Chambliss accounts for 3 TDs and No. 4 Mississippi escapes against Washington State with a 24-21 win

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OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Trinidad Chambliss threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead Mississippi over Washington State 24-21 on Saturday.

Ole Miss (6-0) trailed 14-10 late in the third period before Chambliss scored on a 17-yard touchdown scramble. Chambliss threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Cayden Lee to build a 24-14 lead with 6:51 remaining.

“I just told our players that we did get to 1-0 today and that’s the most important thing, but that was about the only good thing,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “That performance was definitely not to our standard. We got up two scores and didn’t finish it.”

Washington State (3-3) led for a majority of the first three quarters. The Cougars scored late on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Zevi Eckhaus to Tony Freeman, bringing them a field goal away from tying the game. They had a final possession with just over a minute remaining, but were unable to score.

“Nobody can question our effort. I’m proud of that effort,” Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers said. “Yeah, like I said, there’s no moral victories. You win or you lose in competitive sports and nobody will care in a week how well we played. So we lost and that’s a little bit of a sick feeling.”

Chambliss went 20-of-29 passing for 253 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown pass to Dae’Quan Wright to take a 10-7 halftime lead. Kewan Lacy had 24 rushes for 142 yards. Ole Miss finished with 439 yards of total offense.

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Eckhaus completed 24 of 31 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns. He found Landon Wright for a 26-yard score to to take a 14-10 third quarter lead.

Freeman had nine receptions for 90 yards.

The Cougars converted just 2 of 10 third downs.

The takeaway

Washington State: The Cougars were not phased by a cross-country trip two time zones away. They made enough plays to put a serious scare into a top-five team.

Ole Miss: The Rebels were good enough in the second half to escape an upset. Their uneven performance could cause a slip in the AP poll.

“We all read our press clippings about being No. 4 but we looked like we were No. 84 today,” Kiffin said. “Maybe we will look back and say this was good for us but it doesn’t feel too good today.”