Is There a Turning of the Tide at Ole Miss?

Are we witnessing a turning of the tide at Ole Miss, following a huge 31-3 win for the Rebels over a top-15 Missouri team?

The 2026 Ole Miss football season has been one full of head-scratching moments. There have been times they look like a legitimate national championship contender. There’s been moments where they resemble a College Football Playoff team that’s destined to lose in the first round. And then, just for good measure, we’ve seen moments where they honestly look more like a high school team than they do an SEC program.

And that goes for both sides of the ball. The offense has certainly been more consistent, but have had its fair share of issues. The defense has been a constant roller coaster ride.

Needless to say, the only consistent aspect of this year’s Rebel football team has been the inconsistency. But over the past two weeks, they seem to have found a bit of a rhythm.

So has Ole Miss finally turned a corner? Or are Rebel fans just getting their hopes up, only to be let down in the upcoming weeks?

Is There a Turning of the Tide at Ole Miss?

The Timing of the Bye Week

Little did anyone know at the time, but it’s starting to look like Ole Miss’ bye week following a humbling loss to Florida came at the perfect moment for the Rebels. Prior to the bye, they started the season 3-1, including ranked wins (at the time) vs. Louisville and LSU, and an ugly loss to Florida. However, despite the wins, they were yet to put together a complete football game. In the first half of all three wins, they looked really good. The second half of all three left a lot to be desired.

And nothing was redeeming about the embarrassing loss to the Gators.

However, following that loss, and the bye week immediately after, the Rebels have since put together their two most complete, balanced games of the year. Maybe they were just in need of an off week to rest and reset. Or maybe they simply needed a chance for Pete Golding and his staff to go scorched earth for two full weeks about the effort that was displayed in the loss to Florida.

Whatever the answer is, the Ole Miss team that has stepped on the field in blowout wins over Vanderbilt and Missouri over the past two weeks doesn’t really resemble the same team from the first four games of the season.

And if you’re a Rebel fan, you have to hope that signifies a permanent turning of the tide for the football program in 2026.

The Defensive Resurgence

This has been the most shocking aspect of the turnaround. Through the first four games of the season, the Ole Miss defense looked shaky, and that’s putting it mildly. They were giving up 195 yards rushing per game, including 302 in the loss to Florida. In the two games since, that number has dropped to 71 yards per contest. That includes only giving up 39 yards to the SEC’s leading rusher, Missouri’s Jamal Roberts.

Through the air, the passing yardage for their opponents has actually increased, but the results have been better. A lot of that has been due to increased attempts, due to the Rebel defense doing a better job of stopping the run. That can be seen in the points allowed.

The first four games of the season? Ole Miss was allowing 31 points per game.

In the two games following the bye week, that number has dropped to only allowing 10 points per contest.

For the most part, they’ve done a better job of not allowing explosive plays. The tackling has gotten infinitely better. The eye discipline on the back end has improved. And the front seven has done a much better job of getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks, while not overrunning gaps.

In short, they’ve looked like a completely different defense. And if they can keep things moving in the right direction, they’re beginning to look like a team that’s going to be tough to beat as we start the second half of the season.

Ole Miss Finally Has a Running Game

This is another aspect that may be surprising to hear. Right now, especially in the win over Missouri, Ole Miss managed to dominate despite an extremely shaky performance from Heisman candidate Trinidad Chambliss. While the numbers don’t necessarily bear it out, he didn’t look good against the Tigers. He was extremely inaccurate with the football, and missed numerous open receivers, especially in the first quarter. However, despite that, he still finished the game completing 20 of 36 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns.

More importantly, despite his struggles, the Rebels still picked up a convincing ranked win.

And that’s largely due to the emergence of a running game. In the two games since the bye week, Ole Miss has averaged 227 yards rushing per game. That number sat at 118 yards per contest over the first four weeks of the season.

Part of that is due to the health of Kewan Lacy. After being banged up for much of the first four weeks, his health has improved recently. It’s also due to a renewed effort and better push in the rushing attack from the offensive line.

Knowing that Chambliss is (typically) one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and the Rebels’ wide receiver corps is deep, with the ability to spread the ball around consistently to five or more guys on the outside, if Ole Miss can continue to have even a hint of a rushing attack, it’s an offense that becomes extremely difficult to try and stop.

Can Ole Miss Continue to Turn the Tide?

Over the last two games, Ole Miss has looked more like what most people expected them to look like as the season began. It’s a small sample size, but it does appear to be a step in the right direction. But even with that, the schedule doesn’t get much easier for the Rebels.

This weekend, they travel to Austin to take on Texas. Yes, it’s a Longhorn team that has dropped two straight, but that’s still a team that was ranked number one earlier this season. On top of that, they still have a ranked matchup with Georgia, and an Egg Bowl clash with a Mississippi State team that has bounced in and out of the top-25 for much of the year.

The good news for Rebel fans is that they only dropped one game over their first four when they weren’t playing all that well. That does give them a bit of room for error. The bad news is that two games isn’t enough proof that they’ve found the consistency to be taken seriously quite yet.

A win this weekend at Texas would do a lot to signify a legitimate turning of the tide for the Rebels. But with a loss, the playoff outlook begins to look really bleak in Oxford.

Main Image: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

More College Football Content:

A Look Ahead at the Sun Belt Weekend

A Look Ahead at the SEC Weekend

Bama Has to Prep For A&M