Georgia arrives at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday night having run for 217 yards against Florida. Ole Miss has lost twice this season, to Florida and Texas, and in both an opponent ran for more than 200 yards on its defense. Last week the Rebels held Auburn to 63 yards on 27 carries with four sacks. Auburn had run for more than 200 on Georgia.
Locked On Ole Miss host Steven Willis argued the number worth watching is not rushing yards but punts, how often Ole Miss gets Georgia’s offense off the field, and how early. Georgia does not need a long play, Willis said, but second-and-four and third-and-two, until a defense standing on the field for 12 plays misses a gap.
Will Echoles supplied the number, and he played both Georgia games last season. In Athens, he said, “we didn’t even stop them and Georgia didn’t have to punt the entire game.” In the Sugar Bowl, “we got them to punt. It was a sigh of relief.” The job Saturday, Echoles said, is obvious passing downs and keeping Georgia off the field.
Pete Golding called Georgia’s quarterback an elite game manager who takes what a defense gives him, and said Georgia will eat up time of possession. Golding named Tah’j Butler, Keaton Thomas and Luke Ferrelli as the second-level players who have to be sound. Butler said the answer is physicality at the point of attack and getting downhill.
Willis set a threshold: hold Georgia under 125 rushing yards and Ole Miss wins fairly easily, past that it gets tricky. Georgia’s head coach is 2-0 against Ole Miss in Athens and 0-3 in Oxford or the Sugar Bowl. If Georgia is punting Saturday night, Willis said, Ole Miss is probably winning the game it wants to play.
Photo: Suntarine Perkins, October 31, 2026, at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images.
Adapted from the November 4, 2026 episode of Locked On Ole Miss, hosted by Steven Willis, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Watch the full episode.