Pete Golding opened Georgia week with the answer everybody expected and nobody wanted. Ole Miss is not expecting Kewan Lacy to play Saturday night.
“He’s still in there with Pat, still grinding through it. So it’s a work in progress. We’re not expecting to have him this week. You know, this isn’t something that’s just going to happen overnight.”
That leaves the same backfield that ran for 224 yards and four touchdowns against Auburn without him: Shekai Mills-Knight, Makhi Frazier and Trinidad Chambliss’s legs. The difference is the defense across from it. Georgia held Florida to 54 rushing yards on Saturday.
Athens and New Orleans
Asked what separated last season’s two games against Georgia, a loss in Athens and the 39-34 Sugar Bowl win, Golding did not soften the first one.
“I thought the first one in Athens, I thought defensively didn’t play very well. Didn’t communicate very well, weren’t on the same page, didn’t leverage the football, a lot of missed tackles, a lot of explosive plays in the pass game, could never get them off rhythm.”
The Sugar Bowl, he said, turned on early downs: a better job against the run, Georgia behind the chains, more negative plays, fewer explosives, turnovers, special teams and “a couple of big 4th down stops.” Then he gave the line that frames the whole week.
“If you can’t stop the run versus those guys, it’s a long night and has been for a long time. So we got to play really physical up front. We got to be really sound at the second level and have erasers. And you can’t give up explosives versus these guys.”
On Gunner Stockton: “an elite game manager”
“He doesn’t press, doesn’t try to do too much, has a really good understanding of their system and takes what the defense gives him, gets him in and out of a lot of different things, checks a lot of protections in the run game at the line of scrimmage.”
Golding called Georgia’s loss to Auburn “kind of an outlier” on tape and said that outside of it, Stockton does not beat himself. Georgia, he added, does not play with much tempo and will try to eat up time of possession.
On Chambliss and “all this hype”
Asked what changed for Chambliss in the second half against Auburn, Golding credited the halftime work of the offensive staff, a few designed runs to get his legs going, and pointed out that some first-half misses were drops. Then he described the mindset.
“Quit trying to live up to this expectation and all this hype and all that. And you just focus on doing your job to the best of your ability. And he did that.”
“Every week it seems like it’s a different dude”
Golding credited the receiver room’s development, the offensive staff’s plan and Chambliss going through his progressions instead of force-feeding one target. He singled out Caleb Cunningham as a high school signee who “waited his turn,” and repeated what he told Deuce Alexander after the Auburn game.
“Our most explosive guy didn’t play well. And that’s what I told him coming off the field, you know, but you got a room that you can go to other places and other guys can step up when somebody’s not at their best.”
The linebackers
Luke Ferrelli has been dealing with an ankle injury, Golding said, and was a game-time decision against Auburn. He started, but “didn’t feel like he was at 100% to be able to play efficient football.” Tah’j Butler stepped in.
“I think he’s getting better every week, you know, becoming more comfortable with the system. He’s got a really high football IQ, and I think he’s doing a really good job finishing on the ball carrier, which we need him to do.”
Golding said Keaton Thomas has been “pretty steady” as well, and that he has considered all three starters since the offseason.
Why Oxford is hard to win in
Ole Miss has won 16 straight at home. Golding credited the fans and students first, then made a more specific point about what a road night game takes away from the visitor.
“Normally if it’s a night game, it’s almost a day and a half of less preparation. You’re not in your meeting rooms, all those routines and those other things that go into the last, you know, 36 hours of a game that are so important.”
He also noted that Georgia has lost twice at home in roughly seven years, including to Auburn this season, and that Ole Miss has lost one home game since he has been in Oxford.
The rest of the roster notes
Deuce Knight: “If you don’t have that, you’re not going to win a championship,” Golding said of carrying a backup quarterback who can run the offense. “We’re extremely lucky and fortunate to have him.”
Joenel Aguero: The safety, who was with Georgia last season, has brought “a physical presence” and championship experience, Golding said. “We’ll need him to play really well this week for sure.”
Tony Mitchell: No longer on the roster. Golding said there were violations of team rules through the spring and summer, and “it was best for both parties to go in a different direction.”
On Tuesday night’s playoff rankings
The first College Football Playoff rankings come out Tuesday night. Golding said he will not be watching, pointing out that last season’s first rankings did not match the final field. Ole Miss controls its destiny every Saturday, he said, and the team will “look up in December and see where that thing is.”
Georgia comes to Oxford on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.
Photo: Shekai Mills-Knight, October 31, 2026, at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images.
Quotes from Pete Golding’s Georgia week press conference, November 2, 2026.