The 4-2-5 Report: Rebels roll Tulane for first ever CFP victory

Trends play out on paper, football games are decided on the field. Alabama beating Oklahoma was another data point in favor of teams that lost the first matchup in a season, turning around and winning the second game. It was a 100% rate, UNTIL those Ole Miss Rebels wrecked that trend.

Not only did Ole Miss become the first team in CFP history to beat a team for the second time that season in the playoffs, they dominated them just as much as they did in the first matchup. Tulane managed to be close in total yardage, but couldn’t convert when necessary and turned it over three times to the Rebels one.

Let’s return to the best post game article in the biz, where we breakdown the four best plays, two best players and five interesting facts from the game.

4 Plays of the Game

This was the most important score of the game. Trinidad Chambliss had exited the final drive of the first half due to injury which led to Austin Simmons getting stripped while standing like a statue in the pocket. The Rebels failed to score before the half and had to kick off to Tulane to start the third quarter. The Rebels thwarted any kind of momentum by the Green Wave and responded with a score on their first possession of the second half. The rout was on.

This was just the beginning of a great game by Arkansas transfer Jaylon Braxton. Retzlaff was horrendous in the first matchup but was able to get Tulane moving towards answering the Ole Miss opening drive. After taking almost six minutes off the clock, the pressure got the BYU transfer off platform leading to an inaccurate ball in which Braxton took advantage of. Four plays later, the Rebels are up 14-0. Massive moment early.

Of course this play has to make it. Not many backs can take it up the middle and just break away from everyone. It’s no secret how special Kewan Lacy is and this play is just another example of it. It was the third play of a drive that took 59 seconds. A very swift response to anyone wondering how Ole Miss was going to look offensively.

The game was pretty much over before this but Trinidad scrambling to the end zone on third down was the icing on the cake. Despite the head injury at the end of the first half, the fearless QB did not allow that to impact his game going forward. The final score of the game just summed up Trinidad’s season, he has just made it happen, all year long

2 Players of the Game

Trinidad Chambliss takes home the first honor. He finished the game 23-29 for 282 yards and a score coupled with 36 yards rushing and two more scores. Another game of 300+ yards of offense for the quarterback. The time off did not bring on any rust as Chambliss led his team to two straight touchdowns to open the game.

Suntarine Perkins is staying in Oxford and followed that announcement with a big performance in the playoffs. He led the team with 2.5 tackles for a loss and recovered a fumble. He finished the game with four tackles, three of which were solo.

5 Interesting Stats

1. I know we don’t want to talk about LK or compare Pete to him, but Golding did something LK didn’t, he won his first game at Ole Miss as the head coach. Shout-out Pete!
2. Not only is this the first 12 win season in Ole Miss history, Saturday was also the 12th straight win in Oxford
3. Trinidad’s first rushing touchdown in the game broke the team single season rushing touchdown record of 33 and the Rebels currently sit at 36 on the year.
4. Kewan Lacy is now one touchdown away from having the most points in a season kicker or non-kicker, in Ole Miss history. He trails Caden Davis by three. He also needs 202 yards to pass Judkins for most yards in a season.
5. This was only the second time all season the Rebels forced three turnovers in a game. They also forced turnovers on downs four times, the most since 1994.