The University of Mississippi Athletics
Football vs. Florida: Fresh off the Field
9/27/2026 | Football
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 4 Ole Miss Rebels hit the road for the first time this season, falling 52-28 to No.21 Florida Gators on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Deuce Alexander led the receiving effort for the Rebels with 134 yards on seven catches, marking his second 100-yard receiving performance of the season.
Hear what Pete Golding, Keaton Thomas and Trinidad Chambliss had to say.
"What an awesome environment." Golding said. "I thought [Jon] Sumrall and Buster [Faulkner] and all those guys had their guys ready to play. That was an old-fashioned butt whooping. I thought in all three phases, especially in the first half, we could not really get anything going.
"We played a really good football team that is coached really well in a tough environment. You have to play better on all three phases and that starts at the top. We have to do a better job coaching them. Obviously, we did not do the things necessary, Monday through Friday, in order to play a really good football team. We are going to have a lot more of these ... The sun is going to come up tomorrow and we are going into a bye week, and we really have to evaluate."
DEFENSIVE RESET
Linebacker Keaton Thomas turned in a team-high 11 tackles to lead the Ole Miss defense, while also adding a pass breakup.
"For us, the biggest thing is consistency." Thomas said. "I think everybody's seen it. When we're hot, we're hot and when we're cold, we're cold, and we need to be swinging and hot from the start. To me, there shouldn't be any excuse from now on. We played four games; it's not anymore of dipping your toe in the water and checking the temperature. We need to dive in and dominate for four quarters."
Jehiem Oatis posted an Ole Miss career-high four tackles, while Blake Purchase recorded a tackle for loss for the second straight game.
"I wouldn't say it's demoralizing, it's a part of the game, but we need to fix that. It's unacceptable, like I said before, we have to dominate the middle eight." Thomas said. "We have to come out on fire in the third quarter, that's been our issue this season so far. We play somewhat of a decent first half, or a really good second quarter, we have to start really strong in the third quarter. We have to fix that."
CHAMBLISS BATTLES ON
Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss capped off Ole Miss' opening drive of the second half with a rushing touchdown, marking the 100th touchdown of his collegiate career and his 40th on the ground.
"We had a slow start in the first half offensively," Chambliss said. "I feel like that first half set the tone, went for it on fourth-and-one, playing aggressive. We feel confident in our offense, I know [John David Baker] does as well. So that definitely hurt, because I feel like we would've scored on that drive. But getting things going in the second half, but at that point it was just too late. Their offense is rolling. We couldn't get a stop, so credit to Florida."
Chambliss finished the day 25-for-34 with 298 yards and one touchdown though the air and two on the ground.
"I'm super confident in our team." Chambliss said. "Florida, they were a good team. I feel like if we were playing our best ball, things might have been different, but that didn't happen today. But the confidence in my team has never changed. I still got the utmost confidence in my team. I feel like we can still compete for an SEC championship, in the National Championship, but now we just got to go another week and focus on one game at a time."
STAY CONNECTED
Stay up to date with all the latest Ole Miss football news and content! Subscribe to The Sip, the official newsletter of Rebel football, and we'll drop the best Ole Miss football stories, videos and social media content to your inbox each week.
Update today to the all-new version of the Ole Miss Sports app, presented by Renasant Bank! The new app will serve as a dynamic hub for Rebel gameday content, including ticketing, parking, schedules, shopping for official Ole Miss merchandise and much more. Click here for more info or to download.
Deuce Alexander led the receiving effort for the Rebels with 134 yards on seven catches, marking his second 100-yard receiving performance of the season.
Hear what Pete Golding, Keaton Thomas and Trinidad Chambliss had to say.
"What an awesome environment." Golding said. "I thought [Jon] Sumrall and Buster [Faulkner] and all those guys had their guys ready to play. That was an old-fashioned butt whooping. I thought in all three phases, especially in the first half, we could not really get anything going.
"We played a really good football team that is coached really well in a tough environment. You have to play better on all three phases and that starts at the top. We have to do a better job coaching them. Obviously, we did not do the things necessary, Monday through Friday, in order to play a really good football team. We are going to have a lot more of these ... The sun is going to come up tomorrow and we are going into a bye week, and we really have to evaluate."
DEFENSIVE RESET
Linebacker Keaton Thomas turned in a team-high 11 tackles to lead the Ole Miss defense, while also adding a pass breakup.
"For us, the biggest thing is consistency." Thomas said. "I think everybody's seen it. When we're hot, we're hot and when we're cold, we're cold, and we need to be swinging and hot from the start. To me, there shouldn't be any excuse from now on. We played four games; it's not anymore of dipping your toe in the water and checking the temperature. We need to dive in and dominate for four quarters."
Jehiem Oatis posted an Ole Miss career-high four tackles, while Blake Purchase recorded a tackle for loss for the second straight game.
"I wouldn't say it's demoralizing, it's a part of the game, but we need to fix that. It's unacceptable, like I said before, we have to dominate the middle eight." Thomas said. "We have to come out on fire in the third quarter, that's been our issue this season so far. We play somewhat of a decent first half, or a really good second quarter, we have to start really strong in the third quarter. We have to fix that."
CHAMBLISS BATTLES ON
Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss capped off Ole Miss' opening drive of the second half with a rushing touchdown, marking the 100th touchdown of his collegiate career and his 40th on the ground.
"We had a slow start in the first half offensively," Chambliss said. "I feel like that first half set the tone, went for it on fourth-and-one, playing aggressive. We feel confident in our offense, I know [John David Baker] does as well. So that definitely hurt, because I feel like we would've scored on that drive. But getting things going in the second half, but at that point it was just too late. Their offense is rolling. We couldn't get a stop, so credit to Florida."
Chambliss finished the day 25-for-34 with 298 yards and one touchdown though the air and two on the ground.
"I'm super confident in our team." Chambliss said. "Florida, they were a good team. I feel like if we were playing our best ball, things might have been different, but that didn't happen today. But the confidence in my team has never changed. I still got the utmost confidence in my team. I feel like we can still compete for an SEC championship, in the National Championship, but now we just got to go another week and focus on one game at a time."
STAY CONNECTED
Stay up to date with all the latest Ole Miss football news and content! Subscribe to The Sip, the official newsletter of Rebel football, and we'll drop the best Ole Miss football stories, videos and social media content to your inbox each week.
Update today to the all-new version of the Ole Miss Sports app, presented by Renasant Bank! The new app will serve as a dynamic hub for Rebel gameday content, including ticketing, parking, schedules, shopping for official Ole Miss merchandise and much more. Click here for more info or to download.
Players Mentioned
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