When Deshaun Watson and Wayne Gallman followed up their prolific 2015 production with another blockbuster campaign in 2016, it helped Clemson clear the final hurdle and win its first national championship since 1981.
It’s a formula that Ole Miss will be seeking to follow exactly one decade later with Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy. No QB/RB tandem since Watson/Gallman has stacked consecutive seasons with 6,000+ total yards.
In fact, with Chambliss and Lacy returning to the Rebels for 2026, it marks just the third time in the 21st century that an FBS duo is running it back at the same school after combining to reach the 6,000-yard threshold the year before.
While the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams has made the feat more attainable by allowing teams to play more games, Chambliss only started 13 games at quarterback for Ole Miss last season.
Chambliss and Lacy stack up as arguably the top backfield tandem in college football entering the 2026 season. They are, unequivocally, the most productive returning duo when it comes to playing together. Depending on how 2026 goes, they could go down as one of the best duos of the 21st century.
In anticipation of what could be another banner year for Chambliss and Lacy, Ole Miss launched a joint Heisman campaign for both players this week, complete with yard signs, bumper stickers and pins.
Compared to a year ago, when the future of former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin overshadowed almost everything else in the program, the Rebels are leaning into marketing their stars this time around.
New head coach Pete Golding acknowledged Wednesday at SEC media days that a natural outside concern over launching a preseason Heisman campaign would be, “hey, does this become a distraction?” But with Chambliss and Lacy, that’s the least of his worries.
“Those two are wired the right way,” Golding said. “So I’m not concerned with how they’re going to practice and how they prepare. They’re going to do everything they can do to win the football game. They know that’s based on their preparation. I have zero concern about it affecting them and becoming an issue.”
QB/RB duos to eclipse 6,000 yards since 2000
| Rank | Duo | School | Year | Combined Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Burrow, Clyde Edwards-Helaire | LSU | 2019 | 7,906 |
| 2 | Deshaun Watson, Wayne Gallman | Clemson | 2015 | 6,949 |
| 3 | Marcus Mariota, Royce Freeman | Oregon | 2014 | 6,773 |
| 4 | Deshaun Watson, Wayne Gallman | Clemson | 2016 | 6,507 |
| 5 | Kyler Murray, Kennedy Brooks | Oklahoma | 2018 | 6,475 |
| 6 | Mac Jones, Najee Harris | Alabama | 2020 | 6,405 |
| 7 | Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne | Clemson | 2019 | 6,274 |
| 8 | Trinidad Chambliss, Kewan Lacy | Ole Miss | 2025 | 6,216 |
| 9 | Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush | USC | 2005 | 6,069 |
| 10 | Justin Fields, J.K. Dobbins | Ohio State | 2019 | 6,007 |
Two other SEC QB/RB tandems surpassed 4,000 combined yards last season. Marcel Reed and Rueben Owens II at Texas A&M did it, as did Gunner Stockton and Nate Frazier at Georgia. But both duos finished nearly 1,800 yards behind Chambliss and Lacy in total yardage.
Combined with the return of defensive stars like Will Echoles and Suntarine Perkins, along with the addition of the nation’s No. 2-ranked transfer class, Chambliss and Lacy will be the engine behind a team with legitimate aspirations of returning to the College Football Playoff.
Chambliss finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting last season after taking over the starting job against Arkansas in Week 3. Lacy didn’t finish in the top 10 of the Heisman voting, but he was a first-team all-SEC honoree and CBS Sports second-team All-American.
Now, they are back for more. No longer are they a sideshow to Kiffin’s drama. They are the focus of a program that has legitimate aspirations of replicating the success Clemson built around two similarly talented players 10 years ago.
“You’ve got two really elite players that are coming off of really, really good years that still have a lot of really good players around them in the same system that are set up to have another really, really good year,” Golding said. “It’s part of our responsibility to put them in position to have as much success as they can, that being part of it.”
