After losing to the Florida Gators on the road on Sept. 26, the optimism surrounding the Ole Miss Rebels quickly diminished.
Sure, Ole Miss remained a top-10 team in the AP Top 25, but an embarrassing 52-28 loss just one week after an emotional win over former head coach Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers made Rebel fans rightly concerned about what remained on their team's conference schedule and the hopes of another College Football Playoff run.
This Saturday, however, those anxieties were halted, at least for a few hours, as Ole Miss trounced the Vanderbilt Commodores 52-17 in Nashville. The Rebels looked the part of a CFP contender on all sides of the ball in the win, but there's an important caveat to remember: this domination came against Vanderbilt, not a team in the top tier of the SEC.
So what can we make from Ole Miss' win?
After the Florida loss, this was exactly the response Ole Miss needed.
The Rebels had a bye week in between the loss at Florida and the game against Vanderbilt this week, so they had plenty of time to not only prepare for the Commodores, but also to let the humiliation from The Swamp sting some more. It seemed, for a week at least, that the team got the message.
Vanderbilt was held to 343 yards of total offense and just 17 points against a defense that seemed incapable of doing anything positive just two weeks prior. Perhaps the biggest note in this, however, is that for much of the first half, the Commodores were held to 0 or fewer rushing yards as a team, a welcome sign after the Gators gashed Ole Miss' defense on the ground in Gainesville. The Rebels also forced a couple of turnovers in the rainy rout.
Offensively, things were on point almost as soon as the game kicked off. Although Ole Miss went three-and-out on its opening possession, the Rebel advantage had grown to 42-3 by halftime with five of those scores coming from the offense (edge rusher Suntarine Perkins also returned a fumble for a touchdown in the second quarter).
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss finished the day with 213 passing yards and three scores before the starters were pulled from the game, and a newly-returned Kewan Lacy added 39 rushing yards and a score on his limited snaps.
Ultimately, it was a mostly-clean game from Ole Miss, and the Rebels did what good teams try to do in these situations: take care of business and get back home for the next opponent.
For Ole Miss, can the positive momentum continue?
The question for Ole Miss, however, is not whether it can put up a strong performance against Vanderbilt. That's not going to be the litmus test for the season. Instead, it's whether or not this positive momentum established in Nashville can continue through the remainder of a brutal schedule.
Here's what the Rebels have left on the docket:
Oct. 17 -- vs. No. 13 Missouri
Oct. 24 -- at No. 7 Texas
Oct. 31 -- vs. Auburn
Nov. 7 -- vs. No. 1 Georgia
Nov. 14 -- at Oklahoma
Nov. 21 -- vs. Wofford
Nov. 27 -- vs. No. 16 Mississippi State
That's a grueling stretch, and the Rebels likely can only suffer one more quality loss along the way and still feel somewhat positive about its College Football Playoff hopes at the end of the regular season.
This positive momentum is sustainable for Ole Miss, but it won't look as easy as it did in Nashville every week. The effort that head coach Pete Golding preached following the Florida loss was very present on Saturday, and his scheme seemed to work wonders, but there are tougher opponents coming down the road who will ultimately determine how the 2026 season is remembered in Oxford.
Next up is Missouri, which is bringing along former Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons and wide receiver Cayden Lee. The Tigers have proven that they are a talented team in the early portions of this season, so the same Ole Miss that showed up against Vanderbilt needs to show up this coming Saturday as well if the Rebels want to be fully back on track heading into Texas the following week.
Kickoff between Ole Miss and Missouri is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google