The Ole Miss Rebels entered Saturday with a clear task on hand as they faced off against Tulane in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Given the stark talent advantage the goal for Ole Miss was to come in and get experience under new head coach Pete Golding before a potential massive test against the Georgia Bulldogs.
Early on, it looked like Ole Miss was going to cruise to victory as they were clearly the more talented team. While everything started perfectly the first half ended in terrible fashion for Ole Miss as within a 3 play stretch both Kewan Lacy and Trinidad Chambliss suffered injuries.
Kewan Lacy's health determines if Ole Miss can upset Georgia
At the start of the second half, Ole Miss fans were relieved to see that both Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy returned from their injuries. The decision to bring Kewan Lacy back into the game while he dealt with a shoulder injury may have been a bad idea as he left the game again in the 3rd quarter.
The Rebels are moving on to face Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, but all attention is now on Kewan Lacy's recovery ahead of the game. While Ole Miss has a dominant passing attack, Lacy finished second on the season in rushing touchdowns with 20 and 9th in yards with 1,279.
The Georgia Bulldogs did the best job of any program slowing Kewan Lacy in the 1st matchup as he was held to 31 yards, but he did score twice. If a team is going to beat Georgia, they're going to need to find success running the ball and Lacy is their best chance to do so.
The good news for Pete Golding and his staff is that they'll have until New Year's Day to get their star running back healthy to try before trying to avenge their only loss this season.