Instant Reaction in a Nutshell: No. 13 Ole Miss Beats No. 4 LSU, 24-19
OXFORD, Miss. – No. 13 Ole Miss defeated No. 4 LSU 24-19 in front of a jam-packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Here is the story of the game in a nutshell.
THE POSITIVE: The Ole Miss run defense. LSU could only muster 57 yards on the ground with the Tigers’ leading rusher only gaining 22 yards. The longest run of the day for the Bayou Bengals was just ten yards. Whatever Rebs’ defensive coordinator Pete Golding drew up schematically, it worked.
THE NEGATIVE: Penalties. Way too many penalties for Ole Miss. The Rebels were flagged 13 times for 109 yards. Even worse than the sheer number of penalties, Ole Miss seemed to commit them at the most inconvenient times. Many negated big plays for the Rebels, others extended LSU drives.
THE KEY POSSESSION:The last Ole Miss drive in the first half. The Rebels took over with 2:16 left in the second quarter and mounted a demoralizing drive that got into LSU’s heads. It covered 69 yards in nine plays and culminated with a two-yard scoring strike from Trinidad Chambliss to Cayden Lee with 13 seconds left. That gave Ole Miss a 17-7 lead and sent the Tigers to the halftime locker room hanging their heads.
THE KEY PLAY: With Ole Miss nursing a slim lead and looking to milk the clock, Chambliss inexplicably ran out of bounds to stop the clock and force Ole Miss into a fourth-and-three situation. Instead of attempting a field goal, Lane Kiffin opted to try and gain the three yards and essentially end the game. Chambliss found Dae’Quan Wright in the left flat for a gain of 20 yards and it allowed the Rebels to kill the remaining time by taking a knee. LSU never saw possession again.
Here’s that game-clinching first-down pass from Chambliss to Dae’Quan Wright! (Video: @KarisChambliss, RW) pic.twitter.com/f08I87zOeX
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) September 27, 2025
WHAT THIS MEANS GOING FORWARD: It means Ole Miss is 5-0 and undefeated in SEC play at 3-0. The Rebels are now off to a 5-0 start for the first time since the 2022 Ole Miss team began the year 7-0. This marks the 12th start of at least 5-0 in program history, and the 15th unbeaten streak through five games to start a year when including ties. The Rebels have a little time to enjoy this one.
They’re off next week and then Washington State comes to town Oct. 11.
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
