No. 9 Ole Miss rolls past Charlotte 41-9 behind Trinidad Chambliss’ 2 TD passes

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Trinidad Chambliss threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns and guided five first half scoring drives as No. 9 Mississippi beat Charlotte 41-9 on Saturday night.

Ole Miss (2-0) was never seriously threatened as Chambliss was 23-of-26 passing, including scoring passes of 14 and 9 yards to Johntay Cook and Horatio Fields respectively.

Chambliss connected with nine receivers, led by Deuce Alexander with eight receptions for 76 yards.

The Rebels built a 27-0 halftime lead, scoring on five of six first-half possessions, including Kewan Lacy touchdown runs of 9 and 2 yards. Lacy finished with 87 yards on 13 carries before resting most of the second half.

Lucas Carneiro added field goals of 57 and 42 yards while Cam Franklin batted down a 44-yard field goal attempt by Charlotte’s Ian Kelly to complete the first-half surge.

The reserves got extended playing time in the second half, including quarterback Deuce Knight with a 7-yard touchdown run. Defensively, 25 Rebels recorded at least one tackle.

The win sets up the much-anticipated Saturday night visit from No. 8 LSU, coached by former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. Pete Golding was promoted and led the Rebels to two wins in last season's College Football Playoff after Kiffin took over at LSU.

Cole Gonzales led Charlotte (0-2) with 128 passing yards, completing 14 of 21 passes. Kelly added field goals of 28, 24 and 28 yards in the second half.

Charlotte: Tim Albin’s 49ers were competitive in the second half, lending hopes to breaking out of the American Conference cellar in his second season of a massive rebuilding job.

Ole Miss: After an uneven performance in a 41-38 win over No. 24 Louisville , the Rebels cleaned up opening game busted assignments on defense. Ole Miss, at No. 9, is the fourth highest-ranked team of nine SEC entries in the AP Top 25.

Charlotte The 49ers visit Appalachian State next Saturday.

Ole Miss: The No. 9 Rebels host No. 8 LSU on Saturday in the SEC opener for both schools.

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here . Visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here.