No one thought Ole Miss would be pulling one off against Georgia. Not the odds, not the analysts. No one. But there was this silent feeling of vengence after a regular season loss to Georgia, and this hunger to prove they can still do it without Kiffin right after his exit.
That's the mindset every Rebel player entered the Sugar Bowl with. Fast forward to second quarter, Pete Golding was a proud coach.
Pete Golding on Georgia win
"I was really proud of halftime. The last three minutes of the second quarter went as bad as it possibly could — fumble, scoop-and-score, then we don’t get out of bounds," Golding said when asked about winning the Sugar Bowl as the underdogs against Georgia on the Paul Finebaum show.
"They could’ve folded at halftime. But we told them we’d been on the other side of it at Georgia. It was time to return the favor one play at a time. That showed the grit of that team."
In a way, that single game precisely reflected how Golding's coaching career has been so far.
"I just try to tell people the truth. My whole career, if your best isn’t good enough, I’m good with that. I’ve been fortunate. It’s worked out so far. You hire good people, recruit good players, work your butt off, and the rest takes care of itself," Golding added.
But it's not just the hires that worked in their favor to get them the sweet, sweet revenge. It was also the staff that stayed back in Oxford to coach the tyeam through the CFP.
"We already had a really good staff. Not a lot of turnover. Guys I trusted. From a player standpoint, I had relationships with most of them. I leaned on former coaches, too — texting, asking what a weekly plan should look like. But really, it was just unique timing. You didn’t have time to overthink it. You had to get to work. The kids wanted someone they could trust, someone who would tell them the truth. They just wanted good plans in place and to be held accountable."
Looking back at the win, the thrill when the Rebels won, the tears, the celebrations, everything feels nostalgic as Ole Miss prepares to step into another season.
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