Ole Miss is 1-1 in its first two true road games this season. The Rebels put forth an embarrassing showing in Gainesville on Sept. 26, losing 52-28 to the Florida Gators. Two weeks later, the Rebels dismantled Vanderbilt in Nashville 52-17.
At surface level, it's hard to draw any sort of correlation between the two performances. One was an emphatic blowout against a team without an SEC win; the other, an embarrassing loss to a top-20 team.
Both performances did share one flaw. Ole Miss has been outscored 49-32 in their road contests this season.
Ole Miss's Second Half Struggles
In the matchup with Florida, the Rebels went into halftime down 17-6. The offense came out of the locker room on fire, scoring two consecutive touchdowns. The defense, however, did not. Ole Miss gave up a touchdown on every Gator drive in the second half, except for the final Florida drive, which started with two minutes left in the game.
Chambliss turned the ball over twice after halftime at Florida, part of a troubling pattern. Four of his turnovers this season have come in the second half, and he’s thrown a second-half interception in both road games.
Against Vanderbilt, Ole Miss looked flat after a dominant first half. They entered the locker room up 42-3, sucking the life out of First Bank Stadium. On Vanderbilt's first drive after the break, the Rebel defense was pummeled. Giving up a 12-play touchdown drive that took seven minutes and 33 seconds off the clock.
The Ole Miss offense scored one touchdown in the second half against Vanderbilt on a 35-yard Shekai Mills-Knight rush.
The problem has followed Ole Miss home, too. After building a 24-7 halftime lead over LSU, the Rebels were outscored 17-8 in the second half and let the Tigers get a shot at tying it late in the fourth quarter.
Reason For Optimism
Fortunately, Ole Miss was able to break the habit against Missouri.
The Rebels defeated the Tigers 10-0 in the second half. While Ole Miss had a second-half fumble, they intercepted Missouri to tie the second-half turnover battle.
Chambliss ended his second-half woes against Missouri. He ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put an exclamation point on the victory.
The Rebels need to build on the performance from last week against Texas this weekend. The Longhorn defense has struggled in the second half of SEC games, which gives Chambliss and Co. a great opportunity to break the trend on the road.
The Texas offense averages eight points in the second half of SEC games. Quarterback Arch Manning is infamous for his late-game struggles, throwing costly interceptions in pivotal moments. According to Pro Football Focus, Florida blitzed Arch on 60 percent of his dropbacks. Pete Golding is one of the most blitz-heavy coaches in the country. Golding should stick to his scheme and put pressure on Arch late in the game this weekend.
The formula in Austin is simple: play all four quarters. If Ole Miss can do that, the Rebels should leave DKR with their first road win over a ranked team in 2026.
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