You say Auburn and Cam Newton, I see Ole Miss and Trinidad Chambliss | Opinion
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Before everyone loses their mind over the sheer blasphemy of it all, hear me out.
Trinidad Chambliss and Mississippi are set up for a run we haven’t seen since Cam Newton and Auburn pulled it off in 2010. Where no matter what was thrown at Auburn, it had an answer.
The answer then was Newton. The answer now is Chambliss.
Auburn’s defense in 2010 was solid, not game-changing. It had a dangerous running back and a group of receivers who weren’t anyone’s All-Americans.
But the Tigers kept winning, and eventually won it all, for two undeniable reasons:
⬣ Newton was the best player on the field every time he stepped in a stadium.
⬣ Newton would not let Auburn lose, his remarkable individual performances elevating teammates to play their absolute best.
Now fast forward to 2026, and long before LSUs legal Lanesmanship this summer ratcheted the stupid to 10, I asked Ole Miss coach Pete Golding in May about the rare, big moment ability of Chambliss.
“Yeah, man, I wish I had the easy answer,” Golding said. “It’s just Trin.”
Like it was just Trin last weekend, sucking the life from the anticipated showdown against LSU with a flawless first half that built a 17-point lead — followed by a perfectly executed game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. He threw for 62 yards, and ran for 14 on the final play for the go-ahead touchdown, a backyard football move that looked a whole lot like You Know Who.
Chambliss beat the defense to the corner, ran past everyone and into Ole Miss lore. With an entire season of "what-did-he-just-do" still ahead of him.
Look at Lane Kiffin, who desperately tried to take Chambliss with him to LSU, after the final score. After Chambliss ruined the LSU defense with rare throws and escapes all game, after leaving no doubt about the best player on the field, Kiffin’s face after the final gut punch said it all.
It’s the Trin Show.
“We talk about competitive greatness, being at your best when your best is needed,” Golding said late Saturday night after yet another Trinidad show “That’s him. Our guys believe in him.”
Just like Auburn believed anything was possible with Newton, who took the long road to The Plains after off-field problems at Florida forced him to play a season of junior college football — imagine those poor JC saps dealing with Cam — before arriving at Auburn in 2010.
Chambliss took the long road to Ole Miss because it’s rare when the sport’s blue bloods have interest in undersized quarterbacks. Won a national title at Division II Ferris State before then-Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. found Chambliss, and asked if he was interested in backing up starter Austin Simmons.
And away we go.
It wasn’t that he stepped in and played well after Simmons was injured in the season opener, it’s that they couldn’t take him off the field. He was that good, and it was that obvious.
The five touchdowns on their first five drives at Georgia. The 39 points scored on Georgia in the College Football Playoff rematch. The 111 points in three CFP games, and the season ending one play away from advancing to the national title game.
Newton saved his best for big games, all while dealing with the off-field distraction of allegations his father had sold his services to the highest bidder (yes, kids, this was once a thing). Chambliss laid down the first marker this season of playing at a high level despite off-field noise, and will have more opportunities beginning Saturday at Florida.
He'll walk into a wild road atmosphere at The Swamp unlike anything he and Ole Miss have experienced over the last two seasons, and a Florida team that suddenly feels better about itself — and is playing harder — under first-year coach Jon Sumrall. The same Florida team that had a fourth quarter lead on Ole Miss last year in Oxford.
But really, how different will it be than the unique end to last season, or the start of this journey? Or any other game this season where Ole Miss is officially the hunted.
Georgia and Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri, and that bitter bash at the end of the season they like to call the Egg Bowl. Sort of like Auburn wrapping it up with the Iron Bowl.
The very place where the Newton legend was cast in bronzed Heisman Trophy history.
“All week, my biggest fear every minute was when the game’s at the end, and Trinidad has the ball in his hand,” Kiffin said. “He’s the hardest player to play in America.”
Welcome to the Trin Show, everyone. If it looks and feels like Cam Newton and Auburn, don't worry.
Chambliss is just getting started.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: You say Auburn and Cam Newton, I see Ole Miss and Trinidad Chambliss | Opinion
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