LSU Tigers at Ole Miss Rebels

Trinidad Chambliss leads No. 8 Mississippi past No. 7 LSU 32-24 in Lane Kiffin's return to Ole Miss

Chambliss passed for 363 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a tiebreaking score in the fourth quarter, and No. 8 Ole Miss delighted a crowd that was already revved up about Kiffin's return, beating the seventh-ranked Tigers 32-24 on Saturday night.

“I’m glad it’s over. This was an emotional game for a lot of reasons,” Kiffin said. “A lot of life-changing experiences here. A lot of really good people that helped me through some really hard times.

“Sometimes I don't act like it, but I'm a human, too,” Kiffin added. “Congrats to those guys. They played really well. They deserved to win.”

LSU stormed back from a 24-7 halftime deficit to tie the game before Chambliss engineered a 75-yard touchdown drive without the services of top running back Kewan Lacy, who left the game with an injured left shoulder.

Chambliss faked a handoff and ran 14 yards against the grain, outracing LSU safety Ty Benefield to the left pylon, and Ole Miss (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) added a 2-point conversion to take an eight-point lead with 6:14 to go.

Ole Miss drew LSU offside twice while lining up for the conversion before converting it from a half-yard out on a direct snap to JT Lindsey.

LSU answered by driving 69 yards to the Ole Miss 6 before Sam Leavitt missed open tight end Zach Grace along the goal line with a third-down pass, and then had his fourth-down pass deflect off the helmet of defensive end Kam Franklin. Jaylon Braxton intercepted the ball in the end zone to seal it as Kiffin sank into a low crouch with both hands on his white LSU visor.

As time expired, Ole Miss celebrated by charging from the sideline across the field. Rebels defensive tackle Will Echoles said he and a number of his teammates were just trying to find former coaches who'd joined Kiffin at LSU.

Chambliss, meanwhile, conceded that beating the Tigers with Kiffin on the opposing sideline was the most meaningful victory for Ole Miss since the coach left Oxford on Nov. 30 on a private jet sent by LSU.

At the end of a postgame television interview, he shouted out the common Ole Miss refrain, “Hotty Toddy,” but with an expletive mixed in. He later apologized for the profanity — but not the emotion behind it.

“Emotions were high,” Chambliss said. “I got kind of caught up in the moment.

“This one meant a lot more than other games — the coaches that were here, now at LSU, some players as well,” Chambliss said. “I wanted this one bad and our team did, too.”

Leavitt passed for 153 yards and a touchdown and ran for 63 yards and a score for LSU (2-1, 0-1).

The Tigers' comeback bid began in earnest with pressure by Benefield, whose blitz forced Chambliss into a rushed throw that was intercepted by Ja’Keem Jackson and returned 10 yards to the Rebels 33.

Leavitt took it from there, gaining 10 yards on a scramble up the middle that ended with the QB being flipped upside down by multiple tacklers before crashing down hard on the 4-yard line. Leavitt followed that with a tackle-slipping scoring run on the next play to make it 24-14.

LSU pulled within 24-21 on Leavitt’s 26-yard pass to Ole Miss transfer Winston Watkins Jr. and was threatening to potentially take the lead when star tight end Trey’Dez Green injured his right knee on a first-down catch in Ole Miss territory. The Tigers wound up tying it with a field goal before Ole Miss drove for the decisive score.

“I was proud of the way our guys battled back,” Kiffin said. “I thought we had them on the ropes.”

Ole Miss has defeated LSU in consecutive seasons, with Chambliss starring in both games — the first with Kiffin as his coach.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who was instrumental in an LSU athletic department shake-up last fall that precipitated Kiffin’s hiring, smiled widely as he posed for a picture with Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill on the field during pregame warmups.

But they couldn’t have been happy about how the game began.

Chambliss sparked Ole Miss to a 17-0 lead, highlighted by Lacy’s 5-yard power run through the middle of the line and Chambliss’ 21-yard pass to Traylon Ray.

Ray, who finished with seven catches for 115 yards, was instrumental on the first touchdown drive, outleaping two defenders for a 36-yard catch along the right sideline.

LSU trimmed the Rebels’ lead to 17-7 on Dilin Jones’ 2-yard run with 1:57 left in the half — enough time for Chambliss to direct another scoring drive.

After eluding the LSU pass rush, Chambliss rifled a 20 yard pass to Deuce Alexander in the middle of the end zone to make it 24-7 just 7 seconds before halftime.

“We walked into a storm. Trinidad was on fire early,” Kiffin said. “You can see that he’s hard to beat.”

The takeaway LSU: The Tigers will be disappointed by their slow start but encouraged by a strong second half that took a tough road game down to the wire in Kiffin’s third game in charge. But Green’s injury could loom large. The Tigers also lost linebacker-safety Dashawn Spears to a lower left leg injury in the first half.

Ole Miss: Chambliss’ calm under pressure and dynamic play made the difference, especially after Lacy had to leave the game in the third quarter. Rebels coach Pete Golding said Lacy's X-rays were negative.

Up next LSU: Hosts current No. 9 Texas A&M next Saturday.

Mississippi: Visits Florida next Saturday.

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