Ole Miss-Tulane CFP rematch feels like it 'was years ago'

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OXFORD – Ole Miss and Tulane have played 74 times previously. In fact, the scenario played out less than three months ago at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, a 35-point Rebels victory. But make no mistake: Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding isn’t expecting to see the same game twice this year. Not with what’s at stake in their second meeting of 2025.

Sixth-seeded Ole Miss (11-1) will host 11th-seeded Tulane (11-2) in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 20 at 2:30 p.m. It will mark Ole Miss’ first ever appearance in the CFP and will be Golding’s first game as the Rebels’ head coach following Lane Kiffin’s departure to LSU. The Rebels set the program record for regular-season wins this year and have double-digit wins in three straight seasons for the first time ever. Ole Miss is 46-28 against the Green Wave all-time in on-field matchups.

“As I told the team last week, I said, ‘Look guys. There’s only one team that’s going to be happy at the end of this. This ain’t the Gator Bowl. This ain’t any of that stuff to where, you go in, you play well, you win your last game. When you win this last game, you’re walking off the field because you’re the best team in the country,’” Golding said Sunday at his CFP press conference. “And so we have to make sure we’re doing everything that we can in our preparation to give ourselves our best chance to put our best foot forward.”

Ole Miss and Tulane played on Sept. 20, a 45-10 Rebels win. The Rebels held the Green Wave to 282 total yards, including a season-low 104 yards through the air on 10 of 29 passing. Ole Miss racked up 548 yards of offense and scored 22 points in the fourth quarter.

Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff has thrown 12 of his 14 touchdown passes this season since his last matchup with the Rebels. He also has 16 rushing touchdowns, which is tied for the most among FBS quarterbacks. Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall has accepted the head coaching job at Florida but will coach the Green Wave through the playoffs.

Tulane is tied for eighth nationally with 24 turnovers forced and is fourth in the AAC in scoring defense at 22.6 points per game allowed.

“Our guys have to understand that that was years ago. What happened in that game has no indication of what’s going to happen in this game,” Golding said. “And our preparation has to be on point, and we have to be ready to roll and have really good plans and have a great week of practice.”

The last matchup between the teams was also just the second FBS start for senior quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. The Ferris State transfer threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 112 yards. Despite not starting the first two games of the season, Chambliss is 15th nationally with 290.5 yards of total offense per game.

“(Chambliss is) a handful, man. He’s a really good football player. We were going in to play them Week 4 – he had played the week before against Arkansas – I’m like, ‘This guy’s different,’” Sumrall said Sunday. “He’s crafty. He’s got a skillset that is hard to defend. … I just think he’s a really good football player, and we have to play better. He’s going to play (well). He’s a good player. We have to play better.”

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