No. 6 Ole Miss had a historic Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The Rebels won their first-ever College Football Playoff game, was the first home team to win a playoff game this season, set a record for largest crowd at a Mississippi college football game, scored the fastest touchdown in CFP history, had the largest margin of victory in the 12-team CFP era, and set a Guinness World Record for largest gathering of people wearing Santa hats.
And they did in the aftermath of a dramatic coaching saga that saw Lane Kiffin leave for LSU before the CFP and Pete Golding promoted to head coach.
To quote Ice Cube, it was a good day.
After the 41-10 contest against Tulane ended, the Rebels took the podium to talk about the win and some of the history that was made. The full videos for each player are in included throughout this story, but here are eight best quotes from Ole Miss players.
QB Trinidad Chambliss on the win…
“It’s a surreal moment. If you would have said this before the season, that I’d be the starting quarterback and I’d get Ole Miss their first playoff victory, I’d be like, ‘you’re crazy.’ But it’s amazing. I just got to give thanks to God because, you know, without him none of this is possible. And just also got to give thanks to Ole Miss and my team, to be honest, too.
“We’ve been through a lot, a lot of adversity, and glad that we got the win. And Ferris State actually did win the national championship today. They beat Harding back-to-back years, so props to them.
“It’s crazy to think about how my life has changed since being at Division II Ferris State and now being at Division I Ole Miss and playing in the SEC.”
Chambliss on meeting Archie and Eli Manning…
“It was really cool to see and hear him talk to the team. (Archie) had great words of encouragement. He’s got a ton of wisdom, so that’s really cool to, you know, get all the knowledge you can from him. And then I met Eli before pregame. He seems like a really good guy. He’s taller than what I expected, to be honest, but yeah, great that I finally get to meet them.”
LB TJ Dottery on getting Pete Golding first win as head coach…
“It means a lot. He deserves it. The guy he is, he’s the same guy every day, genuine, and truly cares about us and this program. He cares about this program a lot, and that shows. So, it was huge for us to get that first one for him.”
DL Will Echoles on decision to return to Ole Miss in 2026
“Oh, really, the system that PG built here for me. As in the defense, I feel like I fit pretty well in the defense we have now, and I wouldn’t want to go play another defense and have to learn it all over again. So that played a big part, and also being at home. Home is home and Ole Miss is my home. I love the fans here, love the people here, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
WR De’Zhaun Stribling on stadium atmosphere…
“The fans really brought a lot of juice out there. We really felt it on the field. We tried our best to stay locked in and focused, with all the fireworks going on. You can’t help but look around. It was great out there, the fireworks, all the drones, beautiful, loved it.”
Stribling on lining up against a smaller defender…
“I don’t want to sound like a bully and say that it feels good, but there is a certain type of feeling that you get from establishing dominance. That’s what I see it as. It’s establishing dominance. It’s a physical game, that just comes with it. Some people are bigger or stronger. It doesn’t matter. I’m going out there and establish dominance on whoever it is.”
WR Duece Alexander on changes to sideline celebrations…
“It wasn’t really a big difference, you know? Like no hoop, it kind of felt a little weird, and with the chain and stuff, but it honestly felt the same, nothing too different. The cleats, he gave us a little flexibility to come out here just wear what we want to, as long as it was team colors. I’m glad he was able to do that, everybody just had fun.”
Alexander on leading team in targets after Egg Bowl…
“It felt great. I know I kind of showed my emotions a little bit in that game, but I had a conversation with the coaches and just let them know it came from a good place. I’m not that type of guy and I’m just glad that they believed in me enough to give me those targets this game and just see like be able to showcase what I can do.”
