\n<\/p>\n
The college football transfer portal, which officially saw its 15-day window open Friday, is still not close to a perfect system.<\/p>\n
Tampering is rampant, even if no one coaches are naming names yet. The money being offered is preposterous. And it\u2019s fair to wonder if a lot of the players entering are making the wrong decision for their own future with the unfounded belief that the grass is greener on the other side.<\/p>\n
But true as that may be, the transfer portal has been a net positive because it allows for moments like the one that Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss created Thursday night.<\/p>\n
Twelve months ago, Chambliss was a quarterback at Division II Ferris State<\/a>, winning his second straight D2 national championship.<\/p>\n Shortly after that, he was trending towards landing at Temple as a transfer quarterback before Ole Miss swarmed in late and convinced him to be its backup.<\/p>\n One injury to Austin Simmons later, Chambliss became the starter. In his 14th game at the FBS level Thursday night, he was a supernova, the best player on a field, to lead the Rebels to a stunning 39-34 win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to advance to the College Football Playoff semifinals vs. Miami.<\/p>\n Not bad for an unranked prospect in the Class of 2021 who didn\u2019t have a single FBS offer.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to overstate how exceptional Chambliss was in the second half of the game. He wasn\u2019t bad in the first half by any means (17-of-28 passing for 160 yards) but he may have transcended into another plane of existence after halftime.<\/p>\n Facing a Georgia defense which was 10th nationally in total defense (284.5 yards) and which had allowed 29 total points in its last four games, Chambliss led Ole Miss to 27 second-half points, 20 of which came in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n He completed his first 12 passes of the second half. He was Houdini under pressure, escaping immediate pressure on three consecutive plays to pull off insane passes which set up a go-ahead score.<\/p>\n He led the Rebels on three straight touchdown drives, grasping a 34-24 lead after the Rebels trailed 21-12 at halftime.<\/p>\n And when Georgia did what it does and came surging back to tie the game with 56 seconds left, he delivered one more time. A perfect deep ball caught Georgia off guard on third-and-5. That 40-yard gain proved to be all the Rebels needed for a game-winning field goal.<\/p>\n He finished the second half 13-of-18 passing for 202 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n In two games against Georgia this season, he threw for a combined 625 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for two touchdowns and committing no turnovers.<\/p>\n In his first season at the FBS level, he\u2019s thrown for 3,660 yards, 20 touchdowns and three interceptions while rushing for 520 yards and eight touchdowns, leading Ole Miss<\/a> as close as it has ever come to a unanimous national championship.<\/p>\n With that in mind, it\u2019s kind of unfair that he was playing against Division II teams the prior four seasons.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s incredibly good for the sport that Chambliss was able to use the portal and have this opportunity.<\/a><\/p>\n He\u2019s made himself an Ole Miss icon no matter what happens the rest of the way.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n