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Kewan Lacy banged up his shoulder late in Saturday’s win over LSU, and now Ole Miss fans are holding their breath heading into Saturday’s trip to Florida. Rebels coach Pete Golding labeled his star running back a “game-time decision” on Tuesday, which means nobody will know for sure until kickoff whether Lacy suits up against the Gators.
The good news? X-rays came back negative right after the game. Golding gave the first real update on Lacy’s condition this week, and it sounded a lot more optimistic than the initial scare.
“(It) wasn’t nearly as bad as we thought it was,” Golding said.
Lacy’s still RB1 in Oxford, no question there. He’s just gotta prove he can play through the pain. Before he went down awkwardly on his left shoulder, Lacy had already piled up 43 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries.
That’s who Lacy’s been for this program lately. Last season alone, he rushed for 1,567 yards, a single-season school record, and led the entire SEC with 24 rushing touchdowns. Numbers like that don’t happen by accident, and it’s exactly why Ole Miss fans are nervous.
This isn’t uncharted territory for Lacy, either. He banged up his thigh in the season opener against Louisville and still managed to play through it.
Expect Lacy’s name to show up on the Rebels’ first official availability report Wednesday night. The SEC updates these reports every night, and teams have to lock in final game-day designations 90 minutes before kickoff. Leading up to Saturday, players get tagged as “available,” “probable,” “questionable,” “doubtful” or “out.” Once game day hits, though, the labels simplify to just “available,” “game-time decision,” or “out.”
Who steps in if Lacy can’t go?
Ole Miss didn’t just sit around hoping Lacy stays healthy all year. The Rebels brought in three transfer running backs this offseason specifically to build depth behind him, and one of them already got real reps against LSU.
JT Lindsey, a sophomore who originally signed with LSU out of high school, took over once Lacy left the game. He finished with five touches for 28 yards from scrimmage in the second half. Not huge numbers, but it’s meaningful experience against a ranked opponent.
Then there’s Makhi Frazier, who barely played through the first two games and didn’t even see the field Saturday. Frazier ran for 520 yards and two touchdowns last season at Michigan State, and right now he looks like the No. 3 option in this backfield.
Joshua Dye rounds out the depth chart. He transferred in from Southern Utah after an FCS All-American season where he rushed for 28 touchdowns and topped 1,800 yards on the ground. That kind of production doesn’t just disappear at the FBS level, even if he hasn’t gotten many touches yet.
Bigger picture: Ole Miss and the playoff race
Any shoulder injury for a running back carries some risk of lingering effects. That’s just the nature of the position. And while quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is the one generating Heisman buzz right now, Lacy’s presence in this offense matters just as much, maybe more.
Vegas doesn’t seem overly concerned, at least not yet. Fourth-ranked Ole Miss opened as a 2.5-point underdog against No. 21 Florida this week, and that line has since crept up to 3.5 points in the Rebels’ favor. Lacy’s uncertain status might factor into that shift slightly, but it’s really more about how brutal this SEC schedule is about to get.
Ole Miss sits at 3-0 with wins over Louisville and LSU, giving the Rebels arguably the best resume of any Power Four team right now. That resume earned them a spot in this week’s updated College Football Playoff projection, too.
Here’s what’s left on Ole Miss’ schedule:
- at No. 21 Florida, Saturday
- at Vanderbilt
- vs. No. 19 Missouri
- at No. 1 Texas
- vs. Auburn
- vs. No. 2 Georgia
- at Oklahoma
- vs. Wofford
- vs. No. 24 Mississippi State
Five ranked opponents remain on that list. And that doesn’t even include Oklahoma, a team that could absolutely give this offense fits when the Rebels travel there in mid-November.
Getting to 10 wins likely locks up a playoff bid for Ole Miss. Nine wins might even do it. Worth remembering, too: the CFP selection committee’s own protocol allows player availability to factor into how a team gets evaluated during deliberations.
So if Lacy’s banged up or forced to sit out a game or two against top competition, that context could matter more than people realize come December.
Golding’s now 5-1 as Ole Miss’ head coach, building on a season that ended with two CFP wins last year. Beating LSU on Saturday night was emotional, sure, but Golding made it clear that win wasn’t the finish line.
“The goals and expectations isn’t about winning one football game in September,” Golding said. “Am I super proud of them? Absolutely. That’s three years since we’ve been here we’ve come home with that trophy. That’s the expectation as it should be.”
Golding praised his team’s “four-quarter fight” against LSU, calling it the kind of performance that could carry momentum into the tougher stretch ahead. Florida’s up next. Then things really get interesting.
