Langston Fairbanks · Ole Miss Insider · College Debut · Week 8
Meet Your Insider
Hotty Toddy, and pass the footnotes. Good evening, gentle readers. I am Langston Fairbanks, a man of seersucker and sweet tea, a student of literature who has read every word Mr. Faulkner wrote and every snap the Rebels have played this season, often on the same afternoon in the Grove. I travel with this team and I live with this team, and every week I will bring you the players, the matchups, the history and the storylines. Be warned: my takes tend to run three paragraphs. I can't help it. Football, like a good novel, deserves a proper beginning, middle and end. But I always land on a hard number. When we win, I recite a celebratory monologue under the nearest chandelier. When we lose, I murmur, "The past is never dead," and sip my sweet tea in silence.
The School in 60 Seconds
The Rebels represent the University of Mississippi, which everyone calls Ole Miss, and play in the SEC. The program was founded in 1893 and has won six SEC titles: 1947, 1954, 1955, 1960, 1962 and 1963. Ole Miss has been recognized as national champion three times by major selectors. Home is Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on campus, opened in 1915 and listed at 64,038 seats. And the recent chapters read like an epic: 10-3, 8-5, 11-2, 10-3, and last year a 13-2 season that AP describes as a playoff team. Since 2023, the Rebels are 25-1 at home.
The Coach and the Scheme
Pete Golding is the head coach in his first full season; CFBD dates his hire to Nov. 30, 2025. Under him, the offense writes in long, flowing sentences: 290.7 passing yards a game (13th), 444.5 total yards (36th) and 37.5 points (20th). And here is the hard number I promised: we have scored on 100% of our red zone trips, first in FBS. The defense is the chapter still being revised: 390 yards allowed (108th), 236.5 passing yards allowed (104th). Opponents convert 44% of third downs (118th). But last week the defense held Missouri to 39 rushing yards on 26 carries. Defensive tackle Will Echoles said, "Stopping the run has been an issue for us at times this year, but it's gotten better".
Players to Know
QB Trinidad Chambliss: 142 of 210 for 1,676 yards, 14 TD, 4 INT. Against Missouri he threw three touchdowns and ran for another. Coach Golding: "He wasn't perfect either, but I'm glad he's on our side".
RB Kewan Lacy: 352 yards on 62 carries, 5 TD; 122 yards on 16 carries last week. Makhi Frazier added 101 yards on 15 carries.
WR Deuce Alexander: 35 catches, 523 yards, 5 TD. Caleb Odom, Horatio Fields and Caleb Cunningham each caught a touchdown against Missouri.
DT Will Echoles: five tackles, two pass breakups and a sack against Missouri. DE Blake Purchase: 3.5 sacks. LB Luke Ferrelli: team-high 39 tackles. S Nick Cull: 2 interceptions.
The Conference Picture
Ole Miss is 5-1, 3-1 in the SEC, and ranked No. 7 by both the AP and coaches. We beat Louisville 41-38 at a neutral site, Charlotte 41-9, LSU 32-24, Vanderbilt 52-17 on the road and Missouri 31-3. The lone blemish: a 52-28 loss at Florida. After Austin, Auburn comes to Oxford on Oct. 31. AP notes we still face No. 1 Georgia, and four of our last five games are at home. I shall not do arithmetic upon the standings tonight. I shall only say the plot thickens beautifully. And the Florida chapter? Every great Southern novel has a tragedy in its second act. What matters is that the protagonist rises again, and since Gainesville, we have won twice by a combined 83-20.
This Week: No. 7 Ole Miss (5-1) at No. 19 Texas (4-2)
Saturday, Oct. 24 · 7:30 p.m. ET · DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin · ABC. Kickoff forecast: 85 degrees, partly cloudy. Seersucker weather.
The history: officially, Texas leads the series 6-1; as played, 6-2 in eight meetings. The most recent: Ole Miss won 44-23 in 2013, a year after Texas won 66-31. And there was a Sugar Bowl win, 39-7, after the 1957 season.
Last week: we beat Missouri 31-3. Texas lost 27-24 to Florida.
Our offense vs. their defense: now this is the central conflict of the novel. Texas allows 272.5 yards a game (12th), 166.2 passing yards (12th) and 17.8 points (29th). Texas' Colin Simmons has 10.5 sacks. Chambliss against that pass rush is the scene I'll reread for years.
Their offense vs. our defense: Texas averages 361.3 yards (93rd) and 134.5 rushing yards (103rd). Arch Manning has 11 touchdown passes.
Availability: no official SEC availability report found for either team as of Oct. 18.
What decides it: (1) Protecting Chambliss from Simmons. (2) Our perfect red zone record against Texas' 57th-ranked red zone defense. (3) Getting off the field on third down.
To Caroline Whitfield, Texas' insider: you price your players like assets? Madam, I prefer to read them like poetry. Let us meet in the fourth quarter.
Local Flavor (unsponsored, not an ad)
Back in Oxford? City Grocery and Ajax Diner, both on Courthouse Square, are as much a part of the Oxford story as any novel.
My call: Texas Longhorns 29, Ole Miss Rebels 25.