The status of Ole Miss All-American tailback Kewan Lacy is in question after he left the Rebels’ first-round playoff game against Tulane holding his left shoulder.
Ole Miss coach Pete Golding reportedly said after the game Lacy has a “bruised shoulder” and will undergo further evaluation.
Georgia will play Ole Miss at 8 p.m. Jan. 1 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal Sugar Bowl in New Orleans after the Rebels beat Tulane 41-10 on Saturday in Oxford, Mississippi.
Lacy had 258 carries for 1,279 yards and 20 touchdowns during the regular season — considerably more than second-team back Logan Diggs, who had 25 carries for 168 yards and three touchdowns entering Saturday’s CFP first-round game.
Ole Miss, which also features dual-threat quarterback Trinidad Chambliss (eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting), ranked 30th in the nation in rushing offense (188.5 yards per game).
Lacy rushed for 31 yards and two touchdowns and caught three passes for 10 yards in the Bulldogs’ first meeting with Ole Miss on Oct. 18, a 43-35 Georgia win.
The Rebels’ star first exited the game in the second quarter Saturday after landing awkwardly on his left arm after catching a 7-yard pass. Pete Golding, promoted from defensive coordinator to Ole Miss head coach when Lane Kiffin accepted the LSU job on Nov. 30, said at halftime it would be a matter of the next player stepping up when asked about Lacy’s first-half injury.
“Next guy up, we talk about this,” Golding said. “There’s a lot of guys that haven’t had the opportunities, that’s why you prepare and you’re ready to go.”
Lacy, who had 10 carries for 67 yards at that point, was ready to go again for the second half.
ESPN sideline analyst Katie George reported that Lacy was offered a protective harness for his left shoulder but declined. Minutes later, Lacy, after taking a direct snap with Ole Miss leading 27-3, was tackled by three Tulane players.
Lacy, who had five carries for 20 yards in the third quarter, exited the game for a second and final time while holding his left shoulder.
Golding, after the game, praised his Rebels.
“They were back on the grass doing what they loved to do,” Golding said during his on-field interview. “They created a great opportunity for themselves, and thy responded how I thought they would.
“They’re the same group we recruited. They’re tough, they’re competitive, they love football, they’re resilient and they’ve got grit.”
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