1. Rebels QB play – Cue the Billy Joel. To have a shot at slowing down and beating the Rebels, Georgia’s defense is going to have to deliver pressure. With Lane Kiffin’s potent offense in Oxford, it hasn’t seemed to matter who the signal caller is. Trinidad Chambliss and Austin Simmons have both been fantastic at throwing and running. Remember, last year in Oxford, it was Simmons who came off the bench on the Rebels second series for a shaken up Jaxson Dart, and led Ole Miss to a touchdown that evened the score at 7-7. Dart returned, and Ole MIss never looked back in a 28-10 win over the Bulldogs. Cue the Billy Joel again. Dart is in a New York State of Mind, the first round pick and starting QB for the Giants. That franchise recognizes its history. Two of the Giants greatest quarterbacks ever, Charlie Connerly and Eli Manning, were standouts in college for Ole Miss.
2. King and Prince – Football is in the blood of Saturday’s two head coaches, and I mean big time. Coach King Kirby Smart, who has guided his alma mater to a pair of national championships and eight consecutive top ten national finishes, is the son of the late great legendary state of Georgia (and Alabama) high school football coach Sonny Smart. When it comes to Ole Miss royalty, Archie Manning is at the top. Hey, the speed limit on campus is his jersey number 18. Lane Kiffin is certainly a prince in Oxford. He has led Ole Miss to its greatest success since the 1950s and 1960s. His late father Monte Kiffin was an iconic NFL defensive coordinator, most notably with the 2002 Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
3. Rebel resurgence – The glory days for Ole Miss football came under the watch of legendary hall of fame coach Johnny Vaught. The Rebels have won six Southeastern Conference championships, and they all came under Vaught’s watch. He led Ole Miss to SEC championships in 1947, 1954, 1955, 1960, 1962 and 1963. The Rebels were a national power and one of college football’s most prestigious programs. The 1962 Rebels went 10-0 and were named national champions by one poll. Following that phenomenal year, and prior to Lane Kiffin’s arrival as Ole Miss’s head coach, the Rebels had three more 10 win seasons: 1971, 2003 and 2015. Kiffin has led Ole Miss to double digit win seasons in three of the last four years, including an 11-2 record and No. 9 national ranking in 2023. It marked the first time ever that Ole Miss won 11 games in a season.
4. Herschel’s run in ‘81 – When it comes to the favorite plays of Number 34, there are a whole lot to choose from. At the top of the list, and, I would think on the Mt. Rushmore of Herschel’s legion of fans favorite runs, was his incredible touchdown jaunt against Ole MIss in Oxford in 1981 Georgia trailed 7-3 late in the first quarter and faced a fourth-and-short deep in Rebel territory. Herschel went Superman over the top for the first down, spun off a would-be Ole Miss tackler, landed on his feet and dashed into the end zone for a touchdown. Absolutely astounding. Magic from the best there’s ever been.
5. Tailgating – There is no debating that when it comes to tailgating, and all that goes along with it, Georgia and Ole Miss take a backseat to no schools. The pageantry, the beautiful campuses, the food, the lemonade and sweet tea, and of course the fashion show. There is nothing like it. And you can bet, when the Bulldogs and Rebels get together, the tailgating standards are at an all time high, with each group of gridiron revelers striving to be at their very best.