Siesta or fiesta? What will the Ole Miss Rebels decide? After their first win in the College Football Playoff to date, Pete Golding's team will travel down the road to New Orleans to face the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl. This national quarterfinals game will be a rematch of the regular season, one where Georgia won a total barnburner Between the Hedges back in the middle of October, 43-35.
Although the vibes in Oxford are quite high with Golding taking over for persona non grata Lane Kiffin after his terribly-timed departure for Magnolia Bowl rival LSU, Ole Miss' Achilles' heel remains: The defense could not stop a nosebleed vs. Georgia the last time around. Golding could not get Georgia to punt the ball even once the last time the Rebels played them. Georgia has rounded into form since.
It is why the opening point spread of Georgia only laying 6.5 points feels honestly quite disrespectful. We are talking about a team who probably got worse across the board in the coaching department expected to lose by a slightly smaller margin than it did in Athens several weeks ago. Golding may prove to be a good head coach, but can Ole Miss' defense be able to contain Mike Bobo's offense?
More importantly, Glenn Schumann's defense has really taken a big step up since the Ole Miss game.
Ole Miss' defense must be the area where Georgia must exploit again
Yes, there will be instances where Charlie Weis Jr.'s offense will get the best of Schumann's much-improved defensive unit. Weis came back to Oxford after getting on that infamous plane to Baton Rouge to coordinate this Rebels offense for as long as they remain in the playoff. Trinidad Chambliss dazzled on Saturday afternoon, albeit against a Tulane team that was beat up and no match for them.
What we are trying to get at here is Georgia is not Tulane. This is not even close... You cannot have a coaching staff in a state of flux and expect to go toe-for-toe with a serious national title contender in a win-or-go-home postseason scenario. Again, Georgia has totally rounded into form as one of the toughest teams to beat in all of college football. The previous meeting was the team's turning point.
Overall, there is a very strong possibility that if Georgia takes care of the football, the Bulldogs can win the rematch quite comfortably. This is because it will be untrodden territory for Golding in the coaching department. He may still have a very hands-on approach to keeping his defense in check. What good did that do the last time around? Every Georgia possession ended with it getting points.
Ultimately, this game should make Georgia fans feel a little bit nervous because it is so hard to beat the same team twice in one year. Alabama could not beat Georgia twice, just like Oklahoma could not hand the Crimson Tide a second defeat. The difference here is Georgia is not a one-sided team, nor does it have a one-dimensional offense. Ole Miss is an excellent team, but Georgia's looks to be elite.
So unless Golding can figure out how to get Brett Thorson on the field, Ole Miss may fade away fast.