair by the officiating crew.
Scoring summary
After punting on its first offensive drive, LSU took advantage of two fruitless Ole Miss possessions and put points on the board first. A 50-yard bomb from Garrett Nussmeier to Zavion Thomas moved the Tigers into the red zone. A pass deflected by Rebel safety Sage Ryan, a former LSU player, landed in the hands of Tiger wideout Nic Anderson to give the visitors an early 7-0 lead with 9:10 left in the first quarter.
Ole Miss moved the chains for the first time in the game on its third drive. The Rebels drove the ball 83 yards downfield, but had to settle for a field goal. Lucas Carneiro was money from 25 yards out, cutting his crew’s deficit to four points.
Finding favor with the officials, Ole Miss was removed from a field-position jam and later moved into scoring territory off of LSU penalties. A roughing the passer flag thrown on Tiger linebacker West Weeks moved the chains for the Rebels early in a second-quarter drive. Back-to-back pass interference calls against LSU were capitalized on by a 15-yard score from Kewan Lacy, putting Ole Miss ahead.
The Rebels kept their feet on the gas in the waning moments of the first half. A redemptive two-yard touchdown from Chambliss to Cayden Lee made up for an earlier turnover by the shifty wideout, allowing Ole Miss to take a 17-7 advantage into halftime.
Then, the third quarter belonged to LSU. As the Tigers’ defense found its footing, the special teams assisted in putting points on the board. A 39-yarder by Damion Ramos got LSU within one score of its SEC foe. A 48-yarder by the decorated senior, following a Chambliss interception, found LSU trailing just 17-13 going into the last 15 minutes of action.
The following Ole Miss offensive possession, though plagued by penalties, took a turn for the better, resulting in a game-defining third-down conversion and a score by former Tiger, Logan Diggs. With 11:08 on the fourth quarter clock, the Rebels led 24-13.
LSU, desperately needing points, ate six minutes of game time, but marched into the red zone. A pair of infractions committed by the Ole Miss defense aided in the Tigers’ efforts. The drive ended with Tiger running back Harlem Berry reaching the end zone. However, a failed two-point conversion attempt eliminated LSU’s hopes of being able to send the game to overtime with a field goal.
Regardless, Ole Miss held on and walked away 24-19 victors.
Coach’s comments
Lane Kiffin did not shy away from critiquing his team’s abundance of penalties and the two turnovers. However, he was impressed with his squad’s ability to lead a somewhat dominant effort on the field, despite the numerous miscues. Kiffin was especially pleased with his offense’s performance against one of the nation’s most feared defensive units.
“We had too many penalties and two turnovers, which we’ll need to clean up. Statistically, I didn’t expect it to be so one-sided; first downs: 28 to 16, total yards: 480 to 254. That tells me a lot of our guys are doing things right,” Kiffin said. “Gaining over 200 yards against LSU’s defense is no small feat, given the caliber of their players.”
Kiffin further touted how the standards have been upped for his program. Two seasons ago, Ole Miss fans stormed the field after defeating a Jayden Daniels-led LSU team. On Saturday, though, the fans located the proper exits at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and used them to head to their next destination.
“I also hope our fans enjoyed the day. We really appreciate them not rushing the field, though, I’m sure the extra security helped,” Kiffin added. “It’s special to beat the No. 3 team in the country, but even more meaningful that we acted like we’d been there before. We did what we were supposed to do: win the game. That shows me our program has reached a new level, and I couldn’t be happier about it.”
Pregame flyover
Saturday’s game was preceded by the first-ever B-2 bomber flyover in Ole Miss history — one that certainly had everyone in the stadium glued to the sky. A crew from the 509th Bomb Wing out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri successfully led the pregame festivity.
Land of the free. Home of the brave. God bless America! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/VIYiNJqxgy
— Caleb Salers (@CalebSalersST) September 27, 2025
Ole Miss Athletics Director Keith Carter told SuperTalk Mississippi News that, among other moving pieces that landed in the right spot, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker’s support helped Ole Miss land the coveted flyover.
Next up
Ole Miss will enter its first bye week of the 2025 season and will likely be ranked in the top-10 when facing Washington State in Oxford two Saturdays from now.
