GLENDALE, Ariz. – With 18 seconds left on the clock Thursday night in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, thousands of Mississippi fans held their breath.
They knew what senior quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was capable of doing.
But Chambliss’ hopes of a repeated miracle fell just short on a final heave to the end zone, and No. 10 Miami secured the 31-27 win over No. Ole Miss, advancing to the national championship game to play the winner of No. 1 Indiana and No. 5 Oregon. Chambliss ended the day by completing 23 of 37 passes for 277 yards and one touchdown.
Entering the game, the stage was set for an exciting matchup. While it rained for much of the day outside, fans inside State Farm Stadium dressed in powder blue and red filled the west side, while a sea of orange and green flooded the east. Yet it didn’t end the way Chambliss imagined.
“It’s been a great ride,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to do it with any other people, whether it’s coaches, players, people in the offices. It’s just been a great ride. And, hopefully, I get to do it next year.”
It was a game to remember as the final seven minutes saw four lead changes, Miami quarterback Carson Beck rushed in a 5-yard score to give the Hurricanes the lead before the Rebels and Chambliss attempted one last try.
He hopes for more opportunities.
The senior Division II transfer from Grand Rapids, Michigan, agreed on a deal to return to Ole Miss for the 2026 season but is still awaiting NCAA approval. Chambliss’s case to play another year is based on his plea for a medical redshirt year from his sophomore season at Ferris State. He and his lawyer provided a reported 91 pages of medical documents proving he was dealing with a respiratory issue during the season.
Ole Miss fans would have loved to see their quarterback hoist a trophy Thursday night, but now they just have to hope they’ll have him under center next season.
“(Trinidad Chambliss) has kind of set a precedent within one year that’s going to be pretty hard to match,” coach Pete Golding said postgame.
It was Golding’s third career game as a head coach and first loss. Golding was handed the reins of Ole Miss football after former coach Lane Kiffin accepted a position at LSU on Nov. 30. The Rebels locker room took immediately to Golding’s style.
Fifth-year senior offensive lineman Jayden Williams had nothing but love for Golding after the loss.
“If I had a sixth year, I’d come back and I’d play for PG (Pete Golding) because there’s no other man I’d want to play for,” Williams said.
When it comes to pace of play, these two programs are polar opposites. Miami’s slow offensive attack was on full display as it held the ball for more than double the time of Ole Miss. But the Rebels were able to throw a few jabs on big plays – the biggest coming from star running back Kewan Lacy.
On the very first play of the second quarter, Lacy ran straight through the Miami defensive line 73 yards to the end zone. The sophomore appeared to pull a hamstring on the play, but returned to the game and finished with 103 yards on the ground.
“To see Kewan (Lacy) do what he does is just special,” Chambliss said. “He’s probably the best running back I ever played with.”
For a program that had never been to a College Football Playoff before this year, this group will forever be remembered by Ole Miss. Through all the trials and tribulations they experienced, the Rebels were two wins away from bringing a national championship home to Mississippi.
“But to me, it’s the smiles, man. It’s the memories, it’s the laughs, it’s the time with those guys and seeing the camaraderie that they grew together,” Golding said. “They’re going to be talking about this for a long time, right? Some of it is going to be ‘What could have happened’ and all those things, but they’ve made memories this year in that locker room that will last a lifetime.”
Though the future of Ole Miss football is unknown and the Rebels weren’t the ones swimming in confetti Thursday night, this season reshaped the program and set a standard that will linger in Oxford long after the rain cleared in Glendale.
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