Look: Juice Wells, now with Ole Miss, makes his return to USC’s Williams-Brice Stadium

Juice Wells stepped off the bus Saturday, his head bobbing, headphones and sunglasses on as he entered Williams-Brice Stadium.

Wells and his Ole Miss teammates arrived about two hours before the much-anticipated matchup with South Carolina. Gamecock fans were there to greet Wells with a chorus of boos as he made his way into the stadium.

Ole Miss fans countered with a “Juice Wells! Juice Wells!” chant in support of the Rebels receiver.

Wells spent two seasons at USC before deciding to leave the program. He stayed in the Southeastern Conference to play for Lane Kiffin and Rebels. And when the schedule was released, many fans had Wells’ return circled.

Some fans arrived with signs made in Wells’ honor. One read, “Rotten milk is better than Juice” with a line through Wells’ No. 3.

When Wells ran out with the Ole Miss players, he had a little stare down with Cocky, USC’s mascot. On his first catch, a 29-yarder in the first quarter, Gamecock fans booed him and every time he touched the ball.

Wells finished with three catches for 97 yards and nearly had a touchdown in Ole Miss’ 27-3 win over the Gamecocks.. He caught a 66-yard pass but fumbled at the 1-yard line and the ball went out of the end zone.

“I was happy on how he was able to handle himself,” Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart said after the game. “I know it is not definitely easy coming into the place where you were the guy and then everyone turns on you. I was proud of him on how he handled this week.”

Wells hasn’t said much on his departure publicly, although he posted a few things this week on social media. A Saturday post had a picture of him in a Gamecock uniform staring at a Tennessee defender. He had one of his best games as a USC player that game with 11 catches for 177 yards in the upset of the Vols.

Wells was a star at South Carolina in his first year back in 2022, with 928 yards, six touchdowns and was second-team All-SEC. Last year, he played in just two games after suffering a foot injury against Georgia.

Wells announced in December he was transferring to the Rebels.

Wells wasn’t made available after the game wasn’t part of any media interviews when Ole Miss players met with the media on Monday and Tuesday. He has only talked once to the media since arriving in Oxford.

“I chose Ole Miss because I felt Ole Miss was the best team in the SEC, honestly,” Wells said in September. “They have a great chip on their shoulder, coming off a great season. They do a great job winning. I wanted to be a part of this amazing culture that coach Kiffin is building around here.”

Wells added: “Everybody got their own opinion. I feel like that is their thought, but it doesn’t bother me at all. I’m just here to play ball.”

Neither Ole Miss or USC players, coaches gave bulletin board material leading up to the matchup.

“Juice is a good player, but when you sit there and watch (Tre Harris), they threw him the ball 15 times Saturday,” USC’s Shane Beamer said. this week.” So we better not be caught up in one player. We better be aware of him. Then we better know what a weapon the tight end is. The slot receiver, Cayden Lee, we recruited the heck out of him and he had a lot of targets on Saturday. The running back had a lot of targets in the passing game. So for us, it’ll just be that they have a lot of really good players that we have to prepare for.”

In four games this season, Wells has 14 catches for 274 yards and four touchdowns.