Ole Miss trailed Texas 24-3 at halftime in Austin, Trinidad Chambliss 6-of-18 with two interceptions. Texas dropped into a three-deep shell for the first time this season, crowded the line against the run and gave up short throws rather than explosive ones. The Rebels recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, tied the game and recovered an onside kick, but had no timeouts left.
Locked On Ole Miss host Steven Willis argued the plan was not Texas’s own. Willis said the Longhorns lifted it from Vanderbilt, which had shown the same structure against Ole Miss this season without the athletes to make it hold. The calls were there, Willis said, pointing to a first-quarter seam route Ole Miss missed.
Former Ole Miss quarterback John Fourcade, a weekly guest on the show, said the first half was as poor as he expects to see all season and that the early play calling was wrong. He said the defense had reverted to the tackling problems of the Florida loss, and that he told former teammates during the game Chambliss did not look right.
Fourcade said defenses attack a shorter quarterback by keeping rushers in their lanes between the guards and center instead of chasing sacks, then raising their hands to block his sight lines. On the interception, he said, Chambliss expected a receiver there and never saw two defenders waiting. Chambliss, he said, is at his best bootlegging outside the pocket.
Ole Miss hosts Auburn on Saturday with four of its last five remaining games at home. Fourcade set a threshold: win by two scores or more and he likes the Rebels against Georgia the following week; a margin inside 10 points would tell him something is still wrong. He picked Ole Miss to win big.
Photo: Trinidad Chambliss, October 24, 2026, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images.
Adapted from the October 26, 2026 episode of Locked On Ole Miss, hosted by Steven Willis, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Watch the full episode.