HOOVER, Ala. — Ole Miss is one of two SEC football teams that have never played a game in the Georgia Dome. That will change on Aug. 28, when the Rebels open the season in the Dome against Boise State in a Chick-fil-A Kickoff game.
“Opening up in Atlanta, where we recruit extremely hard, and playing in the Georgia Dome, where every SEC team wants to end their season — I think it’s very important,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said Thursday. “We get to open college football. All eyes will be on you on that Thursday night against a very good Boise program.”
The game will be nationally televised on ESPN.
“We’re excited and hopefully embrace that opportunity and the magnitude it will have on expanding our brand nationally,” Freeze said.
The only other SEC football program that hasn’t played in the Georgia Dome is Vanderbilt. Time is running out, with the Dome slated for demolition when the new Falcons stadium opens in 2017.
Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace said the Rebels are wary of Boise State “because they’re going to come in wanting to knock an SEC school off.” Boise has done that in the Dome before, defeating Georgia in a Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in 2011.
“We just want to get that win and put a good showing on,” Wallace said.
The Ole Miss-Boise State is one of two Chick-fil-A Kickoff games in the Georgia Dome next month. The second matches Alabama vs. West Virginia at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 30 (on ABC and ESPN2).
