Ole Miss is back in Austin for the first time in more than 10 years, and this trip comes with a fresh wrinkle: the Rebels and Longhorns are meeting as SEC opponents for the first time.
Texas hosts No. 7 Ole Miss on Saturday in a game that also marks the programs’ first matchup since 2013. The setting is new, the conference context is new, and for the Rebels, the face of the program is new too.
Pete Golding is in his first full season as Ole Miss’ head coach after taking over late in the 2025 campaign when he was elevated from defensive coordinator. He had been in that role in Oxford since 2023 after the departure of current LSU coach Lane Kiffin, and his quick start carried the Rebels all the way to the College Football Playoff semifinal.
Golding’s first head-to-head with Steve Sarkisian comes with plenty of mutual familiarity. The two were on Alabama’s staff together in 2019 and 2020, with Golding working as defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach while Sarkisian served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on the way to the Crimson Tide’s 2020 national championship.
That connection showed in their comments Monday.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with Sark at Alabama,” Golding said on Monday. “(I have) a lot of respect for him. I think he’s one of the best play callers in the country, and it’s not close.”
Sarkisian returned the praise.
“He’s done a heck of a job,” Sarkisian said on Monday. “Pete and I are very good friends.
I’ve got a ton of respect for him. He’s doing a great job.”
Ole Miss arrives at 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the SEC after a convincing 31-3 win over then-No. 13 Missouri last week. The Rebels’ lone loss has come against Florida, the same result Texas has on its ledger.
Since that setback, Golding has steadied his team with two straight wins. Offensively, the Rebels have leaned on fifth-year quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who has helped push the unit to No. 2 in passing offense and No. 6 in scoring and total offense in the SEC. Junior running back Kewan Lacy has also given the offense a boost, ranking No. 8 in yards per carry and No. 9 in rushing yards per game in the conference.
Defensively, though, Golding’s group has been tested all season. Ole Miss enters the week last in the SEC in yards allowed per game, though the performance against Missouri suggested possible progress. The Rebels held the Tigers to just three points after Missouri had averaged 35.8 points coming in.
Golding knows the challenge only gets tougher in Austin, especially against a Texas offense that has not fully hit its stride.
“What’s unique about this year, to me, is when you watch (the Longhorns) on tape, they’ve had a lot of bad luck,” Golding said. “I think it’s somehow been lost that they beat the No. 1 team in the country, they were the No. 1 team in the country at some point, and they haven’t played perfect. … We’re going to have our work cut out for us.”
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