In the first home football playoff game in Mississippi history, Ole Miss defended their legacy and beat Tulane 41-10 to advance to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
Almost nothing has changed under Golding
One phrase to sum up the team’s mentality the past few weeks has been “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Throughout this tumultuous period during which the program has hired new coaches and dealt with departures — all while the pressure of the playoffs looms — this team has stuck to that mantra.
Despite being hired less than a month ago, Golding has kept the postseason preparation going smoothly. He made no changes to the scheme or game plan in order to ensure that the trajectory of the team stayed relatively the same.
In a postgame press conference, Golding addressed concerns that fans may have had about the Ole Miss coaches that left with Lane Kiffin, but returned for the playoffs — specifically in regards to offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.
“I had zero concern with Charlie Weis calling this game for this one reason: Charlie Weis could not afford not to call a hell of a game, all right,” Golding said. “All he’s heard his whole life: ‘Lane Kiffin’s offense, Lane Kiffin’s offense, Lane Kiffin’s offense.’ This is his one opportunity for people to realize Charlie, Charlie Weis, calls the offense, just like he’s done all year, and he did a great job tonight.”
The offense, in fact, did not miss a beat. The receiver room is still elite, and any of the receivers can excel in any given game. Wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling described how the group’s team-first mentality is what makes them so good.
“It shows our real focus and our real goal is just to go 1-0,” Stribling said in his postgame press conference. “We don’t care who the ball goes to or who has all the stats. We just care about winning. As long as we can do our job and help the team win, that’s all that matters.”
The defense improved since the last matchup against Tulane, too. In the first game against the Green Wave, the Rebels did not register a sack or takeaway. This time around, they had two sacks and two forced fumbles.
The team handled business
Whether Group of Five teams deserve to make the playoffs is a moot point. The Rebels handled business against a hungry team looking for an upset, statement win. They dominated both sides of the ball throughout the entire game.
A major positive from this game was the lack of penalties. Since the Washington State win when the Rebels had eight penalties for 99 yards, they have not gone over six penalties or 60 penalty yards in a game.
This outing was even more impressive because Ole Miss’ one penalty all game was only a delay of game. Golding commented on the lack of penalties in the postgame press conference.
“The non-aggressive penalties are the false starts and the offsides, the dead ball penalties, the personal fouls,” Golding said. “We can’t have that. You can’t have that in the playoffs. It’s hard enough to beat good football teams, much less when you give them free hidden yardage. … It’s been a big emphasis all year.”
Of course, while it is difficult to criticize a dominating 41-10 win, they were not completely flawless. One major instance of this was essentially the offense’s entire second quarter. The Rebels managed 123 yards of total offense, but were only able to put up three points
This was mainly due to a haywire final drive when multiple players were injured. On that drive, backup quarterback Austin Simmons had to go in and he fumbled the ball on a strip sack.
This team is ready for Georgia — unless injuries get in the way
The Dawgs got the better of Ole Miss the first they played this season; however, the Rebels led going into the fourth quarter of that game. The crowd at Sanford Stadium, too, played a big role in disrupting the Rebels’ flow.
Many players are excited for the opportunity to avenge their only loss of the season.
“We just got to go play our best game,” Will Echoles said in a postgame press conference. “We got to tackle better. We got to do everything better. The Georgia game, it was a bad game for the defense, period. We got to play better, and we’re going to play better come January first.”
However, one thing to monitor as the team prepares for the Sugar Bowl is the injury status of several players. Caleb Odom, Trinidad Chambliss (who returned to the game against Tulane), Kewan Lacy and Wydett Williams Jr. all missed time for various injuries against Tulane, and some were even sent to the locker room for further checkup.
The Rebels have been fortunate this season in terms of injuries. The only major injury a starter has suffered was Austin Simmons’ ankle, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it allowed Chambliss to show off his skills.
Beating Georgia is a tall task even when the team is at full strength. If any of these players are unable to play come New Year’s Day, the Rebels’ chance of victory will become much slimmer.
What’s Next?
The Rebels will face the Georgia Bulldogs at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans in Caesars Superdome on Jan. 1 at 7 p.m. ESPN will broadcast the game.
