Five Immediate Takeaways From Ole Miss vs. Texas

The Ole Miss Rebels fall to the Texas Longhorns in a nail-biter, 34-27.

Here are five immediate takeaways from the game

The Rebels couldn’t get settled in the first half.

Texas Longhorns running back Raleek Brown reacts after a run with quarterback Arch Manning. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ole Miss ended the first half down 24-3 against Texas. The Rebels' offense couldn't get anything going. Chambliss finished the half with 68 passing yards and an interception. Ole Miss totaled 76 rushing yards, with 17 coming from punter Oscar Bird on a fourth-down trick play.

John David Baker leaned heavily on the flood concept for the Rebels, despite the Longhorns defending it well multiple times. The play rolls Chambliss out to his right and brings every receiver to the right side of the field.

That play led to many incompletions, which stalled out the Rebels' offense.

Chambliss was missing throws with time in the pocket. He threw an interception, giving Texas the ball right after Arch threw one. Chambliss also wasn’t taking easy completions early to settle in.

This put the Rebels' offense in a huge hole and down three scores at halftime.

The Rebels defense allowed 258 total yards. The pressure did not affect Arch Manning, who threw for 171 yards and a touchdown.

The Texas offense also ran for 87 yards, proving it could walk all over the Rebels defense.

The Ole Miss flip

Mississippi Rebels defensive end Blake Purchase sacks Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning. — Mississippi Rebels defensive end Blake Purchase sacks Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning, forcing a fumble, | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A completely different Ole Miss team came out in the second half. The Rebels got a strip-sack fumble that they recovered in the end zone on Texas’s first drive.

The defense then held Texas to a three-and-out, and the Rebels' offense followed with their first touchdown of the drive, scored by Horatio Fields.

Cam Franklin then took a huge sack, setting Texas back behind the chains and forcing a punt.

After a three-and-out, the Rebels' defense got another stop against Arch Manning and company.

The Rebels eventually tied it 24-24, but the comeback fell short. The team showed true resilience in a tough road environment, but didn't have enough to win.

Where are Trinidad's legs?

Mississippi Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is tackled by Texas Longhorns defensive back Kade Phillips | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

One thing people often forget about Chambliss is that he is a sneaky good runner. He can escape the pocket or break off a big run on a designed run. He had seven rushing yards in this game, marking the third game in a row with fewer than 10 rushing yards.

With a tough Kewan Lacy injury, the Ole Miss's running identity needs a reevaluation. Chambliss must be included in Ole Miss's new running attack. If Chambliss starts keeping some of those balls on draw plays, John David Baker's offense would become much less predictable.

Trinidad continues to struggle in big road environments.

With this loss to the Longhorns, Chambliss moves to 1-3 in big SEC road environments. He lost to Georgia in Athens and beat Oklahoma last year. He has lost to Florida and Texas this year.

Chambliss just can't get it done in road environments, but one bright side for the Rebels' playoff hopes is that they play Georgia at home, and Chambliss heads back to Oklahoma, where he has won before

The season is not over for Ole Miss.

Rebel fans cannot overreact to this loss. This is definitely a dent in the season, but the Rebels are a two-loss team with a big home game against Georgia in early November. Pete Golding has proved he knows how to be Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs with Chambliss.

If the Rebels win out the rest of the season, they will almost certainly be a two-loss team in the playoffs.

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