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OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss football remains undefeated in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for 2025 as the Rebels took away a dominant 41-10 win over the Tulane Green Wave in the first round of the College Football Playoffs.
The Rebels victory makes history marking the school and stadium’s first playoff victory.
First Half
Ole Miss won the toss and elected to receive, giving them new head coach Pete Golding’s team the first possession of the game.
Just 59 seconds and 3 plays into the game, Ole Miss found its way into the end zone as running back Kewan Lacy maneuvered his way through the defensive front and into the secondary, finding 20 yards of green grass for the first score of the playoffs.
That Rebels’ scoring drive was sequenced by Chambliss completing back-to back passes for a combined 55 yards to De’Zhaun Stribling and Dae’Quan Wright that led to Lacy’s 20-yard touchdown.
Tulane was putting together a nice opening drive as well, but quarterback Jake Retlzaff was intercepted by Ole Miss’ Jaylon Braxton for an interception that halted the drive. After a good return and a horse-collar tackle on the play, Ole Miss took over at their own 40-yard line looking to attack.
Attack they did, as another quick strike drive, this time ending in a rush from Chambliss, allowed Ole Miss to take an early 14-0 lead.
Tulane was once again establishing themselves on their next drive, but stalled out inside Rebel territory and could not convert on fourth-and-two, giving Ole Miss possession at the Rebels’ own 37.
However, the Green Wave defense stood tall, including a drive-opening sack on Chambliss, before forcing Ole Miss into a three-and-out and their first punt of the day, which was spotted at the Tulane 18-yard line.
However, this field position did not faze the Green Wave in the slightest as Retzlaff hit Shazz Preston for a 57-yard catch-and-run, flipping field position right back.
A quick 8-yard screen pass concluded the first quarter of play with Ole Miss ahead 14-0, but Tulane was knocking on the doorstep as they held a second-and-two on the Rebels’ 17-yard line.
However, once again the Ole Miss defense bent but did not break as multiple Rebels combined for a major tackle for loss, before Braxton broke up another pass attempt leading Tulane into a 39 yard field goal attempt. The kick was drilled by Patrick Durkin to put the Green Wave on the board with 14:06 in the second quarter.
Ole Miss’ offense slowed again as they had a six-play drive that ate up two minutes of clock, but ultimately the Rebels were forced to punt the ball away with Bird, whose punt was caught and returned for a minimal gain as the Ole Miss gunners stuffed Omari Hayes inside the Tulane 20-yard line.
Tulane once again found themselves in fringe field goal range, but on a third-and-long Ole Miss defensive lineman Princewill Umanmielen ran down Retzlaff for a sack, forcing the Green Wave to punt it away to Ole Miss.
The Rebels’ offense seemed to regain some fluidity, getting inside the Tulane 30. Carneiro converted a 42-yard field goal to extend the Ole Miss lead to 17-3 with 3:38 remaining in the half.
In a repeating story for Ole Miss, the defense came out firing on the next Tulane possession, forcing a three and out, capped off by Umanmielen and Kam Franklin finding their way into the backfield to sack Retzlaff for a loss of seven on third down as the clock bled into the two-minute timeout.
Ole Miss took over with two timeouts and 1:53 remaining on the clock needing 76 yards for a touchdown.
The theme of the half arose once again in an action and injury-packed drive.
Ole Miss lost Lacy early in the drive, following a catch and run, and then soon saw Chambliss exit the game with an injury after a scramble drill for a first down.
Backup QB Austin Simmons was moving the team; however, he was soon sacked and lost the ball inside the Green Wave 15-yard line.
Tulane attempted to take advantage of the extra possession; however, an incompletion on the final lateral attempt sent the game into halftime with Ole Miss holding a 17-3 advantage.
Chambliss ended the half 13-for-16 with 167 yards in the air, pairing that with 8 net yards and a touchdown on the ground.
At halfime, Lacy led the team in rushing with 10 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown, while Alexander led the receiving room with 5 for 67 yards.
Second Half
Tulane began the second half with possession and drove their way back into fringe field goal territory before once again stalling. The Green Wave were forced to punt, this time the punt rolling through the end zone for a touchback.
Ole Miss then proceeded to drive down the field, seemingly with ease, as Chambliss and Stribling connected multiple times, including for a 13-yard yard touchdown strike for the first passing touchdown of the game. The Rebels’ 7-play, 80-yard scoring drive extended the Ole Miss lead to 24-3 with 10:13 remaining the third quarter.
Tulane, facing a 21-point deficit, found themselves in a must-convert fourth down scenario after a failed quarterback sneak, but a second straight stand by the Ole Miss defense forced a turnover on downs and yet another offensive stall from Tulane.
Ole Miss continued to add on as they ran 3 minutes off the clock before Carneiro put through a 48-yard field goal to give Ole Miss a 27-3 advantage.
Tulane’s struggles continued. A fake handoff trick play led to Retzlaff getting hit hard by Ole Miss linebacker TJ Dottery who popped the ball free before Kapena Gushiken recovered it for another added possession for Ole Miss.
Ole Miss capitalized on the turnover as they bled the final minutes of the third quarter before running back Logan Diggs opened the fourth quarter with a 3-yard rushing touchdown, giving Ole Miss a 34-3 lead with 14:55 remaining in the game.
The Ole Miss defense continued to punish Tulane, forcing a second consecutive drive-ending fumble. Suntarine Perkins forced and recovered the turnover, giving Ole Miss a chance to continue their dominant day on both sides of the ball as the offense took over on the 29 yard line.
Once again, Ole Miss took advantage of the great field position provided by the defense, as Chambliss scrambled into the end zone for his second rushing touchdown of the day, twisting knife in the hearts of the Green Wave as Ole Miss’ lead grew to 41-3.
Later on in the fourth, Ole Miss was finally forced to punt again with six minutes on the clock.
Tulane quickly turned that into an 80-yard scoring drive which was capped off when Retzlaff found Justyn Reid for a 29-yard touchdown to give Tulane their first end zone trip of the day.
Ole Miss regained possession after the kickoff with 4:00 minutes remaining in the game. They were able to run out the clock and completed the history-making win, 41-10.
A Look Ahead
Ole Miss keeps their season alive and now travels to New Orleans to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in revenge game from their only loss of the season.
The Rebels and Bulldogs will face off in the Sugar Bowl inside the Caesars Superdome for a chance to advance to the CFP Semi Finals.
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Billy Kuhl
Billy Kuhl joins The Rebel Walk as a sophomore at Ole Miss majoring in Journalism with a Sports Media concentration. He is from Jefferson Township, New Jersey and graduated from Jefferson Township High School where he played varsity baseball, and soccer, and swam competitively in his summers. You can contact him at wpkuhl88@gmail.com or DM him on X @Billykuhll or instagram @Billykuhll_
