🎙️ LEGEND SPEAKS
John Fourcade was in the Grove on Saturday, and the first thing he noticed was who wasn’t.
“There wasn’t a lot of LSU fans at this game… there wasn’t a lot of purple and gold in that stadium. There wasn’t a lot in the Grove.”
On the atmosphere: “Realizing, man, we’re playing for a national championship on the third week of the season. I mean, it felt like that. It’s unbelievable. The packed crowd set a record. What more can you say?”
He played his own big games in Jackson, and he was asked whether he could have pictured Saturday night in Oxford. “No. It’s unfortunate we didn’t get that opportunity… But playing in a night game in Oxford is now one of the things to do.”
On the first half: “John David Baker had a great game plan to start that first half. Unbelievable. LSU gave up close to 300 yards.” And on LSU’s roster: “When the game starts, I believe there’s only 11 guys on defense.”
And on Saturday, for the record: “I’m taking Ole Miss with the points.”
☕ MORNING COFFEE
Here is the thing worth your four minutes.
On Monday’s show, John Fourcade offered the explanation most of us had already settled on for LSU’s third quarter: a defensive-minded head coach got a 24-7 lead and eased off. “I think they just turned it down a little bit, the pressure.”
It is a reasonable read. It is also, according to the man who called the game, not what happened.
“I just love the comments after, man, that was unbelievable second half adjustments. Like, we didn’t make one new call, we didn’t do s—, right? The guys executed the call how they were supposed to.”
Pete Golding, Monday
Not one new call in either direction. He did not dial it back, and LSU did not solve anything at the break. What actually happened, in his telling: Ole Miss came out of the locker room and got a three-and-out, then turned the football over and handed LSU the ball at the 30. “When you continue to give good offenses more opportunities with good field position, they’re going to score points.”
So both of the popular explanations are wrong, which leaves the uncomfortable one. The third quarter has been the problem three straight weeks — Louisville, Charlotte, LSU. Three opponents, three game scripts, same window. If it were scheme, a call sheet fixes it. Golding says it isn’t scheme.
That is the thing to watch Saturday at 3:30, in a building where the third quarter is exactly when the Swamp gets loud.
And the other headline from Monday: Golding gave a game plan back. Asked whether Caleb Cunningham’s near-absence was injury or design, he said it was design — and then said it was wrong. “That’s probably something as coaches looking back on it… that we probably wish we had over again. And I got to do a better job with that.” Two answers later, unprompted: “But Caleb probably definitely should, looking back, should have been more involved.”
Nobody asked him to say that. Coaches protect the plan after a win, because the win is the argument. He gave it back anyway, two days after the biggest one of his tenure.
🏈 THE NUMBERS
| Final | Ole Miss 32, LSU 24 · 3-0, 1-0 SEC |
| Crowd | 70,033 — a Vaught-Hemingway record |
| Home streak | 14 straight wins |
| Chambliss | 33-of-48, 363 yards, 2 passing TD + a 14-yard rushing TD |
| Milestone | 10th career 300-yard passing game at Ole Miss |
| Milestone | TD pass in 16 straight games — ties Eli Manning for third-longest in program history |
| Traylon Ray | 7 catches, 115 yards, TD — first 100-yard game of the year |
| Will Echoles | 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack |
| Total offense | Ole Miss 426 (363 pass / 63 rush) · LSU 330 (158 pass / 172 rush) |
| Golding | 5-1 in his first six games as head coach, 2-1 against top-10 opponents |
New Monday: Trinidad Chambliss was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week. Pete Golding was named Bear Bryant National Coach of the Week.
🏆 IN THE POLLS
| Rank | Team | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | |
| 2 | Georgia | |
| 3 | Notre Dame | |
| 4 | OLE MISS | up four |
| 10 | LSU | down from 7 |
| 16 | Louisville | Ole Miss beat them in the opener |
| 21 | Florida | Saturday |
🔮 NEXT
Ole Miss at Florida · Saturday, September 26 · 3:30 p.m. ET · ABC · Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
FanDuel has Florida -3.5, total 60.5, moneyline Florida -152 / Ole Miss +126. The No. 4 team in the country is getting points on the road.
Florida’s head coach was asked about that number and gave it away himself: “We may get added points in Vegas for home field advantage, like more than normal.”
Four days.
📻 THE DAY ON LOCKED ON OLE MISS
- Monday’s show — John Fourcade on the Grove, the crowd, John David Baker’s first-half plan, and why he is taking Ole Miss with the points.
- Tuesday’s show — both Monday press conferences side by side: the injury board, the call Golding gave back, and the most credible endorsement Trinidad Chambliss has been handed all season.
- On the Hub — full write-ups of the Golding and Jon Sumrall press conferences, including a special-teams tell from Sumrall that almost nobody picked up.
🔗 FIVE CLICKS
Pete Golding, Trinidad Chambliss earn weekly honors — Oxford Eagle
The league and the Bear Bryant committee both weighed in Monday. Chambliss is the SEC’s Offensive Player of the Week; Golding is the national Coach of the Week.
Football vs. LSU: Fresh off the Field — Ole Miss Athletics
The official notes package, which is where every number above came from. Worth knowing: the Eli Manning tie is the touchdown streak, not the 300-yard games.
Florida opens as slight home favorite over Ole Miss in Week 4 SEC showdown — Saturday Down South
The line, and the reasoning behind a No. 21 team being favored over a No. 4 team.
Ole Miss Football Receives Kickoff Time for September 26 Game at Florida — The Rebel Walk
3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Set your Saturday.
Ole Miss enters top five in latest AP Top 25 — NCAA.com
The full ballot, including where LSU landed and where Florida entered.
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