Ole Miss WR Tre Harris looks forward to the Georgia matchup: ‘We have good players, too, so we are going to go out there and line that ball up and see who comes out on top’
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss senior wide receiver Tre Harris met with the media on Tuesday after practice as the No. 9 Rebels prepare to take on the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday in Athens.
Harris is in his first season at Ole Miss after transferring into the program from Louisiana Tech.
“Kiffin told me whenever I called him (while in the transfer portal): ‘Do you want to come here and be a first round talent or what?’ I was like ‘hell yeah,'” Harris said.
Harris has indeed performed like a first-round NFL pick. He tallied a career-high in both receptions (11) and yards (213) against Texas A&M’s talent-laden defense last Saturday, helping lead Ole Miss to a 38-35 win. He showed his skills, yet again, with a remarkable one-handed reception in the victory over the Aggies.
Tre Harris (11/213/1) went into OBJ mode today against Texas A&M 😳 pic.twitter.com/TqA9cMAVTf
— Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) November 5, 2023
Harris is the only FBS receiver with both a four-touchdown game and a 200-yard receiving game this season.
In the Rebels’ 55-49 win over LSU this season, Harris was the Rebels’ leading receiver, hauling in eight passes for 153 yards and one score — the winning touchdown.
TRE HARRIS FOR THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/9qqrA3tBUR
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 1, 2023
The Rebels had to spend time without Harris when he went down with an injury against Tulane in the second game of the season and then missed the next week’s game against Georgia Tech. He talked about that injury.
“It was more mentally challenging, I say, than anything,” Harris said.
“You want to be out there with your teammates and produce with your teammates just like everyone else is doing. The biggest thing that helped me through that (time) was trusting God and just trusting my teammates to do their jobs. And trust in my trainers to keep doing what I needed to do to get back.”
Ole Miss WR Tre Harris
He made his return against Alabama in the fourth game of the season but was only in on five snaps. However, he came back at full speed that next week against LSU.
What Harris has done this year for the Rebels is remarkable. This season, he has recorded 38 receptions for 749 yards and seven touchdowns in the eight games that he has played. He approaches each game with the same calm mentality.
“I feel like if I can go out there with a clean head and a smile on my face, I’m doing what I love. It’s not something I’m stressed about or really worried about. I’m playing the game that I’ve played since I was a kid. That’s the biggest thing for me.“
Tre Harris
Although Harris didn’t have many Power 5 opportunities back when he committed to Louisiana Tech, that has never lessened his belief in himself.
“I’ve always had really good self confidence in myself,” Harris said. “One thing I’ve learned from my family, especially my mom and dad, is to have the utmost confidence in yourself. At the end of the day, it might be there from everyone else. But as long as you believe in yourself, you can do whatever it is you set yourself up to do,” he added.
“There’s definitely that chip on my shoulder. I didn’t have a lot of stars coming out of high school or anything. Going into the game every week, I’m just trying to prove myself regardless, stars or not. I have to go out there and prove that I’m one of the best receivers in the country. As long as I can do that every Saturday and show my talents and my abilities, y’all are going to see ‘hey, he’s like that.’“
Tre Harris
On Saturday, the Rebels are going up against another stellar defense in Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs.
“They have really good safeties in their secondary with really good players on the outside as well,” Harris said. “Pretty good nickels, corners and two good safeties that we are scouting up too. We have good players too so we are going to go out there and line that ball up and see who comes out on top,” he said.
Leading up to what could be the biggest game of Harris’ — and Lane Kiffin’s — career, the Rebel wide receiver talked about the mindset of his team heading into the contest.
“…We know this is a big game regardless of the playoffs or anything like that. We’re playing against the defending national champions. We’re just going to go in their house and just ball, doing what we have to do out there. We don’t talk about the college football (playoff) implications or anything like that because at the end of the day, we can’t control that. It’s really other guys doing different things that are watching us.“
Tre Harris
Harris and his Ole Miss teammates will take the field on Saturday night against Georgia in the top-10 battle. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Adam Brown
Adam Brown joins The Rebel Walk as the Managing Editor after being on the Ole Miss beat as a Sports Editor for over 11 years. He is a lifelong Oxford resident. Brown graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Prior to The Rebel Walk, Brown was the sports editor of HottyToddy.com covering every Ole Miss sport and local high school sports in the community.
