The fine people here at Thursday Dawg Bites may still be laughing at Auburn and Hugh Freeze for all that happened last week, but we’re also looking ahead.
As fun (and easy) as it is to make fun of Auburn
these days, we get to do something Auburn fans haven’t done in over 5 years; watch our team play in a top-10 matchup.
This Saturday, the undefeated and #5 ranked Ole Miss squad will be all aboard the Lane Train bound for Athens, GA, where a sea of red anxiously awaits. Lane “Moses” Kiffin, with visions of burning bushes and hedges, will try his best to part that red sea after failing to do so in his only previous visit to Athens, a 52-17 Georgia victory.
The script for beating Georgia at home has been chiseled into stone and brought down from a high, with the first rule being “Thou shall get out to an early lead.” The Dawgs have let opposing offenses into the endzone on the first drive in 75% of games against Power 4 opponents this year, which is shockingly high but still well below the rate at which the University of Mississippi lets students into their school (97% acceptance rate).
Even mentioning Georgia’s slow starts feels like beating a horse that has died and had Leo DiCaprio crawl in it to stay warm (and win an Oscar), but it is the overarching theme of this season and the previous two. And while that horse and Leo’s girlfriends may never get old, watching Georgia come from behind certainly does.
Credit is due for how the team is able to adjust to early deficits, but sometimes they just aren’t enough. International superstar JoJo summed it up best in her 2006 hit ‘Too Little, Too Late’ when she said “It’s just too little too late, a little too wrong, and I can’t wait.”
That last line there is important, as JoJo is referencing how she can’t wait for the day in which Georgia gets off to a good start against a quality opponent. If that day shall be this Saturday, it’s going to have to start on the defensive side of the ball.
Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss is off to a fantastic start in his surprising D1 career, having thrown for at least 250 yards and one TD in each of his first four starts since replacing injured starter Austin Simmons. If you haven’t heard Chambliss’ story, I recommend you look it up becuase I don’t feel like typing the whole thing out here. But basically, he’s kind of an underdog story.
Although there isn’t necessarily a Tobago to this Trinidad, there are a shocking amount of weapons for such a small country, most notably receiver Kewan Lacy. Ole Miss loves to create 1-on-1 matchups on the outside, so anything coming from Trinidad may first have to pass through Ellis “Island” Robinson, which will hopefully be more stingy than the Tennessee and Alabama games.
One noticeable positive the Georgia team has going for it is Ole Miss’ lack of success in tough road environments, as the Rebels have lost 4 of their last 5 road games played in stadiums with capacities over 85,000.
Kirby Smart has issued a challenge to the 92,000+ expected Georgia fans in attendance to make it tough on the Ole Miss offense. In turn, those 92,000+ expected Georgia fans have issued a challenge to Kirby Smart to do the same.
If both parties hold their end of the bargain and make it tough on Ole Miss, especially early in the game, you have to like the home team’s chances. If not, those famous mid-game adjustments may just be too little, too late. A little too wrong. And I can’t wait…to see how this one plays out.
