Ole Miss hosts Missouri at 2:30 p.m. Central on Saturday, both ranked and both treating it as close to a playoff elimination game. The Rebels are 38-3 at home since 2021, beaten there twice in 2022 and once by Kentucky in 2024. Missouri arrives having beaten Florida, the team that handed Ole Miss its only loss.
Locked On Ole Miss host Steven Willis argued the game turns on how Pete Golding handles Missouri’s quarterback, and that Ole Miss cannot sit back. Dropping eight into coverage and living in small windows will not work against that arm, Willis said. The plan has to be to speed him up and force an errant throw.
That means pressure, Willis said, turning Suntarine Perkins and Blake Purchase loose and hunting a tipped ball rather than waiting. Daily Journal writer Michael Katz, a weekly guest, said Missouri’s linebackers play downhill and crash the run, which has made them stout against the run and vulnerable to a good passing game.
The quarterbacks get there differently, Katz said: Trinidad Chambliss does most of his damage out of play action, while Missouri’s starter is at his best in straight drop-backs. What separates Chambliss, Katz said, is a creativity no 40-yard dash measures: knowing when to bail and when to stay. Willis said it should not be a 40-carry afternoon for Kewan Lacy, and flagged Johntay Cook II and Caleb Odom against linebackers vacating space.
Katz picked Ole Miss 38-31, the number Willis had and the one Tom Vanderford landed on; Todd Wade had 34-31. Katz said he cannot pick against Chambliss in a game like this, while granting Missouri is good enough to win it. Willis said the Florida loss was a shock the Rebels needed, and that two more wins puts Ole Miss in the playoff.
Photo: Caleb Odom, October 10, 2026, at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images.
Adapted from the October 17, 2026 episode of Locked On Ole Miss, hosted by Steven Willis, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Watch the full episode.