ATHENS – All SEC eyes will be on Georgia-Ole Miss when the top-10 teams kick off at Sanford Stadium on Saturday night (7 p.m., ESPN). The outcome will go a long way toward determining the teams that match up for the SEC Championship game Dec. 2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Alabama (8-1, 6-0 SEC) can clinch the Western Division with a win over Kentucky on Saturday or an Ole Miss loss to Georgia. The Crimson Tide and Wildcats play in Lexington at noon. Bama owns the head-to-head against the Rebels (8-1, 5-1) thanks to its 24-10 win Sept. 23.
The Bulldogs (9-0, 6-0) obviously can clinch the Eastern Division berth by beating Ole Miss. But Georgia also could get its ticket punched to Atlanta if Missouri (7-2, 3-2) beats Tennessee (7-2, 3-2) in Columbia on Saturday (3:30 p.m.). The Bulldogs then would hold the tiebreaker over the Tigers, and the result of Georgia’s Nov. 18 tilt versus Tennessee in Knoxville would be rendered moot.
But if Tennessee can pull out a victory at Mizzou, the Big Orange nation will be rooting hard for the Rebels on Saturday night. Should Georgia go down to Ole Miss and lose to the Volunteers, then Tennessee would need only to beat Vanderbilt in Nashville in the regular-season finale Nov. 25 to make its first trip to the SEC Championship game since 2007. Missouri still will have to face Florida and Arkansas after Saturday’s game.
Here are five more things to know about Saturday’s matchup between No. 2 Georgia and No. 9 Ole Miss at Sanford Stadium:
Old pals finally meet
In terms of personality, Georgia coach Kirby Smart and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin could not be more different. Smart’s character more closely reflects that of Nick Saban, the Alabama coach they both once worked for.
Smart and Kiffin worked together on Saban’s staff for 2-1/2 years. They went against each other in practice as defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator in 2014 and ‘15.
Kiffin shared this week that he once even beat Smart in a tug-of-war drill in Tuscaloosa.
“We did tug-of-war on the rope during the players’ fourth-quarter drills,” Kiffin said on the SEC coaches’ teleconference call. “It was me versus him. I beat him, but he won’t like that story if you ask him.”
The truth is, the two coaches share a lot of respect for each other professionally.
“I just think Kirby is really smart,” Kiffin said. “I really enjoy talking to really smart, intelligent coaches who you can bounce things off of and ask how they do things, or how they deal with a player issue, injury, or something. He’s one of my first calls when I’m looking for advice.”
Said Smart: “He and I shared seats next to each other. He was a head coach at a really young age. He taught me a lot of things about what he believes in being a head coach and doing it your way. He’s certainly had a unique experience in terms of the places he’s been able to work as a head coach, and he draws on that.”
Fright night at Sanford
Georgia fans complained loudly last year when their team did not host any night games. But the Bulldogs are making up for it this season. Saturday’s 7 p.m. kickoff against Ole Miss represents the fourth night kickoff at Sanford Stadium.
That’s counting a 6 p.m. kickoff against Tennessee-Martin to open the season, which possibly should not be included. Played well before daylight saving time adjustments, the sun was still in the sky by the time that Sept. 2 game concluded.
The Bulldogs also kicked off at 7:30 p.m. against Alabama-Birmingham in Game 4 and at 7 p.m. against Kentucky in Game 6. Saturday’s game will be the first in a long time that will be played after dark from start to finish. Sunset will occur at 5:10 p.m., according to timeanddate.com.
Georgia has been tough to beat at home, regardless of what time games have kicked off under Smart. The Bulldogs are 43-4 on their home field since 2016, with three of those losses coming in Smart’s first season.
Georgia has won 24 consecutive home games, which matches the school-record streak established from 1980-83. The Bulldogs’ average margin of victory in their three night games this season is 35.6 points.
The last time Georgia played a home game of this magnitude was last season when No. 1 Tennessee visited the third-ranked Bulldogs. It was not a night game, but Georgia ran away with it 27-13 after leading 24-6 at halftime.
“We sort of fed off (the fans’) energy. We communicated very well, actually. The whole defense is predicated to communicate, so when it’s loud like that, we’ve got to be able to pick it up,” defensive back Malaki Starks said. “Against Tennessee, we did that very well, and we need to be ready to do it again because we know our fans will be ready.”
Walking TightRopes
There will be a lot of eyes on Georgia’s Brock Bowers and Amarius Mims in pregame warmups Saturday.
There is a very good chance that Mims, a preseason All-American and the Bulldogs’ starting right tackle, will see his first action since undergoing TightRope surgery on his left ankle just under eight weeks ago. Mims has been practicing for three weeks now and dressed out in the past two games against Florida and Missouri, though he did not play.
Meanwhile, reports out of Georgia’s practices have the Bulldog Nation abuzz about Bowers. It will have been only 26 days Saturday since he underwent the same surgery on his left ankle. However, teammate Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint claimed that the two-time All-American tight end had reached speeds of 19-20 mph straight-line running at the Bulldogs’ football facility this week. Georgia fans took that to mean Bowers could come back as soon as Saturday.
Smart remains more cautious in his comments, though he doesn’t deny that Bowers is exceeding expectations in his rehabilitation.
“Straight-line speed is not football, unfortunately,” Smart said.
He said Bowers’ acceleration and deceleration numbers need to get closer to normal before a return can be considered.
“He’s working towards that,” Smart said. “I’ve never seen a person work as hard as he’s worked to try to create an opportunity for himself.”
Senior Night
Georgia lists 16 seniors on its roster. But how many players actually participate in Saturday night’s Senior Night ceremony before kickoff was still a guess heading into the weekend.
Because of the “COVID-19 year” that grants an extra season of eligibility to all players who were on rosters in that 2020 season, players can choose to return for a fifth season even if they’ve already played four. Tramel Walthour, for instance, already has been through two ceremonies that honored seniors since he’s been at Georgia. The defensive end is a sixth-year senior.
Senior offensive tackle Xavier Truss went through it last year before the Georgia Tech game not knowing whether he’d be back this season.
“I think it’s going to be a super-emotional game, as it was last year,” he said this week. “It’s a long time coming. These five years have flown by.”
Last year 14 seniors were recognized, along with seven four-year juniors. Four of the players who participated in last year’s ceremony transferred to other schools this season.
“It’s a little confusing who’s a senior anymore,” Smart said. “I’m certainly very appreciative for what all they’ve contributed because it’s not really one class. It’s fifth years, fourth years, sometimes third-year, fourth-year redshirts, things like that. … But this class has been great.”
Perhaps the greatest. Last year’s senior class, such as it was, left Athens with a 49-5 career record. This year’s group is 46-3 with three regular-season games remaining and as many as three more possible games after that.
Sanford Stadium construction
Saturday’s game will be the last one played at Sanford Stadium in its current configuration. Phase 2 of a $68.5 million construction project will begin almost as soon as the Ole Miss contest concludes.
That notably will include an addition that will be built in the southwest corner that will add a multi-level press box and some auxiliary seating areas. Since 1967, sports writers and radio and TV reporters have occupied the club-level space between the 40-yard lines that currently is known as the Dan Magill Press Box. UGA is converting that area into premium seating for the highest-level donors to the football program.
One of the last open-air press boxes in America, Georgia’s long has been known for providing one of the best views in college football.
“We need more premium areas to offer donors,” athletic director Josh Brooks said before the season. “This will be the best premium space in the stadium. We’ve had such great response from our donors the last few years and needed more premium space to accommodate them.”
