No. 9 Ole Miss anticipates having star running back Kewan Lacy back Saturday at Vanderbilt, but coach Pete Golding said Monday that the All-American will not carry a full workload.
The Rebels (3-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) will use a rotation at running back rather than allow Lacy to handle the bulk of the carries.
“That’s going to be a constant rotation based on how (Lacy) is, and how healthy he is,” Golding said. “But even coming back, he’s not going to take the toll of 40 or 50 snaps, and all those things.”
Lacy suffered a shoulder injury in the Rebels’ win over LSU on Sept. 19. He sat out Ole Miss’ loss at Florida on Sept. 26 and then rested during last weekend’s bye week.
“Obviously (Lacy) rested all last week,” Golding said. “Was good for a solid week, not practicing. Practiced (Sunday) night, came back. Did individual, did some team sessions. A lot of that was noncontact last week. Fully anticipate having him this week.”
With Lacy out, LSU transfer JT Lindsey and Michigan State transfer Makhi Frazier split the running back duties against Florida.
In the season opener against Louisville, Lacy left with a thigh bruise but returned the next game and scored two rushing touchdowns against Charlotte. He has 191 rushing yards on 39 carries and four touchdowns in three games this season.
A Doak Walker Award finalist last season, Lacy set single-season program records for rushing attempts (306), yards (1,567) and touchdowns (24).
In 24 games over three seasons at Missouri (2024) and Ole Miss, he has rushed for 1,862 yards on 368 carries and scored 28 touchdowns.