Kewan Lacy is out against Auburn, and the way Ole Miss beats the Tigers on Saturday just changed. On today’s show we worked through head coach Pete Golding’s Monday press conference top to bottom: who carries the ball without Lacy, why Trinidad Chambliss is about to start running again, the come-to-Jesus meeting Golding had with his defense after Texas, and the one thing that decides this game. Four days to Auburn, Everydayers. Hotty Toddy.
Kewan Lacy is out — so who carries the ball?
Golding didn’t hedge on this one. Lacy dislocated his shoulder at Texas — the same shoulder he hurt against LSU, but Golding said this one is different, and worse — and he said flatly there’s “no chance” they try it this week. Most coaches won’t give you that on a Monday. Golding did, and that tells you how serious it is: nobody’s sitting around waiting on a game-time decision.
That’s a real loss. Lacy set the Ole Miss single-season rushing record a year ago with 306 carries, 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns, and you don’t replace that with one guy — so it’s a committee. Makhi Frazier is the lead back; he went for 101 yards on 15 carries against Missouri, broke off a 34-yarder at Texas after Lacy went down, and he runs angry. Shekai Mills-Knight gets a real shot this week too — he’s the change-of-pace guy with the size-speed combo, and you remember that 35-yard touchdown against Vanderbilt. One more piece of good news up front: Golding expects left tackle Terez Davis back this weekend after he was a game-time call at Texas.
Chambliss is about to run again
Here’s the line I want you to remember. Chambliss ran for 7 yards at Texas, his third straight game under 10, and when Golding got asked about it he said, “I think you’ll see a little bit more of that moving forward.” That’s the head coach telling the whole SEC his quarterback is about to take off again.
Why did the running disappear? Two reasons. Defenses have spent a full year building plans for Chambliss — spies, coverages, eyes glued to him — so the lanes just aren’t as open as they were. And Chambliss himself has been disciplined about working through his reads instead of bolting at the first sign of trouble, which is great for his NFL tape but took away some of what made this offense electric. Golding’s message is simple: be an athlete again. There were chances late at Texas against man coverage with a spy, and the staff wants him trusting that he can outrun people. Without Lacy, Chambliss might be the best runner Ole Miss has.
Golding’s come-to-Jesus with the defense
The most honest thing Golding said all day was about his own guys. Asked how the defense has developed through the first half of the season, he said, “I think it’s been very inconsistent.” Then he got specific about Texas, where Ole Miss gave up 121 rushing yards over the last 10-plus minutes and let a tied game get away.
This is the part that matters: “I’m not mad that we missed the tackles. It’s how we missed the tackles.” They missed to the wrong side — didn’t hold the leverage they drill every single week — and Golding called it a come-to-Jesus meeting with the group on Sunday night. He owned the fatigue, too; the defense had played 74 snaps and Will Echoles needed an IV for dehydration, so the fix is a better rotation up front so the best players aren’t gassed late. It wasn’t all bad, either: Jalyn Crawford picked off Arch Manning twice, Blake Purchase strip-sacked him, Kam Franklin scooped the fumble in for a touchdown, and Golding loved the versatility Jaylon Braxton has given the secondary. The talent is there — Golding said so himself. The question for the last five games is whether this group proves it.
The key to Auburn: stop the quarterback run
Golding boiled Saturday down to one sentence: “You’ve got to eliminate the quarterback run game.” Auburn’s Byrum Brown is the whole offense — he leads the SEC in quarterback rushing with 480 yards and six scores on the ground, and he’s thrown for 1,365 yards with eight touchdowns against seven interceptions. The plan is to get negative plays early, force Auburn into obvious passing downs, and then change the coverage picture on a quarterback who’s already thrown seven picks. That sets up well for Ole Miss, which has five interceptions in its last three games.
The other factor is the building. Ole Miss has won 15 straight at Vaught-Hemingway and is 38-3 at home since 2021 — a completely different team inside that stadium. The market sees it that way too: at FanDuel as of Monday morning, Ole Miss was a 12.5-point favorite, down from 13.5 over the weekend, with the total sitting at 57.5. Start fast for once, let the crowd do the rest, and get Chambliss moving. Four days to Auburn.
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