Kewan Lacy Gets a Chance to Make a Statement Against His Former Team – Sports Illustrated

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Much of the discussion around the No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels' game against the No. 13 Missouri Tigers this Saturday has been focused on the return to Oxford of former Rebels and current Tigers Austin Simmons, Cayden Lee and Chris Graves Jr., who all transferred to Missouri last January.
However, they aren't the only players facing off against their former teams. Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy transferred to Ole Miss after playing his freshman season at Missouri.
Lacy has unfortunately struggled with injuries this season, but is off the injury report ahead of Saturday's game. The matchup will showcase how well Lacy can reestablish himself in the lineup, while also navigating the emotions of playing the team he committed to out of high school.
Coming out of high school, Kewan Lacy's commitment had come down to Ole Miss and Missouri. Lacy committed to Missouri and played his freshman season there in 2024.
In 2024, Lacy received just 23 carries for 104 yards and no touchdowns. The following offseason, he would transfer to Ole Miss, where he would then rush for 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns in the 2025 season.
The 2026 season was expected to be another big year for Lacy. Ole Miss had even developed a Heisman campaign for him and Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. Unfortunately, Lacy's junior season has been defined by injuries that have caused him to miss significant time.
Missouri running back Jamal Roberts has had a much more productive season. Lacy has carried the ball just 46 times for 230 yards and five touchdowns. Roberts has 147 carries for 828 yards and eight touchdowns.
In Ole Miss' last game against Vanderbilt, Lacy was listed as questionable before the game but ultimately started the game for the Rebels. He would rush the ball seven times for 39 yards and a touchdown before being taken out of the game once it became obvious the Rebels were winning in a blowout.
Lacy is seemingly fully healthy since he's not listed on this week's injury report. However, given his injury trouble and limited usage last week, it's fair to be concerned about whether he'll perform at 100% or be wary of suffering another injury.
That concern doesn't seem to be held by Lacy's former teammate Roberts, who said he took Lacy under his wing during Lacy's freshman season when Roberts was a sophomore.
"He likes to compete a lot," Roberts said of Lacy. "There's gonna be a lot of competing on the field Saturday with me and him."
With Saturday being a ranked conference matchup that will be crucial to both teams' College Football Playoff chances, Lacy will have the chance to use that competitiveness to bounce back and turn around his season in a big way against his former team.
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Jaydon Koss is a staff writer for Ole Miss on SI. He is a freshman journalism major at Ole Miss from Petal, MS. Prior to joining SI, he previously worked in community news at RHCJC News in Hattiesburg and shot live sports as part of the production team during his time at Petal High School. You can find Koss on social media channels at @jaydonmkoss.
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