‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like That’ | Pregame Scuffle Ignites Ole Miss, Womack Responds With Dominant Performance in 63–7 Win
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss concluded the first week of the 2025 season, with the Rebels taking down Georgia State 63-7 in dominating fashion Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway.
Despite playing in their first-ever matchup between the two, pregame beef came to life when Georgia State defensive back Tyler Scott made his way toward a group of Ole Miss players entering the stadium.
Inexplicably, the Panthers’ DB grabbed Rebel defensive lineman Da’Shawn Womack’s chain from around his neck. Scott, a former Auburn Tiger, then proceeded to run to the middle of the field and throw Womack’s chain into the stands as the Rebs headed to the locker room.
Insane: Georgia State CB Tyler Scott SNATCHED an Ole Miss player’s chain in the pregame and launched it in the stands…
He was quickly benched for the game 😬😳 pic.twitter.com/BnVbDZClos
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 1, 2025
When asked about the situation in a zoom call Sunday, head coach Lane Kiffin offered his perspective.
“Yeah, that was wild,” Kiffin began.
“I happened to be right there. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like that. The guy ripped Womack’s chain off his neck and stood there, taunted him with it and threw it in the stands. I was like, ‘What is going on?’ So, it was wild. I thought our guys handled themselves really well. Probably better than I would have in that situation. That was crazy. I’d never seen anything like that.“
Lane Kiffin on the incident
Coach Kiffin went on to offer more thoughts on the situation.
“I didn’t know who the guy (Scott) was at the time. He’s coming over doing that, and, I don’t know. I had some words for him. I didn’t do as well as our players did with him and some of their assistant coaches. Just complete disrespect. You guys hear me say all the time, ‘Everything bad is good and everything good is bad.’ So, it pissed Womack off. Then he was the defensive player of the game and played amazing and played hard as he could be in the game.“
Lane Kiffin
Womack finished the game with six tackles, five solo, one quarterback hurry and a tackle for loss.
“I’ll give you a funny story. They asked [Womack] if he wanted to press charges and he said, ‘No, I’d rather let the guy play.’ But, I don’t think he played anyway, so whatever,” Kiffin said.
On the flip side, Georgia State head coach Dell McGee insinuated that an Ole Miss player took Scott’s towel prior to the chain-snatching reaction. In his response, McGee also acknowledged that Scott was benched because of his actions.
Georgia State Panthers Head Coach Dell McGee talks postgame about the pregame incident involving Panthers player Tyler Scott snatching a chain from an #OleMiss player.
Volume Up ⬆️ to hear coach McGee’s comments . pic.twitter.com/LcYYSezztU— Alison Mastrangelo (@AlisonWSB) August 31, 2025
The Rebel wide receiving corps went on to collect 400 receiving yards and score four total touchdowns on the day.
As for Womack, the LSU transfer notched six tackles and one tackle for loss. Following the game, Austin Simmons took to social media by posting a picture of Scott’s ESPN bio on his Instagram and tagging him in the post.
Similar to the motivation used in week one, the Rebs will travel to Kentucky in hopes of bouncing back following the upset loss against the Wildcats in 2024. As always, be sure to stay tuned with The Rebel Walk for all of your Ole Miss sports needs.
