Ole Miss Eyes 11-Win History and Egg Bowl Glory as Coaching Saga Continues

OXFORD, Miss. — In spite of the saga surrounding the future plans of head coach Lane Kiffin, the Rebels have turned their attention to Friday’s game against Mississippi State in the annual Egg Bowl.

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After defeating Florida, 34-24 two weeks ago, the Rebels have now avenged all three losses from the 2024 season: Kentucky, LSU and Florida. The win over the Gators gave Ole Miss its 10th win of the season, placing the Rebels at 10-1 overall, 6-1 SEC as the Rebels look to make history against Mississippi State.

A win in the Egg Bowl would be the first-ever, 11-win regular season in program history. A victory would also position the Rebels quite nicely for the college football playoffs.

Although it wasn’t always pretty against the Gators, Ole Miss found a way to notch a huge win in front of a great crowd. As we turn our attention back to football — instead of the off-the-field drama — let’s take a look back at what we learned from the Rebels’ victory.

1. Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is one of the best home environments in the country

Numbers don’t lie. Ole Miss is 35-3 inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium since 2021, giving the Rebels the fifth-most wins by any team in the country during that span. The stadium capacity may not equal that at LSU, Alabama, or Tennessee, but the home record speaks for itself. In 2025, Ole Miss has gone undefeated at home for the second time in three years, continuing a historic streak for Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin.

Winning games inside the Vaught is, of course, the most important thing, but it is also worth noting Ole Miss has created a stadium atmosphere like no other, continuing to put themselves in prime positions with high school recruits and transfer portal players who enjoy the game-day experience in Oxford.

Kiffin has found the ingredient to being successful. At the Florida game, for example, he had Theo Vaughn with him, side-by-side, in the Walk of Champions, streamers such as Sketch and YourRage on campus, and former players like KD Hill and Jordan Ta’amu back in town to hype up the fans. Kiffin has created a player friendly environment, whether that’s allowing players to pick the jersey schemes, to dunk basketballs on the sidelines after a big play, or letting them jump into the student section to celebrate with their fans.

Kiffin and the Rebels have helped elevate Vaught-Hemingway to national heights. Against the Gators, attendance was recorded at 68,138, marking the largest attendance ever for an Ole Miss home game.

“Shoutout to all the fans that came out and supported us, they really made a difference,” said quarterback Trinidad Chambliss after the win over Florida. “It was cool to see how involved they were, with the noise and just interacting with the game after too, that was just special.”

2. Kewan Lacy should be in the Heisman conversation

It seems like every time we mention Kewan Lacy, he does something even more spectacular than the game before, continuing to exceed all expectations.

Ole Miss totaled 538 yards of total offense against Florida, and Lacy was responsible for 224 of those and three touchdowns. With those three TDs, the Missouri transfer broke the single-season program rushing touchdown record and now currently sits at 19. The previous record was held by Quinson Judkins (16) in 2022.

Lacy leads the country in rushing touchdowns, and his presence has changed the entire landscape for the Ole Miss offense. His value to the team is undeniable, and his emergence shows why Ole Miss recruited the Texas native so heavily out of high school and wasted no efforts when he entered his name in the transfer portal last December.

Kewan’s consistency and numbers rank amongst the best in the country, as he currently sits with 1,136 rushing yards this season, the third-best in the country. His elusiveness in the backfield, tackle-breaking abilities, and his explosiveness have Lacy putting up video-game type numbers, including breaking the single-season Ole Miss record for most points by a non-kicker. His success rate on third downs and his effectiveness in the redzone, have elevated the Ole Miss offense to great heights.

3. The Ole Miss defense never quits

The Ole Miss defense started the Florida game on fire, shutting down the Gators as they went three-and-out on their first two drives. But Florida quickly rebounded, and on the third drive of the game, Lagway converted a huge third down with his legs. He then would connect with TJ Abrams for a 47-yard catch over Kapena Gushiken. Florida would score a touchdown on that drive, and would go on three straight scoring drives to take a four-point lead over Ole Miss as the teams went into the halftime break.

For many fans, the first half offered a frustrating comparison to the Georgia game as the secondary was picked apart and confusion seemed to plague the front seven. In this game, however, Ole Miss fought back and landed the knockout punch.

Pete Golding’s squad turned things around in the second half, putting up a shutout against the Gators offense. Florida’s second-half offensive drives went: punt, punt, interception, turnover on downs, and turnover on downs. The Rebels’ defense made plays when it mattered, even when their backs were against the wall, and that’s a testament of character and sense of urgency needed to win. Ole Miss disguised many packages, causing confusion for Lagway and forcing him to make quick decisions with the ball — and it was a team effort.

Suntarine Perkins had an outstanding second half. His play recognition was strong from either his zone linebacker or his edge rusher position. Perkins tipped a pass from Lagway that set up an interception for Wydett Williams Jr. It was another impressive game from Williams Jr, as he hauled in his third interception of the season. He has continued to excel as the season has gone on; his secondary help and open-field tackling abilities have made him a consistent starter for Golding.

Williams Jr. led Ole Miss in tackles against Florida with 8, and the ULM transfer embraced every opportunity in the game to help lead his team to victory.

​​”We really just came together as a team. The biggest thing tonight was believing in each other,” Williams Jr. explained.

Defensive lineman Will Echoles once again caused chaos for the opposition, as he’s continued to be one of the most consistent players on the defense this season. Princewill Umanmielen stepped up in the fourth quarter, delivering a huge sack in one of the final drives of the game. While Umanmielen did not have a lot of numbers on the stat sheet, his presence allowed different players to step up in different packages against a feisty Florida offensive line. The win was a complete team effort.

Next up

Ole Miss now travels to Mississippi State for the final regular-season game this Friday, November 28, at 11:00 AM. The game will be broadcast on ABC.