Ole Miss beat Charlotte 41-9 in a game that asked almost nothing of it and came out healthy. Trinidad Chambliss finished 23 of 26 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Caleb Cunningham caught six passes for 65 yards. Deuce Knight hurdled a defender into the end zone. Kewan Lacy, banged up at Louisville, returned to a normal workload. Both arrive Saturday unbeaten and top-10 ranked, with LSU favored by two and a half to three and a half points.
Locked On Ole Miss host Steven Willis called the Charlotte performance vanilla by design, built to teach nobody anything. The week’s real content, Willis argued, is the matchup, where he sees Ole Miss holding edges at quarterback, running back and offensive line, and where LSU’s hyper-aggressive defense recalls the 2023 Penn State unit the Rebels faced.
Guest analyst John Fourcade said the most useful Charlotte film was defensive. If a defender is not covering the man he is assigned, Fourcade argued, that is a blown assignment and not a question of athletic ability, and it looks the same whoever the opponent is. Pete Golding has rotated the back end since the opener, and Fourcade expects that until the right five separate. Golding singled out Ladarian Clardy at free safety.
Fourcade said the answer to an aggressive front is the quick passing game, which he called a short version of the running game, and it only works behind a line that protects Chambliss. He also argued Ole Miss needs a 10- to 13-point lead early to force LSU to play from behind.
Fourcade said he would rather the rivalry sat in late October, where it traditionally lived. It does not, and he expects a packed Vaught-Hemingway with College GameDay in town. His closing read: the team that makes fewer mistakes wins.
Photo: Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss passes against Charlotte, September 12, 2026, at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images.
Adapted from the September 14, 2026 episode of Locked On Ole Miss, hosted by Steven Willis, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Watch the full episode.