Game 9 Preview: Scouting the Ole Miss Rebels

South Carolina’s stretch of four games between bye weeks is nearly over. But things won’t get easier for the Gamecocks before they prepare for a last-ditch end-of-season push towards bowl eligibility.

Standing between South Carolina and a week away from on-field action is Ole Miss, a team firmly in the College Football Playoff race that will look to start another winning streak this weekend.

Before the game kicks off at 7 p.m. on ESPN, here’s what the Rebels brings to the table.

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How they got here

Just like South Carolina, Ole Miss finished as one of the top four teams that just missed the College Football Playoff last season. The Rebels have failed to make the postseason field each season of the competition’s 11-year history. Expectations to buck that trend remain high in Oxford, even after the team lost starting quarterback Jaxson Dart to the NFL.

This could be the year that Ole Miss finally puts itself in the running for a national championship. Through eight games, it has only suffered one setback — a 43-35 defeat to then-No. 9 Georgia just over two weeks ago. The Rebels had been leading 35-26 at the end of the third quarter, but they allowed the Bulldogs to score 17 unanswered points over the final 15 minutes of the game to squander the advantage.

Other contests on the schedule have been close, but Ole Miss has managed to come out on top every other time. Last week, the Rebels headed into the fourth quarter trailing then-No. 13 Oklahoma by a point; they eventually won 34-26 on the road. Their most notable victory of the campaign, a 24-19 win over then-No. 4 LSU, was another narrowly-contested affair. As were their wins over Washington State (24-21), Arkansas (41-35) and Kentucky (30-23) earlier in the season.

But those results, along with dominant victories over Group of Five opponents in Georgia State (63-7) and Tulane (45-10), have brought Ole Miss’ record to 7-1 overall and 4-1 against SEC opponents, putting it fourth in the conference for the time being.

Last time out

The Gamecocks suffered three regular-season losses during their aforementioned near-College Football Playoff campaign. They lost two of those games — to LSU (36-33) and Alabama (27-25) by a combined five points.

The other defeat, however, came at the hands of the Rebels by a much wider 24-point margin.

Ole Miss gained an early 14-0 lead on South Carolina after the latter committed two costly turnovers early in the game. The first was a failed fake punt attempt (the ball was snapped directly to Maurice Brown II, as opposed to Kai Kroeger; Brown II didn’t reach the line to gain), and the second was a Robby Ashford fumble. The Rebels scored touchdowns on both drives after regaining possession of the ball.

That hole proved to be too big for the Gamecocks to climb out of, as they went on to lose 27-3.

Where they sit in the rankings

Ole Miss is ranked in both the AP and US LBM Coaches polls. The Rebels are currently No. 7 in the AP poll after rising one spot from last week and receiving 1,212 votes. The US LBM Coaches poll pegged Ole Miss as the No. 8 team in the country with 1,173 votes.

In ESPN’s College Football Power Index (FPI), the Rebels are ranked No. 12 with a 17.6 FPI. Their projected record is 10.4-1.8. This season, the team has a 4.3 percent chance of winning the SEC, a 68.3 percent chance of reaching the College Football Playoff and a 7.7 percent change of playing in the National Championship game (along with a 3.1 percent change of winning it). It also has a 36.7 percent chance of winning out.

In ESPN’s SP+ rankings, Ole Miss checks in at No. 10 with a rating of 19.5. Bill Connelly gave the Rebels a 38.6 rating on offense (10th in FBS), a 19.7 rating on defense (26th) and a 0.5 rating on special teams (third).

Ole Miss sits seventh in the Massey Ratings. It ranks fourth in offense and 18th in defense.

ESPN gives the Rebels an 80.7 percent chance to win this weekend. Ole Miss heads into the contest as 21.5-point favorites, according to BETMGM.

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Players to watch

Trinidad Chambliss (Senior, quarterback) — A lot has changed for Chambliss in the past year. Around this time in 2024, he was starting at Division II Ferris State. Now, he is on the cusp of bringing the Rebels to their first ever College Football Playoff appearance after beginning the season behind Austin Simmons on the depth chart. In his debut season with Ole Miss, Chambliss has been dynamic with his arm (60.9 percent completion rate, 1,864 passing yards and nine touchdowns to one interception) and his legs (376 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 82 carries).

Kewan Lacy (Sophomore, running back) — Leading the charge on the ground is Lacy, who has emerged as one of the conference’s top running backs. He leads the SEC in rushing attempts (165) and touchdowns (12), while placing fourth in rushing yards (696). Lacy has already logged three 100-yard games this season, the most recent of which came against Washington State on Oct. 11. He gained 142 yards but did not find the end zone on 24 carries against the Cougars.

Xzavian Harris (Senior, defensive tackle) — A physical marvel with a 6-foot-8, 330-pound frame, Harris has been among the Rebels’ staples on the defensive line. He leads the team in tackles for loss (7.0) and is tied for second, behind only Princewill Umanmielen, with 3.0 sacks. Harris also logged an interception in Ole Miss’ season opener against Georgia State.

Path to victory

South Carolina was knocking on the door of an upset in its most recent matchup against the Crimson Tide, holding onto a lead until just before the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. Pulling off such a victory against Ole Miss could be even more difficult, though, given its success at home in recent years.

The Rebels have turned Vaught-Hemingway Stadium into a fortress, where they have gone a combined 18-1 since the start of the 2023 season. Because of this, the Gamecocks will be looking to replicate the success of last year’s Kentucky team — the same squad they dominated 31-6 in Lexington.

Why is that the case? Because that Wildcats team is the only one that has defeated Ole Miss on its own turf in the last three seasons.

Kentucky finished the job that day by passing efficiently (Brock Vandagriff completed 18 of 28 attempts), limiting explosive plays (the Rebels had only two plays go longer than 20 yards), taking care of the football (the Wildcats committed zero turnovers to Ole Miss’ one), and getting a little lucky (Caden Davis missed a game-tying field goal with less than one minute remaining).

All four of these characteristics will define South Carolina’s ability to not only pick up a win, but keep its bowl game hopes alive, on Saturday.

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