Pete Golding’s head coaching career is off to a record start.
Six games, five ranked opponents and a 5-1 record that includes two playoff wins against Tulane and Georgia, and a win in the most cathartic game of the season against ex-Rebels coach Lane Kiffin and LSU.
No other coach in the history of college football has started their head coaching career like that. But there’s one thing Golding hasn’t done, one thing that will be a giant measuring stick for how good of a head coach he will be.
He’s never been the head coach for a road game. Of course, that changes Saturday when No. 4 Ole Miss heads to the swampy lands of Gainesville where No. 21 Florida awaits.
This will be Golding’s first true road game as the Ole Miss head coach. He’s coached three games at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and three other games at neutral sites. The Rebels faced Georgia in New Orleans and Miami in Phoenix, Ariz. in last year’s College Football Playoff. This year, the Rebels began the season in Nashville against then-No. 24 Louisville.
But a true road game, the kind where the opposing team’s fans fill almost the entire stadium, is a new experience for Golding. It will be a hard test to pass, too.
Florida is playing well. Jadan Baugh is making a case for the Heisman Trophy and the Gators’ defense recorded seven sacks against Auburn last week. However, there’s more than just X’s and O’s that Golding will be measured against.
Perhaps the biggest question is how does Ole Miss play in the most obvious trap game ever. The Rebels are coming off an emotionally-draining win against LSU and now have to go on the road to one of the toughest places in the country to play at.
Do the Rebels come out sluggish and sloppy? Are there dropped passes, pre-snap penalties, miscommunication, or coverage busts? Or do we see Ole Miss at its best?
How the Rebels play will speak loudly about the coaching job Golding and his staff have done this week. Of course, they’ve been saying all the right things this week.
“If there’s anybody in this building overlooking this game, there’s something wrong with them,” Golding said at his weekly Monday press conference. “Hopefully, our guys understand that you don’t work this hard to put yourself in position and then not do what it takes. We’ll see. That’s why we practice. That’s why we coach.”
It’s not just Golding saying the right things, though. The players are, too.
“If you stay stuck in the past in the SEC, you’re going to come back and get beat,” edge Blake Purchase said earlier this week. “If you keep thinking about what you’ve done well in the past, you’re going to get beat. Every week, you have to move on. It’s definitely tough because that was a big game and there were a lot of emotions involved. The biggest thing is getting past the high of winning the game, getting back to work and moving on from it.”
That’s the measuring stick for Golding this week. How does Ole Miss play after a big game? Good or bad, it won’t define him. But it will say something about how prepared his team is when the emotions settle and the crowd isn’t on their side. For the first time, we get to see what Golding’s Ole Miss looks like on the road.
