Ole Miss star running back Kewan Lacy has been downgraded to doubtful on the team’s Friday injury report due to his left shoulder injury.

Lacy injured his shoulder in the Rebels’ emotional victory over Lane Kiffin and LSU last week, but the initial updates out of Oxford were optimistic. An MRI revealed Lacy wouldn’t require surgery and he was initially listed as questionable, with Ole Miss coach Pete Golding indicating he would be a game-time decision for the Rebels’ ranked battle in The Swamp.

However, just under 24 hours from kickoff, Lacy has been downgraded to doubtful on the team’s injury report, and it seems Ole Miss will head into hostile territory without one of its top offensive weapons. Lacy has 39 carries for 191 yards and four touchdowns this season, rushing for 43 yards and a touchdown before being injured against LSU.

How will Ole Miss look without its star running back?

Should Lacy be unable to play, that further shifts the burden onto star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss’ shoulders to ignite the Rebels on offense. 

With Lacy limited to nine carries against LSU, Ole Miss effectively abandoned the run game after his injury. JT Lindsey had four carries for 20 yards in Lacy’s place, and Chambliss threw the ball 48 times in the victory. 

It’d be an aggressive game plan to have a similarly lopsided pass-to-run split for an entire game on the road at Florida, but the Gators were shakier in pass defense than rush defense in their shootout win over Auburn last Saturday.

The Gators will expect a heavy dose of the passing attack if Lacy is unable to go, and the Rebels will need to prove they’re willing and able to run the ball without their star back if they are going to draw Florida’s defense up to the line of scrimmage.