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Ole Miss defense fuels decisive 30-14 victory over South Carolina

Posted by | Nov 1, 2025 |

Ole Miss defense fuels decisive 30-14 victory over South Carolina

OXFORD, Miss. — Behind a suffocating defensive effort and 258 rushing yards, No. 7 Ole Miss overcame a slow start to secure a dominant 30-14 win over South Carolina and inch closer to its playoff ambitions.

“Really good win. To win by 16 points in the SEC, that’s challenging. These guys (South Carolina) took Alabama down to the wire, I thought our defense really showed up today. I felt like our fans and defense showed up today.”

~ Lane Kiffin after the win

The Ole Miss defense posted season highs in sacks and tackles for loss, dropping LaNorris Sellers six times and recording eight tackles for loss. Despite going 1-for-11 on third down, the Rebel offense converted 3-of-4 fourth-down attempts and never wavered, totaling for 417 yards when the clock hit zeroes.

Game recap

The Rebels received the opening kick but were quickly brought to fourth down after back-to-back incompletions from Trinidad Chambliss. However, Ole Miss dialed up the trickery early, and punter Oscar Bird rushed for an 18-yard first down to put the offense back on the field.

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin praised the special teams for their performance in the win.

“They’ve done a great job, and they probably don’t get enough credit. The fake punt was something we saw on film, and we thought we could do it. Shoutout to our special teams coaches.”

~ Kiffin on the Ole Miss special teams unit

Kewan Lacy started his career-best performance with a 16-yard rush into South Carolina territory a play later, but the Rebels were stalled again. Faced with fourth down once more, the offense stayed on the field, but an incomplete pass led to a turnover on downs at the Gamecocks’ 36-yard line.

The Landshark defense came to play all night and forced a quick three-and-out for Sellers and the South Carolina offense on their first possession. Things just weren’t going quite as planned for the Rebels early, though, as Harrison Wallace III muffed the punt and set the Gamecocks up on the Ole Miss 16.

Behind the legs of Sellers, South Carolina put the game’s first points on the scoreboard and led the Rebels 7-0 six minutes into play.

Logan Diggs set the Rebels up near midfield after a 42-yard return on the ensuing kickoff, but Ole Miss was yet again faced with another fourth down just a yard shy of the sticks. The offense stayed on the field once more, and this time the Rebels were successful on the conversion as Deuce Alexander took a reverse play 21 yards to the brink of the red zone.

Chambliss began to find some rhythm in the passing game to move the ball near the goal line for Ole Miss, but a dropped pass by Trace Bruckler in the end zone and an incompletion to follow brought out the field goal unit. Lucas Carneiro drilled it from 21 yards out, cutting the deficit to 7-3.

After the win, Chambliss expressed his thoughts on the inconsistency of the Ole Miss offense throughout the game.

“Not our prettiest performance on offense. We really couldn’t execute on some crucial downs, and that’s a lot on me. I didn’t have my best game. I got to be better at getting all the guys going and making sure we are executing.”

~ Chambliss on the Ole Miss offense against South Carolina

Sellers looked to answer and extend the Gamecock lead, completing a pass for 20 yards on the first play of the following drive. After inching onto the Ole Miss side of the field, it was South Carolina going for it on 4th-and-1 this time, but Andrew Jones met Matt Fuller in the backfield for a 3-yard loss and a turnover on downs.

Quickly, Alexander put the Rebels into the red zone with a 43-yard grab down the seam. A play later, Chambliss hit Dae’Quan Wright in stride — throwing across his body for an 8-yard touchdown to give Ole Miss a 10-7 lead in the blink of an eye.

South Carolina picked up a couple of first downs in an attempt to answer as the first quarter came to a close, but it was Princewill Umanmielen kicking off the sack party for the Ole Miss defense to force a punt.

A drive full of Lacy runs eventually led to another fourth-down decision in South Carolina territory, and again the Rebels converted. Chambliss risked it all and threw the ball across the middle of the field to Wallace III for a 20-yard pickup, then punched it in himself from 15 yards out two plays later on a quarterback power call.

Trailing 17-7 late in the half, the offensive woes started to pile up for the Gamecocks, and the Landshark defense kept applying pressure. Kam Franklin and TJ Dottery combined for a tackle for loss to bring up a third-and-long, followed by a pass short of the first-down marker to force another punt.

With three minutes left in the quarter, the Ole Miss offense picked up the pace to try and extend the lead, but Chambliss threw his second interception of the season — ultimately ending the half as the Gamecocks went three-and-out again.

South Carolina started the second half behind the sticks after back-to-back penalties, and it looked like the Rebels were going to come up with an interception on a desperation throw downfield by Sellers. However, a pass interference call negated the Kapena Gushiken takeaway, and Sellers later hit Nyck Harbor for a 47-yard score to cut the Ole Miss lead to 17-14. That was the longest play of the game for the Gamecocks.

Chambliss was determined to answer quickly, hitting De’Zhaun Stribling for 17 yards to put the ball near midfield. The Rebels picked up another first down after that, but the third-down struggles continued as the drive stalled a few yards into South Carolina territory. However, it was the Gamecocks with a special teams turnover this time — mirroring Ole Miss with a muffed punt that was recovered by Andy Jaffe to set the Rebels up near the goal line.

Ole Miss did not take full advantage of the short field as the Gamecock defense stuffed three straight runs and forced another Carneiro field goal. The Rebel kicker put it through from 27 yards out to extend the lead to 20-14 with just under six minutes to go in the third.

Both teams began to trade punts after that, and the Ole Miss defense closed the quarter with a pair of sacks to force another punt. Will Echoles and Jamarious Brown combined for the first, and Suntarine Perkins began his standout game with his first sack of the season on third-and-long.

On the first play of the final quarter, Chambliss hit Wright on a crossing route for 24 yards into South Carolina territory — coming up one broken tackle shy of a house call. He threaded the needle to Cayden Lee for another quick first down after that, but the drive stalled again in the red zone as Carneiro came out to drill his third field goal of the night — this one from 34 yards out — to make it a 23-14 lead.

With another chance to keep the fight alive, Sellers led the Gamecocks on a nearly six-minute drive deep into Ole Miss territory. But it was the Ole Miss defensive line that continued to shine, sacking Sellers three times during the possession. Franklin got to him first, then Perkins and Dottery, followed by Da’Shawn Womack on 4th-and-17 for another turnover on downs.

“We just come in every week ready to work. Coach (Pete) Golding tells us every week that we just have to find a way to finish the game. Today, I feel like we did a good job.”

~ Perkins on the Ole Miss defensive performance

The Ole Miss offense stepped onto the field for one play only, as Lacy put the dagger in the Gamecocks with a 54-yard touchdown scamper through the teeth of the defense to reach the final score of 30-14.

Lacy commented on the long touchdown run after the win.

“My coaches always preach to just make one defender miss, win your one-one-one’s. I saw my one-on-one and I won it. I saw grass and I just got to the end zone.”

~ Lacy on his 54-yard touchdown

Desperately trying to get something going on the ensuing drive, Sellers tossed one high in the air down the sideline, but it was Perkins leaking out into coverage and picking him off downfield. The Rebels drained nearly four minutes off the clock before punting again with under two minutes left to play. Ole Miss came up with one last takeaway as Wydett Williams Jr. picked off Sellers in the end zone in the final seconds.

The Rebels took an arguably well-deserved penalty after the Perkins interception as the defensive lineman leaped into the student section at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Perkins said that Kiffin told him to go celebrate with the students, but the Ole Miss head coach didn’t expect him to jump over the barriers.

“I didn’t tell them to jump in the stands, but sometimes you gotta have fun.”

~ Kiffin on Perkins jumping into the student section

Adding onto the season high in sacks, the Landshark defense stole the show by giving up only 230 total yards of offense. Ole Miss stuffed the run all night, as the Gamecocks could only rally 50 yards in that department. Perkins led the way with a breakout performance during what had been a quiet year for him thus far, recording six tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception.

Lacy dominated in his career day with 167 yards on 24 attempts — 101 of those coming in the first half — averaging seven yards per carry. Chambliss added another 218 yards of total offense and two scores, while Alexander led the receivers with two grabs for 52 yards.

Up next

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday, Nov. 4, giving the Rebels an idea of where they sit heading into the final weeks of the season. Next Saturday, Nov. 8, Ole Miss will host The Citadel at noon CT. The television slot is still to be determined.
Kameron Wicker

Kam is an Ole Miss alumnus with a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. He currently resides in Gulf Shores, Alabama where he works full-time as a sports editor.

About The Author

Kameron Wicker

Kam is an Ole Miss alumnus with a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. He currently resides in Gulf Shores, Alabama where he works full-time as a sports editor.

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