How Traylon Ray’s emergence opened up Ole Miss’ passing game

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

OXFORD – Ole Miss receiver Traylon Ray knew last Saturday was a long time coming.

Ray, a senior from Tallahassee, Florida, began his college career at West Virginia. He caught 46 passes for 747 yards and seven touchdowns in two seasons with the Mountaineers but suffered a season-ending leg injury in November 2024, according to WBOY. He came to Ole Miss prior to the 2025 season as a four-star transfer but struggled to make an impact in a loaded wide receiver room. He played in just three games and did not catch a pass and was moved to cornerback part way during the season.

“Going into the offseason, he’s like, ‘Coach, look, I would love to come back. I love this place. But like, I hate corner,’” Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding said postgame.

Rather than enter the transfer portal again, Ray came back to Oxford and put his best foot forward. The Rebels are glad he did.

Ray caught a career-best seven passes for 115 yards against then-No. 7 LSU last weekend and notched the first receiving touchdown of his Ole Miss career in the second quarter as the Rebels defeated the Tigers 32-24 in Lane Kiffin’s return to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

No. 4 Ole Miss (3-0, 1-0 SEC) plays at No. 21 Florida (3-0, 1-0) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ABC.

“If you’re hot, (offensive coordinator John David Baker is) going to let you be hot,” Ray said after the game. “If you’re eating, he’s going to continue to let you eat.”

Against LSU, Ray caught seven of his eight targets from sixth-year quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, according to Pro Football Focus. It was tied for the second-most targets in the game behind senior Deuce Alexander, who leads the SEC with 295 receiving yards. Of the 26 passing snaps he played, Ray was in the slot for 24 of them and was out wide for the other two. His average depth of target was a team-high 11.9 yards, and he also led the team with 4.6 yards per route run.

Prior to last weekend, Ray had four targets all season, per PFF. Five of Ray’s targets were between 0 and 19 yards, and he caught one of two deep ball tries for 36 yards, according to PFF.

Alexander leads the Rebels with 25 targets; despite modest production in the first two games, Ray is fourth on the team with 12 targets, third with 10 receptions and second with 172 yards.

“It’s been two years … been through injury. Not going to fake it, been through a hard time, obviously,” Ray said. “But God took me through that time and He just kept telling me to wait, wait, wait. And, finally waited and it happened for me.”

Florida surrendered three completions of 20 or more yards in nine attempts in its 44-39 victory over Auburn, with two of those completions coming in the deep-center portion of the field, according to PFF. Auburn’s Byrum Brown went 14 of 21 passing for 134 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on passes between 0 and 19 yards. The Gators are third-to-last in the SEC at 231.7 passing yards per game allowed, which ranks 98th nationally.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos