Ole Miss Rebels at Vanderbilt Commodores

No. 9 Ole Miss routs Vanderbilt 52-17 behind 4 combined TDs from Trinidad Chambliss

The Rebels (4-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) notched their sixth straight win and 10th in 12 over Vanderbilt (3-3, 0-3). Chambliss put them ahead to stay with a 10-yard touchdown run as Ole Miss scored on four straight drives in the first half for a 42-3 halftime lead.

The Rebels scored 24 points off four turnovers. Suntarine Perkins had one of three sacks for Ole Miss, and he returned a fumble 4 yards for a TD.

“It's hard to go on the road in the SEC and win, especially you know in this environment with the weather,” Ole Miss coach Pete Golding said of a wet day.

Kewan Lacy started in his first game back after leaving Ole Miss’ win over LSU and missed the loss to Florida. Lacy ran for a 2-yard TD and finished with 39 yards on seven carries.

For Vanderbilt, this was the program's worst loss since a 47-6 thumping Nov. 11, 2023, at South Carolina. This also snapped a 10-game home winning streak with the Commodores' first loss here since the 2024 season finale. Coach Clark Lea said he was disappointed in how they played.

“We haven’t felt this way in a long time here, and yet we have to recognize we’re not above it,” Lea said. “When you have undisciplined penalties and when you turn the ball over against a good team, you get beat, you pay the price and that's what happened."

Freshman quarterback Jared Curtis started after an undisclosed injury kept him out of last week’s loss at No. 2 Georgia. Curtis threw for 222 yards and made throws showing off the arm that made him the No. 2 overall recruit for 2026. He also was intercepted twice and fumbled when sacked by Blake Perkins near his own goal line.

Chambliss started with back-to-back incompletions on a wet day. He completed his next 11 passes for 105 yards, and Chambliss threw a 2-yard TD pass to starting Jamarious Brown and then connected with Deuce Alexander for a 39-yard catch-and-run for a TD with 4:41 left and a 28-3 lead.

His 4-yard TD pass to Michael Smith after a lost fumble on a kickoff return put Ole Miss up 42-3 at halftime.

Room for improvement The Rebels outgained Vanderbilt 409-343 in total offense. Asked if the Rebels came their closest yet to playing a full game, Chambliss said he thought they were far from that.

“I feel like this team has a lot more potential, a lot more that they could do in that whole game,” Chambliss said. “We probably could play a better complete game honestly, and it's still kind of early in the season so we're just still hoping for that.”

The takeaway Mississippi: Coach Pete Golding planned to rotate Lacy and ease him back in from the injury. The Rebels made that easy with how Chambliss moved them up and down the field. Seven different Rebels carried the ball, and nine different Rebels caught at least one pass.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores aren't good enough not to cost themselves with untimely penalties and mistakes. A personal foul on lineman Clinton Azubuike after a run set up second-and-goal at the Ole Miss 2 into a 45-yard field goal by Brock Taylor. Curtis wasn't ready for a shotgun snap that hit his face mask on second-and-1, a fumble the Commodores recovered. They had five penalties for 59 yards in the first quarter alone only to finish with 11 for 92.

Up next Ole Miss: Hosts Missouri on Oct. 17.

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