Pete Golding etched his name into Ole Miss history on New Year’s Day when he led the team to a 39-34 victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to send the Rebels to their first-ever College Football Playoff semifinal berth.
Hoping to bolster the odds of another postseason appearance, Golding and No. 10 Ole Miss host No. 2 Georgia in a massive Southeastern Conference tilt on Saturday night in Oxford, Miss.
The Rebels (6-2, 4-2 SEC) rebounded from a seven-point loss at then-No. 19 Texas with a 45-15 rout of Auburn last week to avoid a damaging third defeat. While another setback to Georgia (7-1, 5-1) wouldn’t eliminate Ole Miss from playoff consideration, the Rebels likely won’t have another chance to earn a win over a ranked opponent.
Helping Golding and company on Saturday will be a raucous Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, where the Rebels have won 16 straight games, the longest active streak among Power Four programs.
“I think the atmosphere that’s created by our fans and by our students makes it extremely tough to play,” Golding said. “I think when offenses come in here, the crowd noise and all those things are a big piece. Our fans have done an unbelievable job, but it goes back to our players executing and playing really well at home, and they have.”
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss leads the SEC with 2,189 passing yards and 18 touchdowns, and he is tied for sixth in rushing touchdowns with seven. Chambliss will be forced to continue to shoulder the load as All-America running back Kewan Lacy likely will be sidelined for a second straight game due to a shoulder injury.
“We’re not expecting to have him this week,” Golding said of Lacy. “This isn’t something that’s just going to happen overnight. He’s working hard at it, and hopefully we’ll know sooner than later, but not expecting him this week.”
Georgia coach Kirby Smart knows all too well about Chambliss’ ability to take over a game. In two games against the Bulldogs last season, Chambliss threw for three scores and added another two on the ground.
Smart’s defensive unit is coming off a throttling of Florida that saw Georgia force four turnovers in a 27-8 win. The Bulldogs, who boast the SEC’s best scoring defense (14.9 points per game allowed), don’t have a secret to stopping the dynamic quarterback.
“There’s nothing we’re going to do that he hasn’t seen,” Smart said. “You’re not tricking the guy. I think that’s what people get infatuated with is, ‘How can I trick him?’ You can’t do that. You have to go play good sound football.”
Playing the best football on Georgia’s stout defense is linebacker Chris Cole. The SEC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week returned a fumble 66 yards for a touchdown against Florida for the third defensive score of his career.
“This guy’s really intelligent,” Smart said of Cole. “He is very purpose-driven. He’s uber talented because he’s been blessed with length and height and speed. He’s got all these attributes, but he’s smart. He understands football.”
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton leads the SEC with a 71.8% completion rate, but threw for a season-low 101 yards last week.
Stockton had eight total touchdowns (five passing, three rushing) in the two meetings with the Rebels last season.
