Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding defended his decision to attempt a 58-yard field goal while down seven points with just over six minutes left in Saturday's loss to Texas, saying he believed the game was still within reach.
"You're worried about, OK, if they go down and kick a field goal, then it's a two-possession game, which is what happened, right?" Golding told reporters postgame.
"And then we went incomplete on third trying to get half of it, and it was fourth-and-10. Didn't like our chances on fourth-and-10, and we thought we can make (the field goal). And with a little bit of safety for us, if we did give up a field goal like we did to make it two possessions, it was still a one-score game."
Texas ultimately blocked Ole Miss kicker Lucas Carneiro's attempt, giving the Longhorns possession at their own 41-yard line. Golding also burned a timeout before the kick, leaving the Rebels with only two timeouts.
The Longhorns then drained about four minutes off the clock and kicked a field goal, making it a 10-point contest with 2:25 left.
Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss led the Rebels on a field-goal drive on the next possession, and Ole Miss had a chance to tie the game after recovering an onside kick. However, Chambliss threw an interception on a Hail Mary as time expired, ending the contest 34-27.
Earlier, Golding chose to keep his offense on the field late in the first half instead of attempting a short field goal to cut the Longhorns' 24-3 lead. Chambliss threw an interception on the fourth-down play, leaving Ole Miss down 21 at halftime.
Trinidad Chambliss throws a pick on a crucial 4th down before the half 😮 https://t.co/FtxHvZlCFW
— ESPN (@espn) October 25, 2026
Golding told reporters that he regretted going for it on fourth down late in the second quarter, not the 58-yard field-goal attempt in the fourth.
"What I was really kicking myself about almost is the decision before the half, right? It was still going to be three possessions regardless. But still, when you crawl back in games, points matter."
Ole Miss is now 5-2, bringing them to 3-2 in SEC play. It heads home to host Auburn (4-3) next weekend.
