The No. 7 Ole Miss Rebels will host the Florida Gators under the lights of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at 6 p.m. for the last regular season home game on Saturday, Nov. 15, in a pivotal Week 12 matchup for Ole Miss. Playoff hopes are on the line for the team, and head coach Lane Kiffin’s uncertain coaching future raises the stakes that much more.
The Rebels dropped one spot, from No. 6 to No. 7, in the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday and are now projected to host SEC opponent No. 10 Texas. With Texas Tech’s win over then-No. 7 BYU last Saturday, the Red Raiders moved up to No. 6 and pushed Ole Miss down a spot.
Since the Gators fired head coach Billy Napier on Oct. 19, Kiffin’s name has rattled through rumor mills as the potential replacement in Gainesville, Fla. Kiffin spoke to these rumors in his Monday press conference.
“Everyone’s talking about other jobs and everything. And I think you’re two or three weeks away from coaching for your own job,” Kiffin said. “So you better make sure you’re doing really well where you are.”
That response has not quieted the rumors, whispers and online chatter about Florida being a job Kiffin could not possibly refuse.
For students, players and fans in Oxford, this game means more than just another potential notch in the win column. It is a chance to prove that Kiffin belongs at Ole Miss and that the program is still climbing.
For Florida, Saturday is an opportunity to flip the script and make something good of an otherwise bleak season. Perhaps the Gators could use this game as an audition to lure Kiffin to the swamp.
Ole Miss students are looking forward to this weekend’s vital matchup.
“I just want to see Trinidad (Chambliss) ball. That’s all. That’s all I need,” junior business management major Wyatt Vance said. “Everything else, I don’t really care. But if Trinidad balls and Kewan breaks Judkins’ record, that’s all that matters to me.”
While Kiffin’s potential exit to Florida is a story line for this game, sophomore accounting major Damien Beglis is not worried about the noise.
“I don’t think Kiffin’s leaving. I think he’s staying here,” Beglis said. “There’s no upside to him leaving really.”
The Rebels need to win this game and the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State on Nov. 28 in order to set themselves up best for a spot in the playoffs. An 11-1 SEC team will not miss the playoffs, but if the Rebels lose either game, making their record 10-2, they would not host a playoff game and could potentially miss the playoffs altogether.
On paper, Ole Miss’ and Florida’s records suggest a mismatch — Ole Miss is 9-1 (5-1 SEC), while Florida is 3-6 (2-4 SEC) — but this clash carries plenty of meaning for both sides as they fight to define the narratives of their respective seasons.
Ole Miss enters the weekend riding its best start in decades. The Rebels have been sharp on both sides of the ball. This past Saturday, Kiffin and Co. rolled past The Citadel 49-0 in a tune-up game that allowed Ole Miss to test its depth before the final SEC stretch.
Florida, meanwhile, arrives in Oxford amid turbulence. The Gators are coming off a deflating 38-7 road loss to Kentucky. Interim head coach Billy Gonzales has stepped into a tough situation, leading a team desperate for a statement win to restore some pride in a once premier program.
The Rebels have developed one of the most balanced and dangerous offenses in the SEC, led by quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, whose efficiency and composure have kept defenses off balance since he took over the starting job earlier this season. Running back Kewan Lacy has remained a major weapon and is among the SEC’s top backs. Together, this duo has given Ole Miss the ability to dictate tempo, dominate time of possession and wear opponents down over four quarters.
Defensively, Ole Miss has been aggressive and opportunistic by forcing turnovers at key moments and creating constant pressure on opposing quarterbacks. That could spell trouble for a Florida offense that has struggled all season with consistency and pass protection. If the Gators cannot establish the run early, they will be forced to test a Rebel secondary that has improved steadily each week.
Ole Miss looks poised to take care of business at home. If Chambliss continues to operate with precision and Lacy gets rolling early, the Rebels could seize control quickly and never look back.
Florida will compete — and probably have a little extra motivation to win this matchup. Although, the gap in execution, confidence and chemistry between these two teams is hard to overlook.
Expect Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to be rocking late into the Oxford night Saturday as Ole Miss takes another step toward its first College Football Playoff berth in school history.
