Pete Golding Had a Two-Point Plan Ready for LSU All Week

OXFORD, Miss. — Perhaps Pete Golding’s gutsiest call as a head coach came just before LSU received its final offensive possession of Saturday’s top-10 matchup.

Following Trinidad Chambliss’ go-ahead touchdown run from 14 yards out, which broke a tie in the game’s closing minutes, Golding elected to force more pressure on the Tigers’ offense. Meaning the Rebels were set to gamble on a two-point conversion attempt.

However, it wasn’t until their third time lining up for two that the Rebels ultimately got the result they were seeking. Thanks to two offsides calls, Ole Miss got inside the one-yard line to set up a direct snap to backup running back JT Lindsey, who took it across the goal line against his former team.

Ole Miss put itself up eight points with just over six minutes to go, swinging all of the pressure to LSU’s offense with a best-case scenario of only going to overtime. It was a situation that would've been relatively easy to initially decide to take the extra point considering the game clock.

Golding’s Gamble Needed the Right Look

Ole Miss running back JT Lindsey (26) carries the ball in for a two-point conversion during a college football game between Ole Miss and LSU at Vaught Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. Ole Miss defeated LSU 32-24. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

“The plan always was in certain situations — it’s really hard when you get scored on in a situation where you’re not supposed to be going for two,” Golding explained Saturday night. “You send a field goal block unit out there and try to catch people with 12 (players) or make them burn a timeout or anything like that. And then if they jump, well then it’s half the distance and you got a real decision to make. Are you going to get closer at some point on that for a yard and a half? We did it and then they did it again. At that point, if we can’t get a half yard to get it to eight (points), to make sure that you don’t lose the game — worst-casescenario that you’re going to overtime — then we shouldn’t win the game. It was something that we worked on throughout the week that our guys executed at a high level.”

Given Lane Kiffin’s on-field gambling history, Golding wasn’t going to chance that moment.

“All week we were kind of prepping and practicing if we were in a situation kind of like tonight — if we scored, get the offense to stay on the field, go hard count and if they jump, we’ll see what kind of defense they’re in,” Trinidad Chambliss said. “They jumped and then we got closer and then they jumped again we got (even) closer. Then it was all about getting a good push up front from the o-line and then starting to get the running back downfield and making sure we get the two-point conversion. So no, I wasn’t surprised by that. We’ve been practicing that all week.”

LSU ended up driving 69 yards down the field in 14 plays to get all the way to Ole Miss’ six-yard line. A tipped pass from Kam Franklin’s helmet helped land the ball in Jaylon Braxton’s hands on fourth and goal, sealing the Rebels’ 32-24 victory.

Ole Miss went into the locker room at halftime with a 24-7 lead, but ultimately managed to just hold off LSU’s second-half comeback. An aspect Golding didn’t lose sight of following the Rebels’ latest thrilling win.

“If you continue to let good football teams hang around, bad things happen. Really proud of the fight in the fourth quarter. Really good job by the offense at the end. Really good execution of a plan in place for the two-point situation that I think kind of changed the momentum a little bit there. Then the defense made a stop when they had to. But you’re going to go back and watch the tape — there are a lot of opportunities for us to end that game way before that,” Golding added. “You keep on playing with fire, you're going to get burned.”

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google