Searching for their first win in Athens since 1996, the fifth-ranked Ole Miss Rebels face their toughest road test to date on Saturday against the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs in Southeastern Conference play.
Last time out, Ole Miss (6-0, 3-0 SEC) escaped with a 24-21 victory over Washington State despite being heavily favored. Not much has gone wrong through the first half of an unbeaten season for the Rebels, but coach Lane Kiffin knows his team will have to play better Saturday afternoon in front of 93,033 fans in red and black.
“We’re going to have to have a great week of preparation to go on the road in a very tough environment with elite players and in a phenomenal coaching staff,” Kiffin said. ” … I think our players and staff are really excited about that, any time you get a chance to play the premier program in college football over the last five years.”
Since quarterback Austin Simmons suffered an ankle injury in Week 2 against Kentucky, first-year Rebel Trinidad Chambliss has thrown for 1,286 yards and seven touchdowns, while adding 281 yards and three scores on the ground.
Saturday will mark the first pass Chambliss has thrown on the road after rushing three times for 13 yards in limited action at Kentucky. Kiffin’s confidence in the Division II transfer is growing every week, but Sanford Stadium will create a new challenge for the offense.
“We (played at) Kentucky, but this is another level, especially with ‘(College) GameDay’ being there and how the crowd will be,” Kiffin said. “You have to block out the noise and stay focused on what we have to do, which is play really well, take care of the ball better than we did a week ago and let players make plays by doing your job and not trying to do too much when you get in those environments.”
Georgia (5-1, 3-1) gutted out a 20-10 win at Auburn last Saturday, forcing a goal-line fumble to spark a rally after trailing by 10 points late in the first half.
Like Ole Miss, the Bulldogs will need a jolt to earn a win with massive postseason implications.
“We need the best atmosphere we’ve ever had in Sanford Stadium,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Lane. He does an incredible job. Probably one of the best things he does is in-game coaching, having coached with him and watched him for years. “
Smart and Kiffin overlapped from 2014-15 as the defensive and offensive coordinators, respectively, under Nick Saban at Alabama.
Playing for the third straight year for the first time since playing annually from 1966-2002, Georgia blew past the Rebels 52-17 in 2023, before Ole Miss posted a 28-10 win over the Bulldogs last November. Smart isn’t playing into past meetings, though.
“Not a big revenge guy,” Smart said. “They could’ve said that last year about us because they came here and played the year before. I’m big into what gets us to play our best, and that usually comes from intrinsic stuff for me, not looking in the past. Those teams were different teams. This team’s a different team.”
First-year starting quarterback Gunner Stockton has thrown for 1,264 yards and six touchdowns, while rushing for 220 yards and six scores. Stockton’s six rushing touchdowns are tied for fourth most in the SEC.
