No. 12 Ole Miss is heading into one of the biggest tests left on its schedule, and the timing could hardly be tighter.
Fresh off a 45-15 win over Auburn, the Rebels now turn their focus to No. 2 Georgia in a matchup that could shape the rest of their season.
That Auburn victory was the first step in what likely has to be a five-game surge if Ole Miss wants to finish 10-2 and punch its ticket to the College Football Playoff. After Georgia, the Rebels still have Oklahoma, Wofford and Mississippi State on the slate.
Georgia, meanwhile, arrives with a 7-1 record and a résumé that includes ranked wins over No. 9 Alabama and No.
25 Florida. Its only loss came against Auburn, the same team Ole Miss handled last Saturday.
Kirby Smart has been in charge of the Bulldogs since 2016, and the Ole Miss-Georgia series has had plenty of swings during that stretch. The teams have met five times under Smart, with Ole Miss winning in 2016, 2024 and in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day in 2026. Georgia took the 2023 meeting and the regular-season matchup in 2025.
That Sugar Bowl win was the second game of Pete Golding’s career as Ole Miss head coach, and it meant plenty beyond the scoreboard. It helped establish him in the job and provided some stability for the Rebels during the turbulence surrounding Lane Kiffin’s exit to LSU.
Now Golding gets Georgia again, with the stakes even higher. Saturday’s game has the feel of a playoff elimination matchup, and Smart will be trying to shut down the team that knocked Georgia out of the postseason last year.
The Bulldogs have built their season around balance and depth, starting with quarterback Gunner Stockton. He has just under 1,900 total yards, along with 17 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
The ground game gives Georgia even more punch. Dwight Phillips Jr., Nate Frazier and Bo Walker have all been efficient, each averaging more than six yards per carry. Together, they’ve piled up 942 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
That rushing threat is something Ole Miss has already had trouble with once this season. The Rebels were beaten by Florida after the Gators ran for more than 300 rushing yards.
Georgia can hurt teams on the other side of the ball, too. The Bulldogs’ defense features three players projected to be first-round draft pick candidates in the 2027 NFL Draft: linebacker Chris Cole, cornerback Ellis Robinson IV and safety KJ Bolden.
Bolden and Robinson have combined for three interceptions, while Cole has put together 49 tackles, 3.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries returned for touchdowns.
Ole Miss has plenty to prove on both sides of the ball, and Georgia looks like the biggest hurdle between the Rebels and a return to the playoff. If Ole Miss is going to make a serious run, this is the kind of game it has to survive.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Fans Just Got A Tommy Tuberville Reminder They Wont Ignore
Tommy Tuberville is headed to Montgomery after defeating Democratic challenger Doug Jones to become Alabamas next governor, winning by just over 4% of the vote. He will succeed Kay Ivey in January, adding another chapter to a career that has already taken him from the sideline to the political stage. For Ole Miss fans, the name still carries a familiar football echo, thanks to his time coaching the Rebels before later stops at Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati.
The political result gives Ole Miss followers a reminder of how long Tuberville has stayed in the public eye, even as his path moved far beyond college football. His rise from coach to governor is the kind of crossover story that still lands differently in Oxford, where his Rebels connection remains part of the programs broader history and a quick flashback to an earlier era. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Found The Message Trinidad Chambliss Needed Most
Trinidad Chambliss had been working through a rough patch, and Ole Miss needed a cleaner version of its quarterback when Auburn came into view. The answer, at least in the second half, was less about adding more to his plate and more about stripping things down. The coaching staff urged him to simplify his approach and trust his instincts, and the result was a noticeable turnaround after a sluggish start.
Pete Golding framed the fix in the most practical way possible: Chambliss needed to focus on doing his job instead of carrying outside expectations. For a quarterback trying to steady himself in the middle of a season, that kind of message can matter as much as any schematic adjustment. Ole Miss got the benefit of it against Auburn, and now the bigger question is whether that reset can carry over the next time the Rebels need him to be composed from the opening snap. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Heads Into Georgia With One Defensive Weakness Exposed
Ole Miss heads into a critical matchup with Georgia carrying a defensive concern that has been hard to ignore: tackling. It has been one of the clearest issues for Pete Goldings unit, and it comes at a bad time with the Bulldogs bringing an offense built to punish missed opportunities, especially with explosive plays and yards after contact.
Golding has already acknowledged the problem, but the Rebels do not appear headed for any major schematic overhaul before the game. That leaves Ole Miss trying to clean up one of its most visible weaknesses on the fly, with a season-shaping trip to Athens looming and little margin for error against a Georgia attack that can turn a small mistake into a long afternoon. [Read more 🡒]