Ole Miss did just fine in its first rematch of a regular-season game in the College Football Playoff.
But the No. 6 Rebels find themselves in a much different situation in their CFP quarterfinal matchup with No. 3 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night in New Orleans.
Ole Miss (12-1), which defeated Tulane 45-10 on Sept. 20, rolled past the No. 11 Green Wave 41-10 in a first-round game Dec. 20 in Oxford, Miss. But this time the Rebels are hoping the outcome changes as they have a second meeting with the Bulldogs (12-1).
Georgia outlasted Ole Miss 43-35 on Oct. 18 in Athens, Ga., but there have been significant developments in the nine-plus weeks since that game ended.
And some things the Rebels realize will need to change to flip the script in the sequel.
Pete Golding, who was promoted from defensive coordinator to Ole Miss head coach when Lane Kiffin departed to become head coach at LSU at the end of the regular season, said he remembers one thing most of all from the first meeting.
“They didn’t punt,” he said.
The Rebels had a 35-26 lead but were outscored 17-0 in the fourth quarter. They were outgained in the game 510-351.
“I think the biggest thing versus these guys is you’ve got to contest every play,” Golding said. “We can’t give them free things, whether it’s a lack of communication, whether it’s a missed tackle.”
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who passed for 263 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 42 yards and two touchdowns in the first meeting, is the engine for this group.
But Golding said the Rebels will have to run the ball better overall after having just 88 yards on the ground in the first meeting. Kewan Lacy, who has 1,366 rushing yards for the season and a school-record 21 rushing touchdowns, did score twice in the first meeting but had just 31 yards.
Lacy left the victory over Tulane in the third quarter after injuring a shoulder. Ole Miss is hopeful that he’ll be able to start Thursday.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said the first game is meaningless in preparation for the rematch.
“I don’t think either team is exactly the same,” Smart said. “Both teams have evolved some. And everybody will have new wrinkles. That’s what you do during this time.”
Ole Miss has won its last six games. The Bulldogs have won nine in a row since a 24-21 home loss to Alabama on Sept. 27.
“We didn’t really get tested until the road game at Tennessee (a 44-41 win in the third game of the season),” Smart said. “And then as the season evolved and we’re playing high-level opponents, we were stopping the run pretty well, and we were running the ball pretty well.”
Georgia also has a dangerous dual-threat quarterback in Gunner Stockton, who completed 26 of 31 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns in addition to rushing for 59 yards and a touchdown in the first meeting.
Smart is pleased with the way his defense has evolved over the course of the season, and the scoreless fourth quarter against the Rebels appears to have been a turning point. The Bulldogs have allowed a total of just 70 points in the six games since beating Ole Miss.
Stockton’s first career start came 12 months ago in the Sugar Bowl, a loss to Notre Dame that fed the quarterback’s fire all offseason. He said upon arriving in New Orleans for the playoff matchup that he knows he doesn’t take losses well.
“I know he’s got a bad taste in his mouth about our first opportunity in the playoffs last year,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said of his quarterback. “I know it was his first start, but he wants to go out, like our whole football team, and play well in this game and give ourselves a chance to win a ball game.”
