OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss made it two in a row with its win over Missouri on Saturday, beating the 13th-ranked Tigers 21-3 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
After confidently handling Vanderbilt on the road in what felt like a warm-up coming out of its bye week, Ole Miss knew Missouri would present a challenge far greater the following week. On top of facing a talented Missouri team, were the storylines surrounding both rosters and the high stakes of the game’s outcome.
Here are five takeaways from the Rebels’ critical Week 7 win against Missouri.
Lights Out Defense
Among the biggest components of the winning formula for Ole Miss was slowing down Missouri’s run game. Going into Saturday, Missouri averaged nearly 180 rushing yards per game with Jamal Roberts totaling 433 yards on the ground in his previous two appearances.
For the Tigers, they couldn’t have asked for a more favorable matchup on paper. Through six weeks no team in the SEC had defended the run worse than Ole Miss did, allowing over 175 rushing yards per game.
However, against Missouri, Ole Miss was lights out defending the run. Not only did the Rebels limit Missouri’s rush attack, they completely shut it down and made it a non-factor. Missouri finished the game with 38 rushing yards on 20 attempts and had to get away from, arguably, its greatest offensive strength for much of the second half.
Overall, Pete Golding’s defense put together its most impressive outing, holding Missouri to three points and a third down conversion rate of 35 percent. Ole Miss even put a fitting end to things by intercepting Austin Simmons on Missouri’s final possession near the goal line to keep them out of the end zone.
Bruising Run Game
On the flip side, Ole Miss was able to do whatever it wanted on the ground against one of the SEC’s better run defenses.
Kewan Lacy wasn’t completely healthy as he continues to nurse a nagging left shoulder injury, and endured another lower body bang up during Saturday’s win, but that didn’t stop him from having his finest performance of the season against his former team. The Rebels’ star back finished the afternoon with 122 rushing yards on 16 attempts (7.6 YPC).
And still, Lacy wasn't Ole Miss’ only 100-yard rusher against Missouri.
Together, Lacy and second-string Makhi Frazier combined for 223 rushing yards on 31 total carries, averaging over seven yards per carry.
Offensive Miscues Weren’t Costly and Could be Encouraging
The Rebels scored more than enough touchdowns to get the job done, but it still wasn’t their cleanest performance on that side of the ball.
Between fumbles (one lost), dropped passes, batted balls, penalties and a handful of misfires — Ole Miss could’ve kept Missouri hanging around if it wasn’t for its best defensive outing of the game.
Trinidad Chambliss completed just over 50 percent of his passes and got off to a slow start early against the Tigers. Still, Chambliss found a way to notch three touchdown passes and an additional score on the ground.
Maybe the silver lining in Chambliss’ unconventional, but successful, four-touchdown performance is that there’s still plenty of room for growth, which could be scary for the defensive coordinator going forward.
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