Ole Miss travels to Vanderbilt on Saturday with a defense that has not resembled its September self since Gainesville. Florida scored 52 points on the Rebels two weeks ago, and Louisville had moved the ball on the same group before that. Vanderbilt arrives in the opposite condition: 29 points across its last two games, little to show against Auburn or Georgia, and three straight covers. Five-star freshman Jared Curtis starts after sitting out the Georgia game.
Locked On Ole Miss host Steven Willis argued the Rebels will put a better defensive product on the field in Nashville, and that the bye week is why. Ole Miss gave one bye-week practice to a single defensive call, Willis said, tackling and pursuit and nothing else, with Pete Golding leaning back into his defensive roots instead of installing anything new.
The worry Willis raised is a familiar shape. Vanderbilt can run much of what Florida ran, he said, the misdirection and option looks that pulled Ole Miss apart in Gainesville. Stripping the call sheet is his answer to that, because the problem was never a shortage of calls.
A Locked On Bets handicapper joined him in expecting a bounce-back, pointing to a Vanderbilt offensive line he does not rate and a schedule that thins out behind an NC State win he said the Commodores had no business getting. Kewan Lacy, back on limited snaps, will help the offense even in a reduced role, he said.
Both landed in the same place. Willis framed Saturday as the season’s dividing line: lose, and Ole Miss is in Music City Bowl territory; win, and the conversation continues through Missouri, Austin and Georgia. The handicapper went further, calling it a must-win and a must-dominate against a Commodores team he said has not been impressive.
Photo: Kewan Lacy, September 12, 2026, at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images.
Adapted from the October 10, 2026 episode of Locked On Ole Miss, hosted by Steven Willis, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Watch the full episode.