Ole Miss loses RB Kewan Lacy for the season ahead of trip to Oklahoma

Ole Miss will finish the 2026 season without Kewan Lacy. The junior running back is done for the year with a left shoulder injury. On3 reported it first, and ESPN confirmed it Thursday. Lacy dislocated the shoulder in the 34-27 loss at Texas on Oct. 24 and has not played since. The school had already listed him as out for Saturday's game at Oklahoma.

Lacy came into the year as a possible Heisman Trophy candidate after running for 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns during last season's run to the College Football Playoff semifinals. This fall he never got going. He finishes with 388 yards and five touchdowns on 78 carries in six games. CBS Sports noted that the Rebels' rushing output has dropped from 176.3 yards per game last season to 147.3.

The backfield now belongs to freshman Shekai Mills-Knight, a Montreal native who led Ole Miss in rushing in each of the last two games. He ran for 71 yards against Auburn and 52 against Georgia, with a touchdown in each. Junior Makhi Frazier, who has 365 yards this season, has also taken on more work.

Lacy has one season of eligibility left. He could stay in Oxford, transfer or enter the 2027 NFL draft. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. ranks him as the fifth-best running back in the class, and Jordan Reid has him 42nd overall. CBS Sports' Mike Renner is less optimistic. He mocked Lacy at No. 59 and called him "not even close to first-round" after this season.

What it means at Oklahoma

The No. 19 Rebels (6-3) have known for weeks that Lacy would not play Saturday, so the news changes their long-term outlook more than this week's plan. They are 1-1 since he went down: a 45-15 win over Auburn, then a 42-7 loss to No. 2 Georgia in which the offense never got going. Ole Miss has lost two of its last three and has scored at least 27 points in every game except the Georgia loss.

Oklahoma (5-4) has alternated wins and losses for most of the season. The Sooners are coming off a 23-7 win at Florida, and earlier they beat Texas 27-24. Their offense has topped 27 points only once, in a 51-0 win over UTEP, so they have mostly won with defense.

The board for Ole Miss at Oklahoma has the matchup close to even across 12 venues. Novig has Oklahoma slightly favored on the moneyline at -104, with Ole Miss at +102. On the spread, Novig lists Oklahoma as favored by 1.5 at +108. The venues disagree on who should be favored: BetRivers has Oklahoma getting half a point at -109, the best Oklahoma spread price anywhere. The total is 49.5 on Novig, and it ranges from 49 at Fanatics to 50.5 at BetRivers. Sportsbook hold on the game runs from 3.0% to 6.7%.

The game kicks off Saturday on SEC Network. Without Lacy, Ole Miss will need Mills-Knight to give the offense enough of a running game against a defense that has held three of its last four opponents to 21 points or fewer.