The University of Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. LSU
9/20/2026 | Football
OLE MISS HEAD COACH PETE GOLDING
Opening Statement:
"What an awesome weekend, the environment in Oxford. The community did an unbelievable job with so many things going on: the concert Thursday night and GameDay. I'm proud of this building. To Keith [Carter] and to Glenn [Boyce], they allowed us to keep our focus on what was important. Our staff and coaches did an outstanding job. More importantly, our players really stayed focused and worked their butts off. They handled it the right way and did it with class. That's what I just told them, when you work your butt off, and you're talented, and keep the good Lord first, good things happen to you. It took all of us tonight. A lot of guys stepped up and played really well. I'm really proud of them."
On if this game means more than normal:
"You know, I just told our team in there, I don't think anyone came here to beat LSU. That's not what our goal was coming in and working so hard in the offseason; it wasn't just to win one football game. I told them, yes, is it sweet. Absolutely, and go enjoy tonight for sure, but we have to come back to work tomorrow. We have a really good Florida team next week. It wasn't the Super Bowl, and we didn't make it to be the Super Bowl. I think the goals and the expectations that Glenn [Boyce] and Keith [Carter] have set for this place isn't about winning one football game in September. Am I super proud of them? Absolutely, but that's three years since we've been here that we've come home with that trophy. That's an expectation here, as it should be. I'm really proud of our guys and our coaches, really happy for our fans, and couldn't be happier for Glenn [Boyce] and for Keith [Carter]. I'm really grateful for the opportunity they presented to me, which they didn't have to. I think it was a full-circle moment for a lot of people. It was a reminder that no player, no person, is bigger than anyone else, and that this place has been built the right way with really good people. The trajectory is up, and that is where it is going to continue to go."
On the rest of the season:
"I think it's great to have another four-quarter game. The disappointing thing for me was something that we talked about at halftime. I said, it felt like seven days ago we were sitting in this same locker room and had a decent first half, and we talked about coming out here in the third quarter, and really sticking the dagger in them and finishing this thing the right way. Yet we didn't do it again. If you continue to let good football teams hang around, things happen. I'm really proud of the fight in the fourth quarter. It was a really good job by the offense at the end, really good execution of a plan in place. For the two-point situation, I think it changed the momentum. The defense made a stop when they had to, but they're gonna go back and watch the tape. There are a lot of opportunities for us to have ended that game way before that. If you keep on playing with fire, you're gonna get burned. We have to continue to learn from these obstacles and mistakes and correct them. I'm so happy for our guys. They worked their butts off, and I want them to enjoy it. I'm excited for our fans; they created an unbelievable atmosphere, which is the norm here, no matter if it's Tulane or Kiffin and LSU. We're gonna show up, be loud. Our guys are so grateful for that. There were a lot of false starts today because of the crowd noise. Really thankful for the student section and all the fans."
On Trinidad Chambliss' first vs second half:
"He's a fierce competitor. Y'all know that and have seen that for a long time. When we talk about competitive greatness, being at your best when your best is needed, that's him. Our guys believe in him. He probably wants a couple throws back, but he made the ones when he had to. He doesn't get too high or too low; he's steady. I said that this morning on GameDay: I don't care what level you coach; if you don't have a quarterback, good luck. We've got a good one, and he's a good dude. I'm super grateful."
On going for two on the final touchdown:
"The plan was always for certain situations. It's really hard when you get scored on in a situation when you're not supposed to be going for two. You send a field goal block unit out there and try to catch people with twelve, or make them burn a timeout, or even, like, if they jump, it's half the distance. You then have a decision to make: are you gonna get closer at some point in that for a yard and a half? Then we did it again, and they did it again. So then at that point, if we can't get a half yard to get it to eight to make sure you don't lose the game, worst-case scenario, we're going to overtime, then we shouldn't win the game. It was something we worked on throughout the week that our guys executed well."
OLE MISS DT WILL ECHOLES
On what the win means:
"It's a breath of fresh air, honestly, just to get it over with. I'd say how we did it is the biggest thing for me. We came out swinging. As PG [Pete Golding] said to the media the whole week, just playing all four quarters of the game and playing hard."
On the atmosphere:
"Man, the fans were crazy. It was loud. It's probably the loudest I have heard the stadium. So super grateful for the support, and hopefully they show up and show out at every home game."
On staying composed in the second half:
"Yeah, we came out in the third quarter and threw an interception. But we trust him when he [Trinidad Chambliss] has the ball in his hands. We got his back, and he has our backs. So, you know, it was a heavyweight battle between two good teams. We kept our composure and got the job done."
On if it feels like Pete Golding's program now:
"Yeah, I'd say that. Pete [Golding] is what he is: 4-1 in his first five head coaching games. Pretty good start. So super proud of him. He understands the team and how he holds himself around the program. You know, he keeps us ready for any situation that's in front of us. So super thankful for him and that he got the head coaching job, and I'm all in."
OLE MISS WR TRAYLON RAY
On playing cornerback:
"No, that's not me [in response to playing cornerback]. I mean, it's good. All glory to God. I stayed down. Not everything comes when you want it to, and I trusted in God's plan. Look what he did for me today."
On not transferring:
"Yeah, I thought about it because, you know, of things that went on last year, but I had trust in Coach PG [Pete Golding]. He's a great guy on and off the field. So, that was the biggest part of my decision. I wanted to be under a coach who believed in me. Coach PG [Pete Golding] believed in me, so he gave me an opportunity to come back and compete for a spot to showcase my talent when I'm not injured, and I did that. I found myself on the field. I found myself connecting with Trin [Trinidad Chambliss] and making some plays."
On different systems that allowed him to excel this season:
"It's similar systems, but for the most part, JDB [John David Baker], if you're hot, he's gonna let you be hot. In the game, you know, if you're eating, he'll let you continue to eat. It's just the trust he has in the guys. He knows what he's seen us do in practice, competing and things like that, so he has a lot of trust in us."
On scoring the final touchdown:
"Really, you know, I'm back. Honestly, you know, it's been two years. [Claps] I've been through injury. I'm not gonna fake it; I've been through a hard time, obviously. But God got me through that time, and he just kept telling me to wait, wait. I finally waited, and then it happened for me."
OLE MISS QB TRINIDAD CHAMBLISS
On Ole Miss being disrespected in the media:
"Yeah, definitely, I just got here last year, and Ole Miss has welcomed me in and showed nothing but love and support. I feel like the whole nation kind of disrespects Ole Miss. When they compare LSU and Ole Miss, they always say LSU has more money, the nicer facilities, a bigger fanbase, bigger stadium. There's more to it than just [Lane] Kiffin being on the other side of the ball. I'm happy we got this one for our fans and the people who support Ole Miss. Happy for our team as well for putting in the work. There's a lot of people that don't see that this product on the field doesn't just come to life. We have to grind, and I'm so happy that we got the win."
On staying composed:
"Yeah, I try and stay calm throughout the whole game, regardless of the situation. I was taught that growing up playing the sport, just staying even keeled. I can't get too high or get too low. In that situation, I knew that I just had to execute, put points on the board, do what you've prepared to do, and that's what we did. So my mindset doesn't change much throughout the whole game. I know we were ahead early and they ended up coming back, but there was honestly no difference in my eyes. It was still 0-0."
On if this win meant more than others:
"Yeah, this one meant a lot more than the other games. I mean, the coaches that were here are now at LSU, some players as well. So a little bit more to it. So yeah, I'm really happy we got the win. I wanted this one really bad, and our team did too. So, just proud of them and so happy we got the win."
On getting the LSU game over with:
"Yeah, finally got that one out of the way. I feel like we've been hearing and talking about this game all offseason. So proud of our team. So glad we got the win."
LSU HEAD COACH LANE KIFFIN
On QB Sam Leavitt's play and the overall takeaways:
"Sam did some good things with his feet today. We were off early. First off, credit to Ole Miss. Pete [Golding] did a really good job, how they showed up today and took it at the end. So credit to them, their players made plays. All week, my biggest fear every minute was, that the game would be at the end and Trinidad has the ball in his hands. He made a lot of plays and did a great job. That's why I said he's the hardest player to play against in America. He showed up and played great today. Kind of like in the Miami game, they really just kind of threw with him and he took over. Tough game injury wise for us too. Losing [Dashaun] Spears early, and then Trey'Dez [Green] is a big factor. I'm proud of the way the guys battled back. To let them score right before half, be down 17, and come back to go on a 17-0 run, it's really good. But in the end, we didn't finish. We have to finish on defense and stop them. We let them go down and score, and then the offense moved the ball and stalled at the end. Critical false start too, moved us back in a big spot."
On the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium atmosphere:
"I think you walked into a storm. That's what happens a lot of times in these games. You see it all the time. You walk into a buzzsaw. You walk into the build up. The stadium was full an hour early. So I guess I had to leave to get them to do that, so you're welcome. But yeah, it was that and Trinidad being on fire early. Then they got us in third down and pushed really well. Echoles I thought played a really good game and made it really hard."
On QB Trinidad Chambliss and the passing game:
"Yeah we were pretty conservative on him early. Tried to keep the score in front of us, tried to give him some softer looks, and he did a really good job. Guys made plays for them in the receiving game too. He's hard to defend, and a lot of people haven't beat him. So we let this one get away because I feel like we came back, had momentum, and let them go down and score. On the touchdown, we have a guy out there and Trinidad outruns him.Even with that, I felt like we were in a good position to go down and score and get a two-point conversion. It took a lot of time to get there, so he [Chambliss] wasn't going to get the ball back. The hope was to get it to overtime. We wouldn't have given them much time because again, you can't leave Trinidad with any time especially with their kicker."
On whether he is glad the return to Oxford is over:
"I'm sure I will be criticized for saying this, but yeah I am. I was thinking that all week, especially today. I would've said that with a win or loss. I was really emotional driving on the buses for a lot of reasons. I'm not just saying that because of the loss. I would've said this anyway, and since you asked me, it was just really a lot of emotions of gratitude for this place and for the six years. It went well beyond football. It was also my first time coming into this type of game without my dad. It was just a lot, and it was really emotional. But it wasn't emotional in the way that I thought it would be. I thought I would have felt more of the name calling when we got off the bus and everything. It was much more, so just a lot of gratitude for this place and the people that changed my life, way bigger than a football game."
LSU S TY BENEFIELD
On what it is like facing QB Trinidad Chambliss:
"Props to him. He is really good at what he does. Like you said he extends plays. I got to play better, everyone has to play better but I am going to take that one."
On how LSU handled the atmosphere:
"Honestly, that wasn't the issue, like the fans and whatever they had, that wasn't really the issue. More of our issue was just doing your job and executing what you were supposed to do. Again I am going to sit here and I am gonna say I am going to take that because that's a leader of this team. There were times where I didn't execute."
On how his job changed when S Dashawn Spears went down:
"Honestly, like next man up mentality. Unfortunately, that is my brother. That is my guy and it was really difficult to see that but you can't be emotional about things like that happening because they really affected the game in an even more negative way. It has to be the next man up, so whoever is up this week, next week, we are going to really make sure that they are dialed in and get back. "
On what it says about the team to make a comeback and fight:
"It shows that we are gritty and tough. We are really good to be able to come back and do that. Teams that aren't that good can't do that. It shows how much we love and care for each other. Not a single person in that locker room has turned on anybody. That just shows how we are as a team, loving each other, and that shows how good we can be. Obviously there is going to be execution and we are going to work on that."
LSU LB WHIT WEEKS
On what was disappointing about the defense not being able to close it out:
"The game was on us. It's frustrating. You know we want the game to be on us and we did not execute when it mattered most."
On why QB Trinidad Chambliss is so challenging to play against:
"I think we say tonight, his versatility. He's a ball player, at the end of the day, we knew that going into it. He made more plays than we did."
On his career at LSU and what this game meant to him:
"I wanted to win this one more than any of them. We didn't, so it's frustrating. We put a lot of work into being successful and they have gone three of four in my career and I am just thinking on ways to come back better from it. Looking back on it, seeing where I went wrong, in my preparation, trying to learn from it."
On his message to the guys tomorrow:
"We have a lot to learn from. We know where we are at and we know the spot we are in right now. 0-1 in SEC play and it only gets harder from here. We are going to have to come ready to work tomorrow, watch the tape, learn from it, correct our mistakes, then hit the ground running on Monday getting ready for Texas A&M."
