Kewan Lacy was at the Ole Miss podium for barely three minutes Tuesday, and he used almost none of them. He is not a long talker in the best of weeks, and this is not the best of weeks to be one. But the last question of his session was the one everybody wanted, and the answer was the most economical thing said in Oxford all day.
What’s your relationship with Lane like now?
“Really don’t have a relationship with him. Just focused on the season.”
That was it. No edge, no elaboration, no follow-up. Nine words to close out a week of everybody else carefully explaining that there is no bad blood.
He never entered the portal
Earlier, somebody asked directly whether following Kiffin to Baton Rouge had ever been on the table.
“Yeah, they have some, you know, the transfer portal,” Lacy said. “But I didn’t enter the transfer portal. I stayed at Ole Miss.”
That is now three of three. Deuce Alexander said LSU came after him in January and he stayed because Oxford is home. Will Echoles said it was never a thought and he was already signed. Lacy did not even open the door.
He also is not taking any calls from the other side this week. “I normally just focus on ball during the season. So I don’t really talk to nobody.”
Getting the reps back mattered
Lacy was limited after the Louisville game and played the majority of the Charlotte win, and he was asked how much that mattered heading into an SEC opener.
“I feel like it was very important just to get back out there with the guys and get a feel for the running lanes and the game overall.”
Get a feel for the running lanes. For a back carrying the volume Lacy is asked to carry, that is not a throwaway — the timing on a stretch play is the whole play, and you do not get it back sitting down.
His evaluation of the offense: everything
Asked where an offense averaging what this one is averaging still needs work, Lacy did not pick a category. He picked all of them.
“It’s early on in the season, so we’re just still working through some stuff. But I feel like we can get better at everything — tempo, moving the ball, really just everything, just piecing it together day by day.”
Two games, 2-0, and the lead back’s honest read is that they have not put a full one together yet. Worth remembering Saturday night, whichever way it goes.
The Mississippi State game still means something to him
The one moment Lacy loosened up came when he was asked for the biggest rivalry game he had played in. He went to the Egg Bowl last year, and the reason was personal.
“I’ll say Mississippi State last year. That was a big game for me coming from Missouri. My first snap there, I got like a concussion. So playing them last year again was like kind of my get back at them.”
That is the only get-back game he claimed. Notably, not this one.
“A lot of old faces”
On what Saturday will be: “I’m just ready. I feel like it’s going to be a great environment, a lot of old faces. So I’m just excited.”
And on the crowd — the same question Alexander got, the same answer in fewer words: “By just focusing on what you need to focus on, the game plan. We go out here and practice every day. So just sticking to what we practice puts us in the best position.”
Asked how a room full of players with friends across the field avoids the storylines, he gave the sentence that has effectively been the team’s position since January: “Just by focusing on our details and our preparation. Just focusing on the main thing — our alignment, assignment, and what we need to accomplish as a team.”
Three players, three podiums, one message, and not a single one of them took the bait. That is either the most disciplined locker room in the country right now or the least interested in the argument everybody else is having. Saturday will tell you which.
No. 8 Ole Miss hosts No. 7 LSU on Saturday, September 19 at 6:30 p.m. CT at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The game is on ABC, and ESPN’s College GameDay is in Oxford.
Quotes from Kewan Lacy’s LSU preview press conference, Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Photo: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images.