Necklace Heist at VHS: Ole Miss’ Womack targeted in bizarre pregame incident
A strange incident occurred pregame of Ole Miss-Georgia State.
The No. 21-ranked Rebels started bumpy but ultimately cruised to a dominant 63-7 win over the Panthers to open the 2025-26 season.
An hour or so before kickoff Ole Miss players filed in from their trek across campus for the Walk of Champions and into Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. They headed towards the south end zone tunnel. Georgia State cornerback Tyler Scott approached the group and appeared to snatch the chain off the neck of Ole Miss defensive lineman Da’Shawn Womack.
ESPN highlighted the event and misidentified the player as Zxavian Harris. Among other details, an Ole Miss player was rumored to have snatched a towel, police officers and sixth-year Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin each had to step in, and Georgia State head coach Dell McGee benched Scott for the game.
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“Yeah, that was wild,” Kiffin said in a Zoom call with local reporters Sunday night. “I happened to be right there. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like that. The guy ripped Womack’s chain off his neck and stood there, taunted him with it and threw it in the stands. I was like, ‘What is going on?’ So, it was wild. I thought our guys handled themselves really well. Probably better than I would have in that situation. That was crazy. I’d never seen anything like that.
“I didn’t know who the guy was at the time. He’s coming over doing that, and, I don’t know. I had some words for him. I didn’t do as well as our players did with him and some of their assistant coaches. Just complete disrespect.
“You guys hear me say all the time, ‘Everything bad is good and everything good is bad.’ So, pissed Womack off. Then he was the defensive player of the game and played amazing and played hard as he could be in the game.
“I’ll give you a funny story. They asked [Womack] if he wanted to press charges and he said, ‘No, I’d rather let the guy play.’ But, I don’t think he played anyway, so whatever.”
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Womack is a transfer from LSU and former 5-star recruit.
He finished with six tackles, a half a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry.
Ole Miss improved to 28-3 in its last 31 home games and 14-1 since the start of the 2023 season. The Rebels are now 20-2 against non-conference opponents under Kiffin.
Ole Miss has scored 40 or more points in three consecutive season openers. The Rebels are the first team in SEC history to score 60 or more in three straight. Their 695 yards of offense were the most in college football in Week 1 and the eighth-most in program history.
Georgia State is the 11th opponent the Rebels have held to 300 yards of fewer since the arrival of defensive coordinator Pete Golding three years ago.
Ole Miss returns to action Saturday at Kentucky (1-0). Kickoff in Lexington is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC. The Wildcats upset the Rebels in Oxford last season.
“It was horrible on all fronts,” Kiffin said. “It was such a bizarre game. There were so many ways that game could have gone our way and so many things went there way. It was hard to deal with. But we still had the ball ahead leader in the game. It sucked.”
