Ole Miss is getting its quarterback back, while Tulane is thriving after finding its quarterback unusually late.
Austin Simmons is expected to return from a one-game absence due to an ankle injury when the No. 13 Rebels (3-0) host the Green Wave (3-0) on Saturday in Oxford, Miss.
Ole Miss did just fine in Simmons’ absence as Trinidad Chambliss played two series to finish off a 30-23 victory at Kentucky after Simmons was injured two weeks ago, and then Chambliss ran for two touchdowns and passed for another in a 41-35 victory against visiting Arkansas last Saturday.
Simmons was briefly thrust into the game because Chambliss’ hand was bleeding and he threw a 4-yard touchdown on his only pass attempt, but he aggravated his injury during his cameo.
“I would anticipate Austin being fine to play and being our starting quarterback (against Tulane),” Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin said.
Simmons threw two early interceptions that helped Kentucky open a 10-0 lead, but he helped rally the team to the victory.
Whoever is playing quarterback will be able to lean on running back Kewan Lacy, who has five touchdowns and two 100-yard rushing games. The one sub-100 game came last week, but he still had 84 yards from scrimmage.
“He didn’t have the big numbers last week, but I think a lot of that was schematically, defensively,” Kiffin said of Lacy. “(Arkansas) had a plan, it seems to me, that if Trinidad played they were going to stop the run and make him throw. And they were very much committed to stopping the run in that game.
“(Lacy) ran really hard. He’s taking care of the ball really well and he pass protects really well. He’s had a couple of big explosive plays the last two weeks.”
Quarterback Jake Retzlaff was a late arrival at Tulane, transferring from BYU in July. He found himself in a three-way competition to start, winning partly because of a late injury to one of his competitors.
During preseason camp Retzlaff came on “like wildfire and picked it up and has run really fast with what he’s been given,” Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall said.
Retzlaff has helped lead the Green Wave to victories against Northwestern, South Alabama and Duke. He rushed for 111 yards and a school quarterback record four touchdowns and completed 15 of 23 passes for 245 yards in a 34-27 home victory against Duke last week.
Tulane is receiving votes in the AP poll and a victory against the Rebels would make the Green Wave an early-season candidate for a CFP berth from the Group of 5.
“These are great opportunities,” Sumrall said of playing the Rebels. “They’re great challenges. This is why you work so hard as a player and as a coach, to measure yourself against what I consider some of the best.
“It’s an opportunity you have to appreciate. You have to embrace it and also respect what you’re going against. It’s going to be a handful, but it’s fun to measure yourself against the best.”
