☕ Morning Coffee
Florida averaged 37.8 yards per kickoff return on Saturday.
Ole Miss averaged 17.0.
Four returns for 151 yards against five returns for 85. The Gators gained 66 more yards of field position on one fewer attempt, and as of this morning almost nobody covering this game has written that number down.
Here is what makes it strange rather than simply bad.
The specialists were good. Lucas Carneiro went 2-for-2 on field goals and one of them was a 46-yarder. The punt team averaged 53.7 yards with one inside the 20. On the road, in that building, those are numbers you take every week.
The kickers were fine. The units were a catastrophe. Those are two different things and almost nobody separates them.
And there is a ninety-six second window where you can watch it decide the game.
Third quarter, 5:21 on the clock. Trinidad Chambliss runs in his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon and it is 24-21. Ole Miss is a field goal down on the road against a team that had led the whole way.
At 3:45, Florida is back in the end zone. That scoring drive was three plays and 26 yards.
They did not drive down the field on anybody. They started on Ole Miss’s side of it.
Special teams is the one phase of this sport where effort and organization matter more than raw talent. That is exactly why Saturday stings, and it is exactly why an open date is the right medicine.
Two weeks.
Photo: Ole Miss running back JT Lindsey runs against Florida defensive lineman Emmanuel Oyebadejo during the first half, September 26, 2026, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton — Imagn Images.
🏈 The Numbers
| Kickoff returns — Florida | 4 for 151 yards · 37.8 average |
| Kickoff returns — Ole Miss | 5 for 85 yards · 17.0 average |
| The gap | 20.8 yards every time the ball was kicked off |
| Time of possession | Florida 36:59 · Ole Miss 23:01 |
| Florida rushing | 53 attempts, 302 yards |
| Jadan Baugh (starter) | 29 carries, 138 yards — 4.8 per carry |
| Duke Clark (backup) | 12 carries, 126 yards — 10.5 per carry |
| Fourth quarter | Florida 21, Ole Miss 7 |
| Total yards | Florida 498 · Ole Miss 426 |
| First downs | Florida 27 · Ole Miss 25 |
| Passing | Ole Miss 298 · Florida 196 |
| Turnovers | Ole Miss 2 · Florida 0 |
| Trinidad Chambliss | 25 of 34, 298 yards, 1 INT, 2 rushing TDs |
| Deuce Alexander | 7 catches, 134 yards, 1 TD |
| The backs without Kewan Lacy | 19 carries, 56 yards |
| Season identity | 153 pass attempts to 117 rushes — 57% throws |
All figures from the official Ole Miss box score and 2026 season team statistics at olemisssports.com.
🏆 In the Polls
The new AP Top 25 landed Sunday afternoon, and the part that will sit with you is not the fall.
| Rank | Team | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | Oxford plays there Oct. 24 |
| 2 | Georgia | comes to Oxford Nov. 7 |
| 7 | Alabama | |
| 8 | Florida | up 13 spots |
| 9 | OLE MISS | down five |
| 11 | LSU | Ole Miss beat them 32-24 |
| 16 | Mississippi State | new to the poll — the Egg Bowl |
| 17 | Tennessee | |
| 24 | Kentucky | |
| 25 | Missouri | comes to Oxford Oct. 17 |
Florida is now ranked ahead of Ole Miss. That is the one that stings — a team the Rebels were favored over on a neutral read of the resume is a top-eight team this morning, and Ole Miss is ninth.
Two other things worth carrying into October. Nine SEC teams are ranked. And four of the eight opponents left on the Ole Miss schedule are in this poll — Texas, Georgia, Mississippi State and Missouri. The LSU win did not get worse on Saturday, either. The Tigers beat No. 23 Texas A&M 35-6 and sit 11th.
🔮 Next
Nothing. Ole Miss is on an open date. The next kickoff is at Vanderbilt on Saturday, October 10, in Nashville.
A bye is not a week off. It is the only stretch on the calendar where a staff gets to work on itself instead of on an opponent — live tackling, fundamentals, and bodies coming back off the availability report. If the diagnosis is conditioning and coverage discipline, this is the best medicine available. If the diagnosis is something else, two weeks will not hide it.
You still have football to watch Saturday, and more of it is about Ole Miss than you would think. Five teams left on the schedule play on the SEC Week 5 board — Vanderbilt, Georgia, Mississippi State, Missouri and Auburn, across four of the seven games.
| Saturday, Oct. 3 | Kick (ET) | TV | Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama at Mississippi State | 12:00 | ABC | Alabama -4.5 |
| Vanderbilt at Georgia | 12:45 | SECN | Georgia -24.5 |
| Auburn at Tennessee | 3:30 | ESPN | Tennessee -8.5 |
| Florida at Missouri | 3:30 | ABC | Florida -4.5 |
| Kentucky at South Carolina | 4:15 | SECN | South Carolina -3.5 |
| Arkansas at Texas A&M | 7:00 | ESPN2 | Texas A&M -14.5 |
| McNeese State at LSU | TBD | TBD | no line posted |
Lines: FanDuel.
Circle two. Florida at Missouri — the team that just beat Ole Miss by 24 goes on the road as a 4.5-point favorite against a team that visits Oxford three weeks later. And Alabama at Mississippi State at only 4.5, with State newly ranked and waiting at the end of the schedule in November.
Photo: Ole Miss running back Makhi Frazier runs against the Florida Gators during the first half, September 26, 2026, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton — Imagn Images.
📻 The Day on Locked On Ole Miss
Today — three things we learned in the Swamp: the gas tank September built, the special teams collapse nobody has reported, and the offensive identity you need to stop arguing with. Then what this bye is actually for, and it is two names — Landon Barnes and Dorian Barney, two four-star freshmen who have not given this team anything yet, and why that was never their fault. Plus the Week 5 board.
This week — bye week coverage. The coverage-unit tape, the freshmen, and what a credible run game actually has to look like.
On the Hub — the full Florida box score breakdown and every press conference from the week.
🔗 Five Clicks
1. The official box score
Go look at the kickoff return line yourself. It is the third block down and it is the whole game.
2. Florida flies into the top 10 of the AP Top 25
Thirteen spots in one Saturday, and past Ole Miss on the way. Nine SEC teams in the poll.
3. Ole Miss falls to No. 9, Mississippi State jumps to No. 16
The state angle. Nobody wants to think about the Egg Bowl in September — after this weekend you might have to.
4. Eight ranked teams lost in Week 4
Penn State at home to unranked Wisconsin. Louisville at home to unranked Wake Forest. Ole Miss lost on the road to a team that is now eighth. Rank the eight by how much trouble they should cause.
5. Ole Miss embarrassed at Florida — questions for the bye week
The harshest version of Saturday you will read this morning. Worth sitting with even if you think it overshoots.
💬 Join the Everydayers
The bye week thread is open in the LOOM Private Discord — free to join, and the argument this morning is which one worries you most: the gas tank, the coverage units, or the run game.
Everything else lives at olemisshub.com, and if you want the show ad-free plus the members-only room, take your fandom to the next level with the Everydayer Club.
Hotty Toddy. 🦈