For a while Saturday, it looked as if we might be stepping back in time — at least where Mississippi college football is concerned.

Back to 2014.

Remember?

For a while there, both Mississippi State and Ole Miss both ranked among the nation’s top three football teams. State, coached by Dan Mullen, was No. 1. Ole Miss, coached by Hugh Freeze, was No. 3. At one point, both teams were a perfect 7-0. The college football world was astonished. Actually, so were most of us Mississippians. No, it didn’t last, but wasn’t it fun while it did?

Fast forward to Saturday: Ole Miss surely did its part, earning a solid, not-as-close-as-it-sounds 24-19 victory over previously No. 4 LSU to move to 5-0. After a slow start, the Rebels dominated LSU, nearly doubling the Tigers in total offense. In one of the most amazing stats you’ll see this year, the Rebels were penalized for nearly twice as much yardage (109) as LSU was able to gain (59) running the ball.

The Rebels, previously ranked No. 13, soared to No. 4. Trinidad Chambliss should enter the far-too-soon discussions of who might win the Heisman Trophy. And it is not in any way too soon for Chambliss to enter any discussion of the most interesting story in this, or any, college football season. From Division II Ferriss State and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to Ole Miss and the SEC. From the D-II national championship to the FBS national championship contention. More on that later.

Meanwhile, in Starkville, Mississippi State did everything but knock off 15th ranked Tennessee. If State isn’t the most improved college football team in the nation, the Bulldogs are in the first sentence of any paragraph written on that subject. Southern Miss might be in the next sentence, and we’ll get to the Golden Eagles, too.

State led for much of the game and battled the Volunteers on even or better terms throughout. Watching the Bulldogs these days, it is hard to fathom that just a season ago they lost 10 games, nine by double digits, and defeated only one FBS team. But then, that’s the way it goes in today’s college football world in which if you have the money — and spend it wisely — you can turn over your roster and turn around your football fortunes in one offseason. State and head coach Jeff Lebby clearly spent wisely. 

Same goes for Southern Miss, which spent most wisely, it seems, on Charles Huff, the head coach who last year led Marshall to the Sun Belt Championship and brought with him to Hattiesburg 21 of the players who helped him win it. Clearly, the most critical of those Marshall transfers is quarterback Braylon Braxton, who has thrown for 11 touchdowns and run for another. In Saturday night’s 42-25 pasting of Jacksonville State (which clobbered USM 44-7 a year ago), three for two scores and ran for another and did not turn the ball over.

But let’s get back to Ole Miss, which appears to have all the necessary ingredients to make a run — not only to the FBS playoffs but in the playoffs, as well. Those ingredients include:

• A special player at quarterback. Chambliss reminds me most of Kyler Murray, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2018, throwing for 42 touchdowns and running for 11 in leading the Oklahoma Sooners to an 11-2 record. What’s more, the Rebels have Austin Simmons, who opened the season as the starter, in reserve.
• A balanced offense that also features running back Kewan Lacy and a host of speedy receivers. Lacy, who runs hard but can also make people miss, has run for 445 yards and eight touchdowns. He is what Ole Miss did not have – or at least did not utilize – last season.
• Speed, speed, speed on defense. The Rebels run to the football and hit hard when they get there. Pete Golding continues to do a masterful job. LSU ran the ball 21 times for 59 yards.
• Inside stoppers on defense. This was a perceived weakness with the Rebels losing first round draft pick Walter Nolen and also JJ Pegues. But Ole Miss looks at least as proficient with gargantuan tackle Zxavian Harris and Will Echoles promoted to fill the void. LSU couldn’t block them.
• A sound kicking game. With the Ole Miss offense, the Rebels punter is often much like the Maytag repairman, but Australian Oscar Bird has been excellent when called upon. Placekicker Lucas Carneiro has hit 11 of 12 field goals, including three of four beyond 40 yards. 

The Ole Miss schedule, by SEC standards, is doable. The Rebels don’t have to play Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri or Vanderbilt (yes, I just wrote that). They do play both Georgia and Oklahoma both on the road and back-to-back. South Carolina is no gimme and neither is Mississippi State for that matter. But again, in the SEC, it could be a whole lot worse.

The Rebels have a week off, before Washington State, a 59-10 loser to North Texas, visits for homecoming. Then, it’s at Georgia and at Oklahoma, back to back.

Will the bubble burst? Or will Trinidad Chambliss, the best story in college football, add to seemingly tall tale? We shall see.