Redemption will be on the minds of Mississippi Rebels defensive players when they meet third-ranked Georgia at Thursday's Sugar Bowl in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.
“We all wanted to play them again,” said Ole Miss defensive back Wydett Williams Jr., whose unit labored through a season-worst performance during a 43-35 loss at Georgia earlier this season. “We’re happy we get to play them.”
Georgia (12-1), the Southeastern Conference champions and third seed in the CFP bracket, and No. 6 Ole Miss (12-1), the CFP's sixth seed, traveled on Monday to New Orleans, where they will make final preparations for their New Year's Day matchup in the Superdome.
In handing the Rebels their only loss this season, Georgia gained 510 yards of offense and didn't punt once, but did need a 17-0, fourth-quarter rally to win.
Ole Miss defensive coordinator Bryan Brown says Georgia's offense looks even better now than when they met on Oct. 18.
“First, they take care of the football,” said Brown, who assumed the coordinator role exclusively after his former co-coordinator, Pete Golding, was named head coach on Nov. 30, when ex-coach Lane Kiffin left for LSU.
“They execute at a higher level and they’ve got their play makers making plays,” Brown added.
Meanwhile, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said that in his experience, rematches often don't resemble the earlier matchup.
“It’s really overrated in terms of re-matches and things like that,” Smart said. "How you play (on a given day) defines what the outcome of the game is — your ability to be explosive, turn the ball over, win situational football ... and it really has very little to do with the time before you played them.
“I don’t think either team is exactly the same,” Smart added. “Both teams have evolved some. And everybody will have new wrinkles.”
Quarterback Gunnar Stockton threw for 289 yards on 26-of-31 passing against the Rebels, including three touchdown passes to tight end Lawson Luckie.
If Stockton's more than 3,100 yards and 23 touchdowns passing weren't impressive enough, Brown asserted that Stockton’s value goes beyond the numbers.
“He’s a gamer,” Brown said, smiling in admiration. “He extends plays and he makes the right plays. It’s not all measurements for a quarterback; it’s about making the right plays. That’s what he does. That’s what he is. He’s a football player.”
Williams saw the Georgia loss as a turning point for the Rebels' defense, which closed with five consecutive wins to secure a CFP berth.
“After that game, we had to lock in more,” Williams said. “We had to bond more as a team, whatever we had to do to play better on the defensive side — anything we needed to do, we pressed on harder.”
Ole Miss then opened the CFP with a resounding 45-10 triumph over No. 17 Tulane (the CFP's 11th seed) to set up its rematch with the Bulldogs.
During its past six contests, the Rebel defense has improved in areas such as quarterback pressures and turnover ratio (plus-4 during that span).
“We got better at communication, playing faster and with more confidence,” Brown said.
But there was no getting away from the painful memories inflicted by the Georgia offense in October, particularly one embarrassing statistic.
Rebels linebacker TJ Dottery shook his head as he described the humiliation of his unit not forcing a single punt during the Rebels' visit to Athens.
“Georgia is a great team,” Dottery said. "But this time, we’ve got to be better.”
Cornerback Jaylon Braxton, whose interception stopped an early Tulane drive, figures there will be little margin for error against a Georgia program that has won three SEC titles and two national championships since 2021.
“We didn’t execute," Braxton said while recounting the previous meeting. "We have really focused in practice on doing the things that the coaches call.”
For Brown, a key step will be eliminating the type of missed assignments that cost the Rebels in the last meeting.
“Got to get off the field when we have that opportunity and avoid the busted assignment,” Brown said. “Hopefully, we won’t have anybody running loose in the secondary.”
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AP Sports Writers Charles Odom in Atlanta and Brett Martel in New Orleans contributed.
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