OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Trinidad Chambliss threw for two touchdowns, Kewan Lacy added a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs and No. 13 Mississippi handed Tulane its first loss with a 45-10 victory Saturday.

Ole Miss (4-0) dominated the Green Wave, building a 23-3 halftime lead, after earning consecutive close wins over SEC foes Kentucky and Arkansas.

“I’m really proud because we were coming off two hard games and we could have been looking ahead next week to LSU,” Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin said. “Our players and coaches came out and took care of business. It was a dominating day against a really well-coached team that plays hard.”

Chambliss, confirmed as the starting quarterback on Thursday, provided a second consecutive strong performance with 17-of-27 passing for 307 yards while adding 112 yards on 14 rushes.

“It’s cool to see him do that because we expect him to play well,” Kiffin said. “For a second straight week, he did not have a turnover and 4-0, that sounds really good.”

Deuce Alexander had four receptions for 94 yards, including a 33-yard TD reception. Dae’Quan Wright caught a 5-yard scoring pass as Chambliss connected with seven receivers.

“I’m just glad Trinidad trusted me enough to throw me the ball,” Alexander said. “We’ve got a lot of guys with skills that can play and we respect each other. As long as we get the ‘W,’ that’s all that matters.”

Former starter Austin Simmons, recovering from a severe ankle injury, dressed but did not play after finishing a scoring series in a brief appearance in last week’s win over Arkansas.

Lacy finished with 68 yards on 18 rushes, while Logan Diggs added a 2-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth period. Lucas Carneiro added field goals of 22, 54 and 34 yards. The Rebels finished with 548 yards of total offense and scored on all six trips to the red zone.

Tulane (3-1) managed only 282 yards of total offense and turned the ball over on downs three times in the second half. Jake Retzlaff, after an 0-for-9 start, finished 5 of 17 for 56 yards.

“Just an overall frustrating performance,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said. “We’re going to sit on this one and let it hurt for a little while, because it should.”

The Green Wave avoided the shutout with a 34-yard field goal from Patrick Durkin and a fourth-quarter touchdown pass of 5 yards from backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan to Anthony Brown-Stephens.

The Takeaway

Tulane: The road loss to a ranked SEC team does not affect the quest for the College Football Playoff berth from the Group of Five teams. The American Athletic Conference section of the schedule begins next week and Tulane is expected to be a title challenger.

“We’ve got to get focused on conference play moving forward,” Sumrall said.

Ole Miss: The fast start by the Rebels eliminated any upset hopes. The brilliant relief work by Chambliss has allowed the luxury of extended healing time for Simmons, sidelined with the left ankle injury.

“I knew when the defense got off to a good start that it was going to be a good day,” Kiffin said. “Much better assignment football and we’re going to need that the rest of the year.”

Poll Implications

No. 13 Ole Miss, ranked sixth of 11 SEC teams in the AP Top 25 poll, gained four spots in last week’s poll and hopes for a similar surge after the decisive win in a battle of unbeaten teams.

Simmons’ stats

Simmons is 10 of 10 in first-half scoring drives through two games, scoring 54 points. Against Tulane, Simmons led scoring drives of 75, 70, 34, 72 and 62 yards, including the 5-yard touchdown pass to Wright. He had a 182.9 quarterback efficiency rating after finishing at 186.1 in the previous week’s win over Arkansas.

Up next

Tulane: The Green Wave open AAC play Saturday with a visit to Tulsa.

Ole Miss: The Rebels host No. 3 LSU on Saturday.

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