No. 6 Ole Miss players and coaches – the ones still in Oxford, not you-know-who – get to have a enjoyable Christmas celebrating a playoff win and preparing for a rematch against No. 3 Georgia.
The Rebels spent Sunday and Monday reviewing game film from their 41-10 win against Tulane in the first round College Football Playoff game and now get some time off to celebrate the holidays.
On Monday, Ole Miss coach Pete Golding held a short zoom call with reporters to talk about the upcoming week of preparation for the Sugar Bowl/CFP quarterfinal game. Here’s everything he said:
Opening statement…
“Exciting time for Ole Miss and for our community, but more importantly for our players. Thought we did what we needed to do to win the game. That was kind of the message to the players was you’re playing for an opportunity to play again. I thought for the most part, especially offensively, we executed really well. Some things obviously we got to clean up from a defensive standpoint with some explosives, tackling around the perimeter, but I thought the energy was good. I thought the attitude was good, and they played well enough to win the game.”
On facing Georgia a second time as head coach…
“Well, hopefully we can get them to at least punt one time. You know, that would be a good start.
“(Georgia is an) extremely talented football team, very well coached, kind of the premier college football team in my opinion and have been for some time. They do a really good job on offense, using multiple formations, creating extra gaps, do a good job really running the football. The run sets up their play action, and then I think the quarterback who’s got experience is playing at a really high level, is very accurate, makes really good decisions.
“So, to have a chance, you’re going to have to be able to stop the run, which is easier said than done. We’re going to be really smart in the back end and play to our help and leverage and change that picture for them. You got to create some turnovers and some takeaways within the game to get the offense back on. And then offensively, I think we had some success early.Â
“Obviously, we’re really talented on the perimeter. I think our quarterback’s playing at a high level, but you’re going to have to be able to run the football effectively versus them. And I think that’s the biggest thing. They’ve been in a lot of big games, and Kirby does an unbelievable job. They don’t panic. There’s something that you’re going to have to close out the game in the fourth quarter, just like we didn’t do last time. So, got to play really sound, regardless of who you play at this point, you got to execute and you got to take care of the football on offense. We got to take it away on defense.”
On having Archie and Eli Manning around the program again…
“Oh, it’s been awesome. Obviously, they’re a big part of Ole Miss history and the legacy that they’ve created for themselves while they were here. There was a previous relationship prior to this from the recruitment of Arch as well.
“They got to know a lot of those guys. Not really Eli because he was up in New York, but him coming back, I think, regardless of who was going to be in that seat, Eli was probably going to be at the first playoff game at his alma mater. But having Archie back and talking to the team and the message that he said to them on Friday had a huge impact for our players. And our guys driving around campus see that 18 sign. For them to be able to stand up in front of them and present the message he did was pretty awesome.”
On team schedule leading up to Sugar Bowl…
“We cleaned the game up last night, went through the corrections, all that stuff. Moved on to Georgia this morning in a walk-through format. We’re going to give them a couple days off here for Christmas, and then we’re going to bring them back Christmas night and go to work as a normal Monday would be on the 26th. So, no different than when we first prepared that week before that we got into it for Tulane and that bye week.
“Obviously, we got coaches that have other jobs, like a lot of teams do right now, that they’re working two different jobs. So, when it’s not game week, they’re going to be working the role of their other job. And then when it becomes game week, you know, they’re fully invested where they’re at. So, it’s no different than anywhere else.”
On health status on injured players against Tulane…
“We’re still working through that right now. But several of those guys came back in the game after the injury occurred. So, I’m not feeling any issues on those, but we’re still working through some of the other ones.”
On if he ever imagined being a head coach right now…
“No, absolutely not. No. I don’t look from a game standpoint of the coaching piece, especially still calling the defense. The preparation piece of it and your normal routine is pretty consistent. You know, the difference, obviously, controlling the schedule, especially when you’re going to two different sites, practicing here and then going three days prior. So, some of the management of those things and then throw Christmas on top of it and the travel component and some of those things that you were just worried about one side of the ball now that you got a lot more problems to be able to help.
“But we got a really good crew around us, guys that do a really good job. So, the ball part of it’s easy. I don’t think whether it’s the Sugar Bowl, whether it’s the first round or whether you’re playing Mississippi State, once you get late in the season, if you lose, you’re probably not going to the playoffs, right? And right now, if you lose, you know, your season’s ended.
“So, that piece of it, we’ve been fortunate to be in a lot of these and we’re going to play really well and focus on the right things and our preparation and how we practice and all those things. And if we let Christmas get in the way and we let hotel rooms and tickets and all that and all that outside noise, then we’re probably not going to win the game anyway. So, we’re going to give them some time off, let them get away from it, which I think is really important.
“I think the mental component of it right now just as, you know, as important as the physical component at this time of the year, it’s been a long season. So, I want them to get away from it for a couple of days and then come back and get ready to go.”
On strategy against Georgia…
“You’ve got to get them behind the sticks in early downs from a defensive standpoint. You can’t just bleed the entire time. It’s three, four, five, six, and you never get them off course, they have their whole playbook regardless of the down and distance. You’ve got to create some third-and-longs. And when you create third and long, you’ve got to get off the field.
“There was a critical one, two of them really in the first game. The third-and-eight in the low red zone that we have a coverage bust, and they score. We’ve got to hold them to a field goal. And then the very next drive, we get them third-and-seven backed up and bringing a corner pressure. The corner doesn’t come, and they run zone right into it and get a first down. So, when you do get them behind, you get the third down, you’ve got to get off the field. And then there’s going to be some 50-50 balls that you’re going to have to contest.
“I think that’s the biggest thing versus these guys is you’ve got to contest every play. We can’t give them free things, whether it’s a lack of communication, whether it’s a missed tackle. The first time we played them, we had double-digit missed tackles on defense. When you’re playing an elite team with elite players that’s really well coached, you can’t give them things. They’re going to get enough on their own because at some spots they might like the matchup better than we do. So, you’ve got to be on the same page.
“Communication’s got to be very good. They do a good job of formation, motions, and shifts with alternative formations to really make you communicate, to try to have the chalk last. But I think more importantly its not giving up explosive plays, contesting them, all right? They’re going to have some, but they’ve got to be contested plays and then tackling really well on the perimeter.
“These can be extremely important. And then on offense, control and drives, still being explosive through the past game, like we were in the first game. But we’ve got to convert that first down, you’ve got to be able to execute and take care of the football.”
On coaching staff changes…
“The first Sunday when all this went down, the next guy that was in the room said, ‘hey, when those guys aren’t here, you take this like this is your room, all right? Those players are going to be looking for you. They’re going to need direction, right?’ It’s a good opportunity for a lot of young guys.Â
“From an interview standpoint, you run it like you would run it if you were to run a room when they’re not here. And then when they’re here, it’s their room and it’s the same role that you were doing prior for the 2025 season. So that’s no different at a lot of them. That’s done the same way everywhere.”
On managing own time preparing for Georgia and 2026…
“Everybody in the country is having to do that. You’re going through the retention of your own roster, which you’re not going to know until January 2. And then what pieces are graduating or going to declare early for the draft that you’re going to need to replace with a guy that you see be able to make an impact immediately and having those guys ready to roll for when the portal opens. The visits are going to have to happen pretty quick.
“The turnover is pretty quick and you have to have a plan in place. So that doesn’t matter if you had coaching turnover or not. Every school in the country is having to do that, manage that, and that’s always been the case at this point. So it’s nothing out of the norm.”
