Ole Miss Rebels Coach Sounds Off On Gunner Stockton, Georgia Football
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The 2026 season is on the line for Pete Golding and the Ole Miss Rebels.
With a blowout loss to Florida and a road loss to Texas, the Rebels need to beat the Dawgs at home if they want to stay in the playoff picture.
Rebels head coach Pete Golding had a lot to say about Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart this weekend during his weekly press conference in Oxford.
“I think what stands out most is his experience,” Golding told reporters this week about Smart. “Obviously, I think he’s been in the league 20 years now. He’s been around a lot of elite coaches. Does a heck of a job in recruiting. He’s got an elite staff that he’s put together. I think he does a really good job of creating toughness in his program and discipline. You can see it in his team. I’ve had a lot of respect for him for a long time.”
Georgia’s lack of explosiveness at times could play into Ole Miss’ favor as that’s one of the Rebel’s biggest weaknesses on defense. Golding believes if that trend continues for Georgia’s offense, and they can make Georgia drive the field, his team could be in a position to pull the upset.
“Playing against a really good Georgia football team, you can’t turn the football over and you can’t give up explosives on offense. You got to make them drive the length of the field and got to do a really good job on critical downs. I thought we did a much better job of that in the bowl game. I don’t think the score actually reflects it but we played better defensively than the score.”
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In the end, Golding understands this will likely be another physical, line of scrimmage SEC game. He’s got a dynamic quarterback who can make a lot of plays, but Ole Miss has to slow down Georgia’s run game if they want any chance of getting the job done after four quarters.
“If you can’t stop the run versus those guys it’s a long night,” Golding added. “We’ve got to be really sound at the second level and have erasers, and you can’t give up explosives versus these guys.
Golding’s defense ranks 11th in the league in rushing defense, and 10th in the league in passing defense. They were torched by Gunner Stockton in Athens last season but made enough plays in the Sugar Bowl to come out on the winning end.
“I think his competitive character stands out most,” Golding said about Stockton. “I think you see his toughness on tape. I think more importantly than those two, to be honest with you, he’s an elite game manager. He doesn’t press or try to do too much. He has a really good understanding of their system and takes what the defense gives them. He gets them in and out of a lot of different things, checks a lot of protections in the run game at the line of scrimmage that you could see on tape.
“I think outside of that one game versus Auburn, which was kind of an outlier to me on tape, he doesn’t ever beat himself. When you have a really good football team that has a good defense, when you protect the football and take what the defense gives you, they do a really good job controlling the clock. They don’t play with a lot of tempo. You know they’re going to eat up with time of possession. He’s been really, really efficient. So a lot of experience has been in that system and he’s really well coached. He’s an elite competitor on tape and he’s tough as nails.”
On the season Georgia’s starting quarterback is 1,671 yards and 16 touchdowns with four INTs. He’s also rushed for 205 yards and one touchdown.
The Bulldogs are ranked as the No. 2 team in college football according to the first College Football Playoff rankings.
