The No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels have an SEC battle against the Vanderbilt Commodores in Week 6 of the college football schedule. The Rebels dropped their last game, 52-28, to Florida down in the Swamp.
In that contest, they were without running back Kewan Lacy, who was dealing with a shoulder injury. Ole Miss had a bye last week and should be healthier going into the game. They hope they get Lacy back and have some positive news about him ahead of the game.
According to Pete Nakos of On3, Lacy will go through warmups and attempt to suit up. This is a step in the right direction and shows the Rebels could have their star tailback in the lineup.
Kewan Lacy may return to the lineup for the Rebels
Earlier in the week, head coach Pete Golding expressed that he anticipated having Lacy back for the game versus Vanderbilt, and going through warmups is nice momentum towards that.
Lacy has not played since Week 3 against LSU, but the two weeks off seem like they gave him some much-needed time to recover. The Rebels are a far better offense with him in the fold, and it's evident. Despite missing their last game, Lacy still leads the team in carries (39), rushing yards (191), and is tied for first in rushing touchdowns (4).
During his absence against Florida, the Rebels struggled to get the ground game going. They finished with 128 rushing yards, but quarterback Trinidad Chambliss led the way with 44 yards. That isn't good enough, as your quarterback shouldn't be the one leading the team on the ground.
Ole Miss still has Makhi Frazier and JT Lindsey in the fold, but they are better suited as depth pieces than as the main workhorses in the backfield. Lacy proved last year that he's one of the best running backs in the nation. In 15 games, he racked up conference highs in carries (309) and rushing touchdowns (24), along with 1,567 rushing yards.
Having him and Chambliss in the backfield gives opposing defenses fits on read options and forces those units to put more defenders in the box to slow down the run. His presence on the field would be a win for the Rebels and would help open up both the run and pass game.
If he does suit up, it'll be interesting to see how his snap count looks. They may not put the normal workload on him immediately, but having him on the field will be a net positive for this team. Getting back on the gridiron would be huge and help him knock out some rust before Ole Miss plays Missouri and Texas in back-to-back weeks.
SEC action is no joke and from the looks of it, there's belief that Lacy is close to returning. Being active would be a win for the Rebels and all of college football.
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