Note: Our coverage of Ole Miss football in the College Football Playoff is brought to you by the great folks at BlueSky, Richland Dental, Oxford Krystal and Southern Traditions Farm. We are incredibly appreciative of these sponsors and encourage you to click on the links above to visit their sites.
NEW ORLEANS, La. — If you told someone six months ago that Ole Miss would be playing Georgia in the Sugar Bowl with Pete Golding as the Rebels’ head coach and a former Division II quarterback as the starter, you would have been 100 percent correct.
It was not the easiest path to this point for either team, but the rematch is set and could be the best matchup in the College Football Playoff bracket. A trip to the semifinal round at the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona is on the line, with the winner advancing to face either Miami or Ohio State.
The Rebels trail Georgia 34-11 in the all-time series and have not won a game away from Oxford against the Bulldogs since 1996. Ole Miss is 6-4 all-time in the Sugar Bowl, with two of those wins coming in the 2000s. Georgia is 5-7 in the prestigious bowl game and is making its sixth Sugar Bowl appearance since 2003.
The last time the teams met, the game was decided by one score and featured just two punts — both by Ole Miss — that came in the fourth quarter. The biggest game of the Golding era has been thrust upon the Rebels quickly, and Ole Miss is playing with house money. As the saying goes, it is hard to beat a team twice.
With that being said, here is The Rebel Walk staff giving their best shots at predicting 6-seeded Ole Miss vs. 3-seeded Georgia:
Score prediction: Ole Miss 30, Georgia 35
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton has passed for 2,691 yards through 13 games and is averaging 207 yards per game. Stockton has passed for 23 touchdowns to five interceptions. He also uses his legs with 116 rushes for 442 yards and eight times finding pay dirt.
Both teams come in with about the same numbers on offense with the advantage going to the Rebels in total yards at 498.0 to 406.9. In the passing game, Ole Miss has the advantange at 305.8 to 215.3.
Georgia comes in holding their opponents fewer than 100 yards on the ground at 79.2 and 15.9 points per game.
X-Factor player: Trinidad Chambliss
Ole Miss and Georgia match up for the second time this season. Rebels’ quarterback Trinidad Chambliss will be a key factor in this game with 300 yards of total offense and four touchdowns thrown.Â
Bold prediction: Ole Miss’ running game will be from Kewan Lacy with about 150 yards on the ground and a couple of touchdowns.
Score Prediction: Ole Miss 27, Georgia 31
X-Factor player: Suntarine Perkins
The entire defense needs to step up, but Perkins has been electric in the second half of the season and I can see him having a huge impact on this game.Â
Bold Prediction: A defensive stop won’t come until the second half
Much like the first game, the Sugar Bowl will have major offensive plays, and I can see both teams coming locked in on offense before halftime adjustments allow the defenses to catch up.Â
Score Prediction: Ole Miss 28, Georgia 24
The game. The rematch. Ole Miss vs. Georgia, for the Sugar Bowl and a chance to play in the Fiesta Bowl.
X-factor Player: Dae’Quan Wright
The Georgia defense played a lot of soft coverage in the first game, allowing the Ole Miss receivers to get going early. This time around, I expect Georgia to be more heavy, allowing Wright to become more available. Attacking Wright early will put the Georgia defense in a bind, allowing both the passing and run game to be more effective.
Bold prediction: The Ole Miss defense records three sacks.
Princewill Umanmielen, Will Echoles, TJ Dottery and Suntarine Perkins are hungry. Getting another chance at this offense is everything for them, and they are looking to rewrite the first game. This defense has been peaking, but stopping the run game will be key. Focusing on the run, will limit Stockton to focusing on the passing game, tiring the Bulldogs’ offensive line.
Score Prediction: Ole Miss 45, Georgia 42
X-Factor Player: Trinidad Chambliss
Trinidad will once again go scorched earth on the Bulldogs defense. He amassed 300 total yards through 3 quarters in Game 1 but the offense gained only one yard on three possessions in the fourth quarter. I’m thinking he and the Rebs put four complete quarters together in this one.Â
Bold Prediction:Â The two best SEC quarterbacks in the playoffs are squaring off in the quarterfinals
The Rebels are 7-1 in tight one-score games in the 4th quarter, their only loss the Georgia game. Georgia is 5-1 with its only loss to Alabama. Both teams are known for closing out games. This one is decided in the 4th quarter with a game-winning field goal.
Prediction: Ole Miss 31, Georgia 28
X-Factor: Trinidad Chambliss, Kewan Lacy and Suntarine Perkins
Georgia is the favorite. They’re bigger on the line, solid on defense, and they don’t beat themselves often. Ole Miss knows that. Fans know that. Nobody is pretending otherwise. Ole Miss’s path is simple: score enough, protect the ball, and make Georgia chase the game instead of sitting on it.
Trinidad Chambliss has to run the offense clean. He can throw, he can run, and he’s the player Georgia has to account for every snap. If Ole Miss wins, it’s because he handled the game instead of forcing it.Kewan Lacy needs to keep the run game steady. He doesn’t need 200 yards. He just needs 4–6 yard carries, first downs, and the occasional score when Ole Miss gets close.
On defense, Suntarine Perkins will be the one organizing the middle of the field and finishing tackles. He’s the leader on that side, and Ole Miss needs him to keep things from turning into big Georgia drives. Georgia will lean on Gunner Stockton at quarterback and Lawson Luckie at tight end, especially in scoring range. Ole Miss expects that too.
Bold Prediction: It’ll be a game that favors Georgia unless Ole Miss plays to its strengths. The Rebels believe they’re better now than they were in the first matchup. If that team shows up, the Rebels can win
Score Prediction: Ole Miss 38, Georgia 35
To a man, every player we talked with at Sugar Bowl media day expressed their excitement to get to play Georgia again. Defensive lineman Will Echoles told me he wanted a rematch the minute the first game was over. The Rebels are hungry and looking to make history — and I think they will Thursday night in the Superdome
X-Factor player: Kewan Lacy
In the first meeting earlier this season, Lacy only managed 31 yards on 12 carries against the Bulldogs’ defense. He did score two touchdowns, but Ole Miss is going to need him to notch more yards than last time and help use up time on the clock. Lacy was banged up in the Rebels’ win over Tulane and has been wearing a brace as protection. All accounts indicate he’ll be ready to go against Georgia in this crucial playoff game.Â
Bold Prediction: Ole Miss defense forces Georgia to punt the ball and recovers one turnover
After literally not stopping Georgia one time in their prior meeting, the Ole Miss defense is ready to show they’ve improved and can hold their own. My bold prediction is they force the Dawgs to punt at least three times and force one turnover. That will be enough to secure the win.
Score prediction: Ole Miss 41, Georgia 38
X-Factor player: The entire defense
Well, the moment has arrived. The biggest game in Ole Miss football history is upon us, one that if the Rebels win, they will punch their ticket to the semifinals and the possibility of winning a national championship will suddenly become that much more real. The magnitude of this moment is unlike anything Ole Miss football has experienced in decades, and if the Rebels are going to breakthrough with a win against one of the nation’s best teams as roughly a touchdown underdog, one thing has got to be better than it was the last time around: the team’s defense, which infamously failed to force a single scoreless possession for Kirby Smart’s offense back in October.
As the Rebels’ defense has struggled against upper-level offenses, it seems like an inevitability that Gunner Stockton and co. will move the ball with relative ease. With that in mind, it will be critical for the Ole Miss defense to force takeaways and get off the field on third and fourth down. Long story short, if opportunity to force a scoreless drive arises, the moment must be taken advantage of—this is a nonnegotiable if the Rebels are going to win.
Bold Prediction: Ole Miss hangs more than 40 points against of the league’s best defenses
The success that Ole Miss has had offensively has not gone unnoticed by anyone—this is a team that averages 498 yards per game (the second-best mark in the entire FBS) and an astounding 37.5 points per game, and when these two teams squared off the last time around in Athens, the Rebels hung 35 points in three quarters before going cold in the fourth against this same defense that had given up only 13 points per game at home at the time.
This time around, there may well be an Ole Miss-heavy crowd, as Rebel fans have made no secret their fondness for New Orleans over the years, and the motivation to do well will certainly not be lacking. With history to be made, now is certainly the time for one of the country’s best offenses to peak, and with an exceptional quarterback leading the way, anything and everything is on the table. So, why not bet on the Rebs on New Year’s Day?
Score Prediction: Ole Miss 30, Georgia 34
X-Factor player: Kewan Lacy
This seems like a typical X-factor pick, but Lacy is here for a good reason. Ole Miss has been nearly unstoppable this season when the ground game sets up the passing game. In the first matchup with Georgia, Lacy rushed for a season low 31 yards.
If the sophomore tailback can break the 100 mark, or even 50 with help from Chambliss and others, the Rebels will be tough to beat on New Year’s Day.
Bold Prediction: Ole Miss holds UGA under 100 yards rushing
Yes, I know, this is a very bold prediction considering the Rebels gave up 221 yards of rushing in Athens earlier this season. However, I think Golding’s group will take this personally, just as they have said since the end of the Tulane game.
No, stopping the run doesn’t mean Ole Miss wins the game, but you’d like to see the Bulldogs beat you in a different way than they did the first time. I expect the Rebels to sell out on the Georgia rushing attack and make Gunner Stockton beat them over the top.
Score Prediction: Ole Miss 27, Georgia 24
X-Factor player: The defense
The Landshark Defense has to show up in New Orleans to win this game. They did not force Georgia to punt a single time in the first matchup. They are going to have to get some stops, make some big plays, and force turnovers for Ole Miss to win this game.
Bold Prediction: I expect this game to be a clash of the Titans like the game in Athens earlier in the season.
Score Prediction: Ole Miss 28, Georgia 31
X-Factor player: Jaylon Braxton and TJ Dottery
Nate Frazier will be the X-factor for Georgia in a dominant rushing effort. As for the Rebels,, Jaylon Braxton and TJ Dottery will have to play the games of their lives to give themselves a chance at winning. Another key factor to analyze is the health status of Kewan Lacy which will play a vital role in this game.
Bold Prediction: Ole Miss will record one turnover.
Up next:
The CFP Sugar Bowl matchup between Ole Miss and Georgia kicks off Saturday, Jan. 1 at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN. Stay tuned in with The Rebel Walk for all your game coverage.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Kameron Wicker
Kam is an Ole Miss alumnus with a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. He currently resides in Gulf Shores, Alabama where he works full-time as a sports editor.
