Kewan Lacy returns for Ole Miss at Vanderbilt Saturday

Ole Miss got the news it needed coming out of the off week, and Golding didn't hedge it much.

Pete Nakos

@PeteNakos

Pete Golding announced that he "fully anticipates having" running back Kewan Lacy back this week at Vanderbilt. Plans to use a constant RB rotation based on Lacy's health. Missed the loss at Florida after exiting the LSU game with a shoulder injury. t.co/OYNxW5yyGI

Here's the backstory. Lacy hurt his left shoulder in the 3rd quarter of the September 19 win over LSU. He'd had surgery on that same shoulder in the offseason, so seeing him leave that game was a gut punch for Rebels fans. He sat out the next week at Florida, and it got ugly fast: the Gators won 52-28, and Ole Miss is now 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the SEC.

Golding said Lacy rested and rehabbed all of last week, then came back Sunday night as a limited participant. He did individual drills and some team periods, though most of it was non-contact. That's the one caveat here. A shoulder that's already been operated on, practicing without contact, is not the same thing as a shoulder taking hits from SEC linebackers. Golding still went with "fully anticipate," not "hopeful," and that matters.

The national guys landed on the same answer within the hour.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

Kewan Lacy will return for Ole Miss, as expected. He missed the Florida game with a shoulder injury. t.co/6cEQ1PJyFN

Don't expect the 2025 version of Lacy to show up all at once, though. He ran for 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns last year, 3rd and 2nd in the country, but through 3 games this season he has 191 yards and 4 scores on 39 carries. He was also playing through a thigh bruise from the opener against Louisville. Golding said flat out that Lacy won't handle 40 or 50 snaps, so JT Lindsey, Makhi Frazier and Josh Dye will rotate in alongside him.

That's the fine print. Lindsey and Frazier have each carried it about 20 times for under 100 yards and no touchdowns, so the drop-off without Lacy has been real. Even a limited Lacy changes how a defense has to line up against this offense, and that's exactly what Ole Miss needs after getting run off the field in Gainesville.

Vanderbilt comes in 3-2 and 0-2 in the SEC. Kickoff in Nashville is 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday on ESPN. The thing to watch is that shoulder the first time Lacy lowers it into a tackler, and how quickly the carries start getting split. A clean afternoon gets the Rebels back on track. Another trip to the sideline puts the whole season back in question.