How much does familiarity factor into the Ole Miss-Georgia matchup?
- Story byNortheast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo
- How much does familiarity factor into the Ole Miss-Georgia matchup?
OXFORD – The familiarity between Ole Miss and Georgia is a double-edged sword.
Both sides have more than enough experience with each other to create advantages while exploiting the opposition's deficiencies.
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The Rebels and Bulldogs have played four times since 2023, with each team having one two matchups apiece. Georgia dominated the 2023 meeting between the teams 52-17 in Athens, Georgia in the first matchup between the programs since 2016. The Rebels won 28-10 in Oxford in 2024.
The teams met twice last season – the Rebels blew a fourth-quarter lead on the road and lost 43-35 at Sanford Stadium but won the College Football Playoff quarterfinal rematch at the Sugar Bowl 39-34.
There's a balance to scouting recent matchups against the Bulldogs versus what has been on tape this season specifically, Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding noted. No. 12 Ole Miss (6-2, 4-2 SEC) hosts No. 2 Georgia (7-1, 5-1) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
"I think any time you're going against a coordinator that you've been against several different times, you always look for patterns and things that have given you issues versus those guys in the past," Golding said. " … But also they do a really good job of, what have you had issues with this year that maybe they haven't done in the past three games that you're looking at? … That's a huge piece to it of, here's the understanding of what they know about our system and how do they try to attack us and what's been consistent about that over the years, and then what have we put on tape this year that we have to get corrected that we'll know we'll see from a copycat standpoint?"
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Golding said he expects his team to be without star junior running back Kewan Lacy for the second week in a row. Lacy dislocated his shoulder at Texas and missed last weekend's matchup with Auburn. Sophomore running back Shekai Mills-Knight ran for a career-best 71 yards against the Tigers, and the Rebels rushed for 224 yards, their second-highest total of the season.
Ole Miss has lost just once at home since 2024 and is 38-3 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium since 2021. Included in that win total was the pivotal 2024 matchup between the Rebels and Georgia, where No. 16 Ole Miss defeated the No. 3 Bulldogs, causing fans to rush the field in jubilation.
Homefield advantage isn't specific to Ole Miss within the SEC, Golding noted. But he's nonetheless grateful for the environment Vaught-Hemingway Stadium provides on a weekly basis.
"I think obviously you have to have good players. You have to have a quarterback, regardless (of) where you're at. But I think that atmosphere that's created by our fans, by our students … the atmosphere on top of it makes it extremely tough to play," Golding said. " … Our fans have done an unbelievable job. I think the game-day atmosphere has been unbelievable. But it goes back to our players executing and playing really well at home, and they have."
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Kutas earns SEC weekly honor
Ole Miss fifth-year offensive lineman Patrick Kutas has been named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week for the second time in three weeks. The Rebels defeated Auburn 45-15 last weekend and racked up 487 yards of offense.
