With the College Football Playoff rankings unveiled for the first time Tuesday night, we now know where Ole Miss stands in the eyes of the selection committee.
But as head coach Pete Golding and his players have said the last two days, all that matters is winning that week’s game.
This week’s game, though, will have a big impact on the Rebels’ CFP ranking as they’re set to welcome No. 2 Georgia into Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday night.
It’s arguably the most important game of the season for Ole Miss if it wants to control its own destiny and advance to a second-straight CFP appearance.
To do that, though, the Rebels will need to be at their absolute best because the Bulldogs are a true national championship contender.
Georgia is beatable. Auburn proved that already and in what’s been a chaotic college football season, nothing should be unexpected. That includes Ole Miss sending the Bulldogs back home with their second loss of the season.
Whether the Rebels can or not will depend on the answers to these five questions.
Can Trinidad Chambliss keep running?
Chambliss picked a good time to rediscover how impactful him running the ball can be.
There was a lot of talking leading up to last week’s Auburn game about Chambliss needing to use his legs more and he did. He had 65 rushing yards that included a 26-yard touchdown run after the Tigers made the game 17-15.
Trinidad. Chambliss. pic.twitter.com/Zui3EJpkVj
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) October 31, 2026
Ole Miss will need a similar, if not greater impact from Chambliss on the ground this weekend against Georgia.
Yes, a big reason is because the Rebels are better on offense when he is a running threat. But another reason is that having a running quarterback is part of the blueprint for beating Georgia this year.
Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown had 26 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown in the Tigers’ 27-24 upset win over then-No. 1 Georgia. Brown was a problem for the Bulldogs all game long and was a large reason why the Tigers overcame a 14-point deficit.
Chambliss showed last week he can do what Brown did against Georgia. Now Ole Miss needs him to show he can do it against Georgia, too.
Which Ole Miss run defense shows up?
Georgia is more banged up at running back, but it hasn’t affected its ground game very much.
Chauncey Bowens (35 carries, 124 yards, six touchdowns) has missed the last three games and Nate Frazier (47 carries, 297 yards, six touchdowns) returned to a larger role against Florida after missing time earlier this season. That’s two of Georgia’s best running backs, but others have stepped up in their absence.
Dwight Phillips Jr. is the leading rusher with 415 yards and Gunner Stockton is a running threat too at quarterback (47 carries, 205 yards, one touchdown).
So, Ole Miss can assume that Georgia will be running the ball on Saturday night.
The question now becomes do the Rebels look like the defense that got gashed by Florida and Texas? Or do we see the run defense that shut down Missouri, Auburn and Vanderbilt?
If it’s the latter of the two, Georgia will have to rely on its passing game to beat Ole Miss, which presents its own question.
Which version of Gunner Stockton shows up?
Stockton doesn’t get brought up much in conversations about best quarterbacks in the nation, but he should be. He’s completed nearly 72% of his passes for 1,671 yards, 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions. He ranks sixth nationally in passing efficiency and completion percentage.
He has a large group of pass catchers, both at wide receiver and tight end.
The Bulldogs’ tight ends alone are a matchup nightmare. Lawson Luckie, Jaden Reddell, Elyiss Williams and others have combined for 34 catches, 471 yards and seven touchdowns.
Stockton has everything he needs to pick apart an Ole Miss secondary that has been exposed this season. And if Georgia gets the version of Stockton that completed 81.8% of his passes against Alabama, it’ll be a long night for the Rebels.
But if it gets the version of him that threw two interceptions and a fumble that gave Auburn a chance to kick a last-second field goal and win? There’ll be some big parties in Oxford long into the night.
Can Ole Miss create any defensive havoc up front?
It might not be fair to ask Ole Miss to do what nobody else has done, but it needs to.
Georgia’s offensive line has been great this season. It’s started the same five players in all eight games and has allowed only nine sacks, third-fewest in the SEC and only three more than Ole Miss has allowed.
DOWN HE GOES ‼️@Tbut1er1 x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/RVs6tZxH6j
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 31, 2026
Auburn had two of those sacks in its win nearly three weeks ago, including on the late fumble that won the game.
Lately, the Rebels have been creating more havoc up front. They’ve recorded 18 tackles for a loss in the last two weeks and six sacks. One of those games was the loss to Texas, but that kind of havoc is why Ole Miss rallied back to nearly win that game. It was certainly a reason why Auburn’s offense couldn’t do much else after scoring 15 points.
Creating havoc disrupts the opposing offense and that generally leads to good things for the defense.
Who wins the turnover battle?
Ole Miss has had a weird trend in its last two games.
Against both Texas and Auburn, the defense and offense traded turnovers. The defense picked off Arch Manning, only to watch Chambliss throw an interception on the next offensive play.
The following week against Auburn saw a tipped Chambliss pass get intercepted, but the defense forced a fumble on the next Auburn offensive play.
WE'LL TAKE THAT 😌@KThomas2022 x @OfficialJB16 pic.twitter.com/jp6kVfjhe2
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 31, 2026
Not much damage was done, but the constant reminder was that some opposing teams will take advantage of Ole Miss turnovers. Georgia could easily be that team.
The Bulldogs have scored 18 points off of two fumble recoveries for touchdowns and a pick-six.
Keeping the trend of back-to-back turnovers might not be a great idea this week for Ole Miss.
