Last fall, Ole Miss Football’s playoff hopes took a hit when Kentucky stunned the Rebels at home in Oxford. The loss haunted Ole Miss all season, and now head coach Lane Kiffin’s squad gets its shot at revenge against the Wildcats a year later on the road Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Ole Miss enters Saturday’s matchup ranked No. 20 in the AP poll. The Rebels looked every bit the part of an SEC contender after dismantling Georgia State in Week 1. Sophomore quarterback Austin Simmons lit up the Panther defense for three touchdowns and over 300 yards — all while running back Kewan Lacy bulldozed his way to 108 yards and three touchdowns of his own.
The message was clear: this Ole Miss offense can score in a hurry, and the defense has the speed to back it up.
Kentucky, on the other hand, is built differently. Head coach Mark Stoops’s Wildcats do not win track meets, they win brawls. Last week’s grind-it-out victory over Toledo did not make highlight reels, but it demonstrated what Kentucky’s team is made of — a defense that allows no easy yards, an offense that chews up clock and an overall toughness in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
Quarterback Zach Calzada, who started his career at Texas A&M, struggled through the air, but the run game and defensive front kept Kentucky in control versus Toledo.
In fact, the Wildcats almost always boast a stingy defense. Not only did Kentucky contain the star-studded Rebel offense last season but they also knotted up Georgia in Kroger Field, holding the eventual SEC Champions to just 13 points.
This matchup looks to be a clash of styles: Ole Miss wants fireworks, while Kentucky wants a tug of war.
The Rebels can stretch the field with Simmons’ arm, but mistakes like his two interceptions against Georgia State could give Kentucky the opening it needs to turn this into another upset.
The oddsmakers favor the Rebels by double digits, but if Kentucky can drag Ole Miss into a four-quarter slugfest, the crowd in Lexington, Ky., might just tilt the scales again. Where Ole Miss has speed, depth and motivation, Kentucky has defense, home field advantage and the not entirely unrealistic belief that lightning can strike twice.
Kentucky’s win last season snapped a streak of Ole Miss dominance. The Wildcats would love nothing more than to make it two in a row, especially in front of a home crowd on Kroger Field. Ole Miss aims to prove that last year was a stumble, not a trend.
This game may not mean much to the rest of the college football world, but to these schools, there is a deeper meaning. Ole Miss will be seeking revenge, while the Kentucky Wildcats will look to prove themselves as a legitimate force in the SEC.
