Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart has a lot of respect for the Ole Miss Rebels ahead of their matchup. No. 2 Georgia plays the No. 16 Ole Miss at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Ole Miss and head coach Lane Kiffin will be fighting for their College Football Playoff hopes against Georgia. The Rebels already have a pair of losses in SEC play and can’t afford to lose another contest.
“We’re excited about this opportunity to play in another road, big game. Ole Miss has got a tremendous team,” said Kirby Smart on playing against Ole Miss. Georgia defeated Ole Miss 52-17 in Athens last season but the Rebels have a different team from last year that is more well prepared to play against Georgia.
What did Kirby Smart say about Ole Miss ahead of Saturday’s game?
On Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart
Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart leads the nation in passing yards with 3,210. Dart has thrown for 21 touchdowns and three interceptions. He is coming of his top performance of the season.
“They’ve got a guy (quarterback Jaxson Dart) that can do it. This guy’s playing uncanny football when you talk about the accuracy, the completion percentage, the yards he’s throwing it for,” said Smart. “He’s not throwing dink and dunk passes now. This guy’s throwing the ball vertical down the field, shots. Then, when you do that, let’s say you cover all that, and you do that, he can take off and run. You watch a quarterback run reel on this guy, and you don’t have enough people in the box.”
On Lane Kiffin
Kirby Smart is 1-0 in his career against Lane Kiffin. Both Smart and Kiffin served as assistants under Nick Saban at Alabama.
“He (Lane Kiffin) knows scheme. Lane has been around a lot of football,” said Smart. “His dad is one of the greatest defensive minds there ever was. He knows how to attack defenses probably at a higher rate than most offensive coordinators. He’s been experienced with that; he knows the difficulties that come with it. It’s one thing to know it, it’s another thing to have players that can take advantage of it. He has that too.”
Ole Miss certainly has the talent to matchup with Georgia and will fight like crazy to beat UGA.
On Ole Miss’ defense
Ole Miss has the third-best scoring defense in the SEC. The Rebels allow just 13.2 points per game and have the top rushing defense in the conference at only 82.2 yards per game.
“Big humans. Large, fast humans and immovable objects with twitch and twist,” said Smart on the Ole Miss’ run defense. “They’re fast and big. You want to see a good defense, look at fast and big, and they got both.”
On Ole Miss receiver Tre Harris
Ole Miss receiver Tre Harris is not fully healthy entering the Georgia game, but he is someone who has to be accounted for. Harris is No. 4 in the country with 987 receiving yards.
“Vertical speed, size. You got somebody that big and that size, I mean, he can take a hitch and go to the house,” said Smart on Harris. “He can take a post and go to the house. He is a dangerous player, and you see it on tape.”
On Ole Miss’ offense
Ole Miss’ offense scored 63 points at Arkansas behind a five touchdown day from receiver Jordan Watkins. The Rebels maintained balance (42 runs versus 28 passes) against Arkansas despite putting up massive numbers through the air.
“Ole Miss will run the ball. They commit to the run, and they create shots and RPOs off of their run game,” said Smart.
This article originally appeared on Bulldogs Wire: What Kirby Smart about Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss
