Frankly, it did not matter who was coaching the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday. They were a well-oiled machine vs. the Tulane Green Wave for the second time this season. They defeated the Green Wave 41-10 in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday. This came weeks after they handled them in during the regular season way back in Week 2. Ole Miss prevailed over them, 45-10.
In Josh Yourish's Table for 12 post for Saturday Blitz, he briefly looked at some of the key statistical differences for the Ole Miss defense in its two meetings with Tulane. Although Pete Golding's defense only surrendered 10 points to the Green Wave on both occasions, it was still a far more productive day for Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff. Tulane improved its 38-percent success rate to 46 percent.
The real big key here that Yourish perfectly pointed out was that Tulane had a zero-percent success rate in the red zone vs. the Ole Miss defense. The bend but don't break defensive philosophy of the recently promoted Golding when it comes to playing can work vs. a lesser opponent like Tulane. Too bad for the Rebels that Georgia has one of the very best red-zone offenses in the nation this season.
With more lanes to throw from between the 20s, Gunner Stockton could have a field day once again...
Tulane just showed Georgia how it needs to attack the Ole Miss defense
In a way, maybe Georgia showed Tulane how to move the ball between the 20s on Ole Miss already? The Green Wave did not have the personnel to punch it in when the field shrank. That is the nature of the best when it comes to taking on a playoff team out of the SEC with a Group of Five roster. The good news for Georgia is Tulane's success in the middle of the field reaffirms what we already know.
This is kind of an unfortunate part of the way in which Ole Miss decided to build this team under their previous head coach Lane Kiffin. While he did do a decent job of recruiting out of high school, Kiffin was a transfer portal maven during his six-year run leading the Rebels. What this means for Ole Miss now is the Rebels do not have the depth that Georgia does on defense because of this construction.
In the end, Georgia has been as advertised on offense since this game. More importantly, the defense has rounded into form of late. The Dawgs have surrendered 21 points or less in every game since the shootout with Ole Miss Between the Hedges on Oct. 18. If Glenn Schumann's defense can find a way to contain the Charlie Weis Jr. offense, then the Dawgs should be well on their way to the Fiesta Bowl.
Just because Ole Miss held Tulane to 10 points again does not mean they could not move the ball...