Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said his Rebels are better equipped to beat Georgia this go around.
Kiffin also made it clear his team has to be much improved from the one that lost to the Bulldogs 52-17 in Athens last season.
“When we look for plays, sometimes we look at NFL plays, so last week we pulled them up,” Kiffin said. “And we went from watching a defensive (film) cut-up of Georgia to watching an NFL team — I won’t say which team — and I was like, ‘Pause the film.’
“Georgia’s 11 actually looked better than the starting 11 on this NFL defense.”
The No. 16 Rebels (7-2), who were also No. 16 in the opening College Football Playoff Rankings released Tuesday, play host to the Bulldogs — No. 3 in both the Associated Press and CFP rankings — at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is the only SEC stadium that Kirby Smart has appeared in as Georgia’s head coach and not won. Kiffin said he’s hoping the sellout crowd in Oxford, Mississippi, can match the energy from when the Rebels came to Sanford Stadium last season.
“We went into Georgia, the place was electric in the warmups 30 minutes before kickoff,” Kiffin said. “They put us at night there; it will be earlier here. It would be awesome for our fans to have the same type of energy and impact because that was definitely an impact a year ago.”
Kiffin expressed annoyance when the Georgia-Ole Miss game was announced as an afternoon game. The Rebels were not scheduled for any night home games this season.
“Playing at night in electric atmospheres is a home-field advantage, tough when you’ve got to do that as an opposing team,” Kiffin said.
While the crowd in Athens made a difference in 2023, the Georgia defensive had an impact, too. The Bulldogs knocked Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart from the game when Dart scrambled and was blasted by Zion Logue and Daylen Everette.
“He had a chance to step out,” ESPN commentator Chris Fowler said of the hit, which occurred at the 3:31 mark of the third quarter. “That would have been the prudent decision.”
Kiffin knows Georgia has more capable defenders on the prowl this season, including Jalon Walker, a candidate for the Nagurski Award given annually to the top defensive player in college football.
“I think (Walker has) such an unusual size-speed ratio, to be so long and heavy and run so well,” Kiffin said. “I feel like when you watch them, sometimes you forget you’re not playing Alabama from years ago because they have so much length and look so great at positions. They really have no small guys.
“Kirby’s building it just like Coach (Nick) Saban built Alabama with NFL players all around.”
Kiffin included Georgia quarterback Carson Beck — who was 18-of-25 passing for 306 yards and two touchdowns against Ole Miss last season — in the NFL talent conversation.
“I see a guy that’s extremely first-round talented that’s had a couple interceptions here of late, which a lot of great quarterbacks do,” Kiffin said. “Some I think weren’t even his fault. I saw him play an awesome game a year ago against us. He’s one of the best in the country and definitely one of the most talented.”
Kiffin’s Rebels are talented, too, having landed elite players out of the transfer portal such as Texas A&M defensive tackle Walter Nolan, Florida edge Princely Umanmielen and Alabama cornerback Trey Amos.
The Rebels defense, second in the nation with 4.6 sacks per game and second in the country allowing just 82.2 yards per game rushing, is what inspires confidence.
“We’re a better team when you look at it,” Kiffin said. “We lost two one-play games (20-17 to Kentucky and 29-26 to LSU in overtime). Last year, we won all of our one-score games.
“This year we had the two games we were in control of go the other way. I think we’re in a better position than we were a year ago to play them (Georgia).”
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