Ole Miss did not take its first lead of the game until 29 minutes and 29 seconds had been played on Saturday against Washington State.
It was a fight, much more than what the fourth-ranked Rebels expected from the visiting Cougars, but 142 rushing yards from Kewan Lacy and 3 total touchdowns from Trinidad Chambliss helped Ole Miss (6-0) escape Washington State (3-3) with a 24-21 win.
The Rebels outgained the Cougs on a per-play basis (6.3 to 5.8) but self-inflicted mistakes kept the offense from capitalizing on the yardage.
The opening drive of the game for Ole Miss ended on downs at the Wazzu 4 after Chambliss fired incomplete to De’Zhaun Stribling. The second drive, which began just shy of midfield, ended with a missed field goal.
Chambliss was sacked on a third-and-11 on the Rebels’ third possession and fumbled the ball away.
Wazzu missed a field goal of its own after recovering the Chambliss fumble. Despite the early miscues from Ole Miss, Washington State managed only 7 first-half points. A touchdown throw from Chambliss to Daequan Wright with 31 seconds remaining in the second quarter gave the Rebels a 10-7 halftime lead.
The Cougs scored with ease on the opening possession of the third quarter to wrestle the lead back, but Ole Miss stiffened up on defense and helped the Rebels open up a 24-14 lead.
Wazzu scored with 2:43 to play in the game to draw within 3 points. The Cougs had one last chance to drive for a tying score, taking over at their 10 with 1:07 to play, but that drive didn’t even make it to midfield before the clock ran out.
The 6-0 start is Ole Miss’s second to a season in the last 4 years. Prior to the arrival of Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss had just a single 6-0 start to a season this century. The Rebels will look to extend their unbeaten run next weekend when they travel to Athens to face Georgia.
Ole Miss 24, Washington State 21
Here’s the Ole Miss-Wazzou box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Trinidad Chambliss vs Zevi Eckhaus
Did Trinidad Chambliss help his Heisman odds Saturday? A statistical breakdown of how the Ole Miss quarterback performed against Washington State passer Zevi Eckhaus:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
