Kewan Lacy made sure the 2nd quarter started with a full-blown explosion for Ole Miss after a scoreless first quarter at the Fiesta Bowl.
The Rebels’ phenom, who has already turned in one of the greatest seasons for an Ole Miss running back, took a simple handoff from quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and never stopped. It was an innocent 2nd-and-3 play from the Rebels’ own 27-yard line, with Miami holding on to a 3-0 lead through 15 minutes.
Then, suddenly, Lacy sliced through the Hurricanes defense and only looked back to see a few charging UM defenders getting a little too close for comfort. When Lacy got to about the 10-yard line, he put on the after burners and outraced those Canes into the end zone for a scintillating 73-yard touchdown run that thrust Ole Miss into the early lead.
There was still a very long way to go on Thursday night in Glendale, Ariz., but the Rebels finally had some real momentum, courtesy of their super sophomore.
While the quarterback position has gotten a lot of the attention regarding Ole Miss’s offense in 2025, with Chambliss taking over for Austin Simmons and becoming a standout himself, Lacy has been the constant in Oxford.
Now, as Ole Miss sits 2 victories away from the ultimate, Lacy was doing his best to try to get the Rebels into the national championship game. That TD burst from the Dallas native was a good start.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
