Game Preview: Ole Miss vs. Georgia

By Ben Garrett

OleMissSports.com Insider

 

After a near upset of No. 3 Florida, the Ole Miss Rebels are set to take on a second straight ranked team in the No. 15 Georgia Bulldogs between the hedges Saturday in Athens. Kickoff is set for noon CST at Sanford Stadium.

“We are very excited to play Georgia,” said Head Coach Ed Orgeron. “We came very close to defeating them last season, but it looks like they are a much better football team this year. Quarterback Matthew Stafford looks like he is throwing the ball better.  The guy I am impressed with is running back (Knowshon) Moreno. He plays hard and is quick.

“They are a good screen team. We have not done very well on the screen this year, so we have our work cut out for us on defense. They are similar to what we have been seeing, a zone blitz team and another team that is very, very fast.”

The Bulldogs opened the 2007 season with a 16-12 home loss to South Carolina, but rebounded Saturday with a 26-23 overtime win at No. 16 Alabama. The Bulldog offense is averaging 364.0 yards of offense per game, 140.8 on the ground and 223.2 through the air.

Stafford has completed 70-of-123 passes for 569 yards with six TDs and three interceptions in the early goings of his sophomore season. WR Sean Bailey has been his primary target with 16 catches for 237 yards and one touchdown, while fellow senior Mikey Henderson has 11 grabs for 113 yards and a score.

Moreno, a redshirt freshman tailback, tops the team in rushing with 342 yards on 64 carries with two TDs, while senior Thomas Brown has 213 yards on 54 attempts with three rushing scores and two more off catches.

Ole Miss senior QB Seth Adams turned in his second 300-yard passing performance of the year in the 30-24 loss to the Gators, finishing 18-of-31 for 302 yards with two TDs and one interception. He ranks third in the SEC total offense (238.5 ypg), fourth in passing average (240.5 ypg) and fifth in passing efficiency (141.1).

The Rebels came within three points of the defending national champions Saturday with Adams’ 77-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace with seven seconds left in the third quarter. The reception was the longest by a Rebel since a 77-yard TD throw from Eli Manning to Chris Collins in the 2002 Mississippi State game.

Wallace has emerged as the Rebels’ best deep threat, leading the conference in yards per reception (25.0) and ranking second in receiving yards per game (100.0). The 77-yard grab marked Wallace's third catch of the year of 50 or more yards, and all three have resulted in TDs.

Although the Rebel defense allowed 507 yards of total offense in their SEC home opener, the unit performed well, holding the No. 2 scoring offense in the nation to 26 points below its season average.

Ole Miss boasts the SEC’s top two tacklers in junior LB Ashlee Palmer (10.67 tpg) and junior DB Jamarca Sanford (10.0 tpg).  A JUCO transfer from Compton, Calif., Palmer has also posted 4.5 TFLs and a team-high three pass break-ups. He finished with 12 tackles in each of the first two games. Sanford recorded a career-high 13 stops against both Missouri and Vanderbilt. With a team-best 25 solos, he also ranks second in the conference at 6.3 per game.

The Bulldogs are coached by Mark Richt who is in his seventh season as the team’s head coach. Richt has a 64-18 record with the Bulldogs and has lead UGA to three SEC East titles and six straight bowl appearances.

This meeting will be the 43rd all-time between Ole Miss and Georgia, dating back to 1940. UGA holds a 29-12-1 lead in the series, and has taken seven straight in the series and three straight in Athens. Last season, the then 10th-ranked Bulldogs pulled out a 14-9 win in Oxford.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

Related News

Related Videos