Ole Miss defenders celebrate a turnover in the second half of Saturday's CFP win against Tulane. | Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss defenders celebrate a turnover in the second half of Saturday's CFP win against Tulane. | Ole Miss Athletics

Instant Reaction: Ole Miss dominates Tulane in record-setting CFP debut

BY Taylor Hodges

In front of the largest crowd ever at a Mississippi college football game, No. 6 Ole Miss showed it doesn’t matter who the head coach is.

The Rebels beat Tulane for the second time this season, winning its debut College Football Playoff game 41-10 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

It was (almost, see the “moment of doubt” section below) exactly what everyone wanted to see from Ole Miss: the same thing we’ve seen all season.

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The offense was explosive, efficient and made few mistakes. The defense was suffocating and the defensive line spent more time in the Tulane backfield than anywhere else.

Any concerns or worries about how Ole Miss would play following the dramatic coaching saga with you-know-who were satisfied.

These Rebels are still a serious threat to win the national championship.

Record-Setting Game

Ole Miss set at least three different records with its home playoff game.

With an announced attendance of 68,251, it was the largest attendance at a Mississippi college football game.

But the school also set a new Guinness World Record with the largest gathering of people wearing Santa hats. The new record is 68,002 because some producer made Joe Tessitore and Jesse Palmer wear the hats, too.

On the field, the Rebels scored the fastest touchdown in CFP history with its opening drive that lasted 59 seconds.

The 31-margin of victory is also the largest win in the 12-team era of the CFP. Georgia has the all-time record with a 65-7 win against TCU in the 2023 national championship game.

The Only Moment of Doubt

There was only one point in Saturday’s game that any inkling of doubt about the outcome creeped into this writer’s mind.

That was in the first half, when the Rebels had two drives that gained just 21 yards and Tulane’s offense was moving the ball well.

Then Lacy and Chambliss left the game with injuries just before halftime, the Green Wave defense strip-sacked Austin Simmons and Ole Miss led 17-3 at halftime.

But that doubt evaporated early in the second half.

Lacy did end up leaving the game in the fourth quarter and didn’t return. But the outcome was already cemented by that point and Ole Miss scored a touchdown on that drive.

Next up

Ole Miss gets another rematch in the quarterfinal round of the CFP. This time, though, they’ll have a chance to avenge its only loss of the season.

No. 3 Georgia will meet Ole Miss in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day in New Orleans. The Bulldogs won the previous meeting in October, 43-35.

The Bulldogs and Rebels will cap off the quarterfinal round of the CFP with a 7 p.m. kickoff on ESPN.

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