(Photos from HailStateFB, OleMissFB, and SouthernMissFB on X)
- The Rebels stayed hot. Mississippi State fell just short of an upset. And Southern Miss bounced back.
In 2014 when both of the Magnolia State’s SEC teams were rocking, Sports Illustrated coined the phrase, “Mississippi Mayhem.”
It was in early October in 2014 that Ole Miss upset No. 3 Alabama, and Mississippi State knocked off No. 6 Texas A&M, both at home, on the same fall Saturday.
The weekend provided us a miniature version, with Ole Miss and Mississippi State hosting ranked teams, No. 4 LSU in Oxford and No. 15 Tennessee in Starkville.
Ole Miss erased an early deficit and eventually used its run game to run out the clock in a 24-19 win.
Mississippi State fell 41-34 in overtime, but its performance was an endorsement for its rebuilding process. The Bulldogs are better.
It should make for an interesting Egg Bowl on November 29 in Starkville, especially if Ole Miss is in contention for a playoff spot.
The Rebels cleared a big hurdle Saturday.
Offensively, Ole Miss was not in sync against LSU in the way we’ve seen the Rebels’ offense in earlier games.
They struggled to block the Tigers’ fast and talented front seven. There were two turnovers, one a tipped pass, the other by wide receiver Cayden Lee at the LSU 3.
Through it all, the Rebels managed 480 yards, the most allowed by LSU this season.
Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was splendid in his third start going 23-for-39 for 314 yards and a touchdown. What was most impressive was how the former Division II standout and his new mates handled adversity.
The Rebels punted on three of their first four possessions. Then came Lee’s fumble.
They overcame a plethora of holding penalties to work their way to a 17-7 halftime lead, and then as things tightened responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive to push the margin to 11 points, 24-13 with 11 minutes, 8 seconds left.
LSU made it 24-19 with 5:04 left.
The Rebels were able to reach victory formation with seven-straight rushing plays to get to fourth-and-3 from the LSU 36. Then, with a play set up going to Chambliss’ right, he hit tight end Dae’Quan Wright sneaking across the left side for a 20-yard gain.
The Rebels, now No. 4, are open this week, and should be favored in most remaining games.
They’ll be in a really good spot if they can split at Georgia and at Oklahoma on Oct ober18 and 25.
There’s a quarterback issue bubbling beneath the surface. There’s a lot of time invested in the injured third-year sophomore Austin Simmons, the starter at the beginning of the season.
Chambliss looks really efficient and comfortable, more so than Simmons did in wins over Kentucky and Arkansas.
No matter how this plays out, Chambliss is in his final season of eligibility. If Simmons is unhappy in November, well, the Transfer Portal giveth but also taketh away.
That’s a story for another day.
You do the best you can in the moment, and the moment looks like Chambliss’ right now.
Mississippi State
We probably learned more about Mississippi State in the loss to Tennessee than in its previous wins.
Arizona State, still with the shine of last year’s College Football Playoff appearance in Week 2, was a great win for the program, but at 3-1 was unranked going into the weekend.
The Sun Devils pulled off a nice home win over No. 22 TCU, 27-24, but we’ll learn more about them over their next four-game stretch: at Utah, Texas Tech, Houston, at Iowa State.
But Tennessee we know. They’re SEC, they’re us.
We saw the Vols won 11, 9 and 10 games the last three seasons under Josh Heupel. They too were a CFP team a year ago.
So, what we learned about Mississippi State in a 41-34 overtime loss is that Jeff Lebby can coach a little bit.
A lot of factors went into 10 losses in 2024, and while the Bulldogs were good in spurts, there wasn’t enough in the final product to say beyond all doubts that Lebby is the long-term answer in Starkville.
The Tennessee game moved the needle on that.
Enough went wrong for the Bulldogs that they failed to win on a big stage at home. Games like this often turn on just a few plays, and had a few plays turned out differently, State might very well have closed the deal.
Instead, the Bulldogs are forced to look for bright spots in defeat, a painfully familiar position, but here they are:
One, Tennessee’s rushing defense ranked just eighth in the SEC, but that was still No. 25 in America.
The Vols were giving up just 93.3 yards a game, and State, with 198, was within a whisker of hitting 200.
Fluff Bothwell averaged 5.8 yards a carry with 134 yards and two touchdowns on 23 attempts.
State went into the game averaging 204.3 rushing yards. The running backs are what you thought they were.
Two, the defensive touchdowns allowed (two) were killers in a game that was tied at the end of regulation.
Three, the stage was not too big. Mistakes were made, as many presidents have said, but the Bulldogs belonged.
There is improvement to be made, but there’s a teaching video to which Lebby can point. “Guys, you’re close.”
Southern Miss
After last week’s loss at Louisiana Tech, the Golden Eagles bounced back with a nice 42-25 win against another Conference USA member, Jacksonville State.
The Gamecocks began the night as the No. 6 rushing team in the nation, averaging 261.4 yards a game, so giving up 262 on the ground is not a net gain for the Eagles.
Jacksonville State had seven runs of 10-plus yards.
There is good news. Jax had 72 rushing yards in the fourth quarter when it trailed 35-11, so a lot of that success came when the game was decided, the heightened intensity worn a bit, and reserves were in the game.
Still, there were too many big plays allowed by Southern Miss.
Braylon Braxton was 13-for-22 for 152 yards and two touchdowns. He didn’t throw a pick but had a fumble when sacked in the second quarter.
He can be better.
It’s nice to see Southern Miss not wait so long between wins.
The quarterback and his team both need to find a consistent groove.
The Eagles have a bye before playing at Georgia Southern on October 9, a Thursday night game.
Georgia Southern is 2-3 after a 35-10 loss at James Madison Saturday and had a much harder time with Jacksonville State on September 13 before winning 41-34.
Parrish Alford
