The SEC’s marquee matchup this weekend has Brian Kelly leaning toward the home underdog.
No. 2 Georgia heads to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to face No.
10 Ole Miss in a game that carries real weight for both teams’ SEC standing and College Football Playoff hopes. It’s the fifth time the Bulldogs and Rebels have met over the past four seasons, and this one comes with plenty of recent history attached.
Kelly, who knows both programs well from his time at Notre Dame and LSU, weighed in on CBS Sports HQ on Wednesday afternoon and came down on the Rebels.
“They (Ole Miss) believe they can beat Georgia,” Kelly said. “They beat them before, 2 out of 3, I just think that there is that belief.
They’re at home, you talked about running (Trinidad) Chambliss, I think they’ll run him more, he’s going to be big part of this offense, not just throwing the ball. I like them to win this game.”
That confidence isn’t coming out of nowhere. Ole Miss has had the better of Georgia in recent meetings, and Kirby Smart’s 0-2 record in Oxford adds another layer to the matchup. With Chambliss expected to be a central part of the Rebels’ offense, Kelly sees enough in the setup to back Ole Miss in what could be the biggest game of the year for both teams.
The Bulldogs, though, have a chance to flip the script against the team that knocked them out of the College Football Playoff in the Sugar Bowl last January.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Just Got More Fuel For The Georgia Doubts
Bill Connellys latest SP+ forecast adds another layer to the buzz around Ole Miss trip into a marquee SEC showdown, and it does so with the Rebels still very much in the conversation. ESPNs model has No. 2 Georgia winning 32-23 in Week 10, a projection built on efficiency, explosiveness and overall performance adjusted for opponent strength. For Ole Miss, it is the kind of outside read that only sharpens the sense that this game carries real weight beyond one Saturday.
The matchup already has the feel of a separator in both the SEC race and the College Football Playoff picture, and a double-digit prediction only feeds the debate over how close the Rebels really are to proving they belong in that tier. Georgia remains the favorite on paper, but Ole Miss has enough around it to make this more than a routine test, which is why every national forecast now lands with a little extra attention. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Georgia Showdown Just Got Bigger For Lane Kiffin
Ole Miss is already staring at a pivotal matchup with Georgia that could shape the SEC title race, and now the weekend has picked up another layer of importance for Lane Kiffins program. Five-star defensive end Asher Ghioto is scheduled to visit Oxford ahead of the game, giving the Rebels a chance to make a strong impression on one of the top-ranked players in Florida while the spotlight is at its brightest.
Ghioto has made it clear that his decision will hinge on more than just a final score. He wants to see how programs respond to wins and losses, which means the atmosphere around this trip could matter as much as the result on the field. For Ole Miss, the timing is ideal: a major SEC stage, a heavily recruited defensive target, and an opportunity to show what the program looks like under pressure. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Faces A Hidden Georgia Edge In Top 10 Showdown
Field position has a way of shaping big SEC games before the first explosive play ever shows up on the stat sheet, and Ole Miss will have to pay close attention to that part of the matchup with Georgia. The Rebels have been starting drives at their own 27.5-yard line on average, while Georgia has been working from the 31.5, a small gap that can quietly add up over the course of a top-10 showdown.
For Ole Miss, that means every extra yard matters in a game where scoring chances may be at a premium and hidden advantages can tilt possession by possession. It will not decide the outcome by itself, but it is the kind of edge that can affect how often each offense gets into comfortable territory and how much pressure the other side feels to answer. [Read more 🡒]