Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin has had Saturday’s matchup with the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs circled on his calendar for a long time. Kiffin and Ole Miss lost to Georgia 52-17 in Athens a year ago. Kiffin vowed to change things within his program following the Rebels’ humbling loss to Georgia last season.
Now, No. 16 Ole Miss (7-2, 3-2) faces Georgia (7-1, 5-1) with its College Football Playoff hopes on the line at home. Kiffin has a lot of respect for Georgia and head coach Kirby Smart.
“Anybody that’s going to win it (the playoff), it’s going to have to go through Georgia at some point. They’re the premier program in college football. You know, outside of Alabama, they won 51 straight games,” said Kiffin. Georgia’s last loss, outside of Alabama, came to Florida in 2020.
Kiffin and Ole Miss beefed up their defensive front and other areas of their roster in the offseason in preparation for playing teams like Georgia. The Rebels have the third-best scoring defense in the SEC at 13.2 points per game and the SEC’s top rushing defense at only 82.2 yards per game.
“I hope so,” said Kiffin when asked if the Rebels roster is better this season versus last season. “You know, that game didn’t go very well a year ago. But every game is independent and different, so yeah, I think we’re in a better place.”
Ole Miss’ season has not gone exactly to plan with the Rebels suffering losses to LSU and Kentucky. Still, Ole Miss has a very strong team that will be much more competitive against Georgia this season.
“I think he is very talented, played great, played an amazing game against us a year ago,” said Kiffin on Georgia quarterback Carson Beck. “You know, he’s throwing some picks, but quarterbacks go through that.”
Beck has thrown 11 interceptions over his past five games. Georgia’s offense has remained effective despite Beck’s turnover issues.
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“You got a great quarterback, versus some people around the country who say ‘okay, well they protect the ball but the quarterback can’t make the throws.’ So it’s a good problem to have,” continued Kiffin on Beck, who is still the No. 15 quarterback in the country in passing yardage with 2,302 yards.
Georgia plays Ole Miss at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 9.
