Trinidad Chambliss threw two touchdown passes and ran for a touchdown, and No. 4 Ole Miss held off an upset attempt by Washington State in a 24-21 victory Saturday in Oxford, Miss.
Chambliss completed 20 of 29 for 253 yards, and the Rebels (6-0) got 142 rushing yards from Kewan Lacy and prevailed despite a series of early missed scoring opportunities.
Zevi Eckhaus passed for 218 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cougars (3-3), who were more than 30-point underdogs.
The Cougars received the second-half kickoff and Kirby Vorhees completed a 75-yard drive with a 46-yard touchdown run that gave them a 14-10 lead.
Chambliss ran 17 yards for a touchdown to give the Rebels a 17-14 lead at the end of the third quarter. His 35-yard touchdown pass to Cayden Lee with 6:51 left in the game finally gave Ole Miss some breathing room.
But Eckhaus threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Tony Freeman, trimming the lead to three points with 2:43 left.
Washington State got the ball back after a punt, starting at its 10 with 1:09 remaining and no timeouts. It couldn’t reach field-goal range before time expired.
Ole Miss received the opening kickoff and drove to the Washington State 4, but Chambliss threw an incompletion on fourth and 3.
The Rebels forced a punt and regained possession at their 45 and drove to the Cougars’ 29, but Lucas Carneiro was wide right on a 47-yard field-goal attempt.
On the ensuing possession Eckhaus threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Landon Wright to give Washington State a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Ole Miss reached the Cougars’ 18 on their next possession, but it committed a holding penalty and Chambliss fumbled while being sacked, and Bryson Lamb recovered for Washington State.
The Cougars reached Rebels territory, but Jack Stevens’s 54-yard field-goal attempt fell short and wide right.
The Rebels finally scored when Carneiro made a 40-yard field goal. Chambliss’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Dae’Quan Wright with 31 seconds left in the second quarter gave them a 10-7 halftime lead.
