4 Takeaways From Ole Miss' Dominant CFP First-Round Win Against Tulane

The opening drive of the College Football Playoff matchup between No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 11 Tulane set a clear tone for the rest of Saturday’s game. Three plays, 75 yards and a touchdown all in the first 59 seconds. The Rebels’ vigorous offense was ready to dominate the first-round contest Oxford, Mississippi. And it did.

Ole Miss crushed Tulane, 41-10, in a rematch from September — it rocked the Green Wave, 45-10, in that one too — to advance to the CFP quarterfinal against No. 3 Georgia on New Year’s Day.

The stakes Saturday were high for both teams. Following the manufactured drama of Lane Kiffin’s departure to LSU, former defensive coordinator Pete Golding took the helm for his first game as the Rebels head coach. Tulane coach Jon Sumrall was in his final push with the Green Wave before heading off to Florida at the end of the season. And neither team had made the CFP before.

But Ole Miss — despite some defensive and third-down struggles — ultimately put the game out of reach before the end of the third quarter. 

"We love PG," Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss told the broadcast after the win. "He’s a motivator. He knows how to get to us, and he loves to win, so we like playing for a guy like that."

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Here are four takeaways from Ole Miss’ victory against Tulane in the CFP first round on Saturday: 

1. Trinidad Chambliss shined bright on a giant stage

Trinidad Chambliss was a champion before he arrived in Oxford ahead of the 2025 college football season. A fifth-year senior transfer, he capped his time as a Division II quarterback in mid-Michigan by leading Ferris State to a national championship victory. 

He was once a zero-star recruit and relatively unknown. This season, after taking over as Ole Miss’ starter in Week 3, he commanded the SEC’s attention in the air and on the ground. He’s a brilliant complement to Rebels star running back Kewan Lacy. The dynamic duo has been nearly unstoppable.

On Saturday, Chambliss did what he does best, beating Tulane with his arm and his legs. He completed 23 of 29 passes for 282 yards and a touchdown, adding 36 rushing yards on six carries and two more touchdowns. Lacy finished with 87 yards on 15 attempts and a rushing touchdown.

"We just wanted to play football," Chambliss told the broadcast after the game. "We haven’t played in about three weeks, and we were hungry to play. We were watching the SEC championship game, and we felt like we should have been in that. But it is what it is. Our guys, we just want to win, and we want to play football."

After an awkward tackle, Chambliss exited the game with an injury late in the second quarter. He was evaluated for a concussion at halftime, as the broadcast reported. He returned in the third quarter and didn’t miss a beat.

In fact, he became the first player ever in a College Football Playoff game to throw for at least 280 yards, rush and pass for a touchdown and complete 79 percent of his passes.

Chambliss helped lead one of the most prolific FBS offenses that averaged 498.1 yards per game this season while also throwing for the fourth-most yards in the SEC (3,016) going into Saturday’s CFP contest. He finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting and was recently named 2025 SEC Newcomer of the Year by the conference’s 16 head coaches. 

He’s the reason some Ole Miss fans show up to games with Trinidad and Tobago flags, and now he even has an NIL deal with AT&T, appearing in cheeky ads about transferring. 

There’s also a chance he could return to college football next season after applying for an NCAA waiver for an additional year of eligibility, basically asking for a retroactive redshirt. Imagine what he could do in Year 2 in Oxford.

Chambliss had been a star quarterback before the Rebels, and now with them — albeit on very different stages. He scrambles, he keeps plays alive, he’s not always playing mistake-free football, but he was clearly destined for a big stage, like Ole Miss’ College Football Playoff debut. And he didn’t disappoint.

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2. Ole Miss' defense needs strengthening before Georgia

Yes, the Rebels held Tulane to just 10 points, including a garbage-time touchdown. Yes, they sacked Green Wave quarterback Jake Retzlaff twice and forced three turnovers — including a first-quarter interception — and scored touchdowns following two of them. But the defense needs to create more havoc to beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. 

Ole Miss could end up capitalizing if the Bulldogs have one of their slow offensive starts to the quarterfinal game, but when it comes to two SEC powers dueling in the CFP, you have to be at your best to win. 

Despite a solid pass-rush, Ole Miss allowed Retzlaff to complete 20 of 35 passes for 306 yards with a touchdown. That’s fewer passing yards than the Rebels’ season average (333.1) going into Saturday’s game, but they probably can’t get away with giving up 421 total yards in their next game.

Against Georgia in mid-October, Ole Miss gave up 510 total yards, split fairly evenly between the run and passing games. Going into the CFP, the Rebels had just the 13th-best run defense in the SEC, averaging 150.5 rushing yards allowed. To beat the Bulldogs, each facet of the defense will need to stand strong.

3. A difficult Tulane finale for coach Jon Sumrall

Sumrall didn’t know how long he’d remain with the Green Wave — just that he’d be with the team as long as its playoff run lasted before taking over at Florida, replacing fired Billy Napier. The playoff run ended with a lopsided defeat, but some things are bigger than football.

What Sumrall probably did appreciate going into this first-round matchup was that it would be a challenging game for him, regardless of how it ended. 

Sumrall’s father, George, died Thursday night in his sleep after some lengthy health issues.

"Dad was a fighter", Sumrall wrote on social media Friday. "I learned so much from him…being a man of faith, grit, hard work, attitude, service and more. Dad being there for our [American Conference] championship game two weeks ago and then the press conference in Gainesville a couple days later are memories I will never forget." 

After his final game with the Green Wave, Sumrall elaborated on his father's death. 

"It's been hard, but I love my dad," Sumrall said during his post-game press conference. "I'm a lot of who I am because of how he raised me. … He's probably got some questions about how we played, just like I do. I just don't have to hear them tonight from him. I'm sure I'll hear them from my mom."

4. Sugar in the New Year 

Ole Miss has a Jan. 1 date with No. 3 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl for the College Football Playoff quarterfinal game. The Sugar Bowl will be Ole Miss’ second rematch in this year’s playoff, after the Rebels lost, 43-35, to the Bulldogs in Athens, Georgia in mid-October. 

Rocking the Green Wave wasn’t exactly strong prep for reigning SEC champion Georgia and the Bulldogs’ suffocating top-12 defense (284.5 yards allowed per game). Whether the nearly four-week break will help or hurt Georgia — one of four playoff teams to earn a first-round bye — remains to be seen. But this quarterfinal game easily could end in another offensive thriller after Chambliss and Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton combined for eight total touchdowns in October. 

The Sugar Bowl game between No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 3 Georgia is set for New Year’s Day at 8 p.m. ET at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. 

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