Football Fights Off Washington State for Homecoming Win

OXFORD, Miss. – No. 4 Ole Miss football celebrated its 98th Homecoming game in Oxford with a gritty 24-21 win over non-conference foe Washington State on Saturday afternoon.

The Rebels (6-0) are now 74-17-2 all-time in Homecoming games since 1924, and by besting the Cougars (3-3), Ole Miss is now undefeated through six games for the first time since 2022. The difference in today’s matchup came on third downs, where Washington State struggled to convert all game. The Cougars went 2-for-10 on third downs for a 20 percent clip. Ole Miss has allowed a 34.8 percent conversion rate on third downs this season and will likely move up the SEC leaderboard after once again stuffing its opponent.

Head coach Lane Kiffin became the fastest coach in Ole Miss history to 50 wins, needing just 68 games. Kiffin (50-18) broke 50 wins six games faster than John Vaught (50-19-5) and 26 games faster than Billy Brewer (50-51-3), the lone other Rebel coaches to cross the 50-win barrier. Under Kiffin, the Rebels are now 22-2 in non-conference action, and an undefeated 19-0 in regular season action.

Offensive Leaders
Trinidad Chambliss went 20-for-29 through the air and accounted for three total touchdowns on the day. Chambliss has been an endzone magnet in his four starts at Ole Miss, having now accounted for 10 total touchdowns (seven passing, three rushing).

Dae’Quan Wright continued to etch his name further into Ole Miss’ record book by catching his seventh touchdown as a Rebel. Wright, who finished the day with four catches for 80 yards on top of his score, is now tied with Don Williams for the sixth most touchdown receptions among Rebel tight ends in program history.

De’Zhaun Stribling paced the Rebels with six catches against his first collegiate team, totaling 63 yards. On the ground, Kewan Lacy averaged 5.9 yards per carry for a total of 142 rushing yards for the day. For Lacy, his rushing yardage served as a career-high and eclipsed 500 yards for the season. Lacy has accrued 100-plus rushing yards for the third time this season, and for the first time since week two against Kentucky.

Defensive Leaders
TJ Dottery, Wydett Williams Jr., Kam Franklin and Tahj Chambers paced the Rebel defense with six tackles apiece. Six total Rebels recorded at least five tackles, including Franklin, who recorded 1.5 sacks. He paced the team in that category, with Princewill Umanmielen and Will Echoles recording at least one each as well. Ole Miss finished with four sacks on the day, which is a season-high for the team.

Franklin would seal Ole Miss’ victory by tackling a Washington State receiver on the final play of the game.

First Quarter

Ole Miss would take the opening possession all the way down to the Washington State 4-yard line but came up empty after a turnover on downs. Washington State would go three-and-out on their opening possession, giving the ball back to the Rebels with 8:37 to play.

After an Ole Miss missed field goal, Washington State would strike with a nine play 71-yard drive capped off by a 26-yard touchdown pass from Zevi Eckhaus to Landon Wright. At the end of one, the Cougars would lead 7-0.

Second Quarter

Ole Miss moved the ball again offensively to start the second quarter but were stalled after a fumble in Cougar territory. Washington State would miss a 54-yard field goal attempt giving the ball back to the Rebels at their own 36-yard line.

Lucas Carneiro would get Ole Miss on the board with a 40-yard field goal. The scoring drive went nine plays for 41-yards over 3:51. Washington State remained in front 7-3 with 6:19 to play in the half.

To close the half, Trinidad Chambliss would orchestrate a 10-play 87-yard scoring drive in just over two minutes to put Ole Miss up 10-7. Chambliss would find Dae’Quan Wright for a 2-yard touchdown reception. The Chambliss-Wright combo was used frequently throughout the drive, including a 30-yard pass that set up 1st-and-goal from the 10.

Ole Miss would lead 10-7 at the break.

Third Quarter
Washington State would open the second half with a seven play 75-yard drive resulting in a touchdown. Kirby Vorhees would scamper for a 48-yard run putting the Cougars up 14-10.

Each team would exchange punts on the following possessions.

Ole Miss would generate an 11-play 82-yard scoring drive to retake the lead at 17-14. Chambliss would scramble 17-yards for his third rushing touchdown of the season.

Through three quarters, the Rebels would lead 17-14.

Fourth Quarter
Both teams exchanged sluggish starts to the fourth quarter, neither of which consuming more than 10 yards in their respective initial fourth quarter drives.

Needing a kickstart, Cayden Lee delivered by making a statement play in the latter half of the quarter, which would seal Ole Miss’ victory. Chambliss, under heavy pressure, delivered a well-placed ball to Lee after taking a hit. Lee then hauled in the ball on a deep flag route in the redzone and evaded a would-be tackler by juking to the inside, where nobody would stop him. That play capped a 4-play 60-yard drive to put Ole Miss up by double-digits for the first time in the game.

The Cougars responded with a strong drive of their own. Despite a Kam Franklin sack and a Washington State holding penalty, Eckhaus would find Tony Freeman wide open in the corner of the endzone for a 19-yard touchdown. The score would put Washington State back within three points of Ole Miss after electing for the PAT.

The Rebels had one final opportunity with the football and managed to erase over a minute and a half of time, leaving the Cougars with only 1:07 to respond. After an incompletion from Eckhaus and a sack from Echoles on third down, Washington State would respond with a 16-yard completion to give itself another chance. A defensive pass interference by Ole Miss pushed the Cougars closer.

However, despite a last-ditch effort on the final play of the day, which included two laterals from Washington State, Franklin would close the game by making a tackle on Leo Pulalasi to fashion the final score of 24-21.

Next Up
Ole Miss will hit the road next week for an SEC clash against No. 10 Georgia. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC.

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Trinidad Chambliss

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