A new season filled with fresh faces as Coach Lane Kiffin and his Ole Miss Rebels prepare for the 2025 season opener against Georgia State on Saturday night under the lights of Vaught Hemingway Stadium. A new season where the Rebels silently spent the offseason reloading for another action-packed season with the end goal of reaching the College Football Playoff and positioning the program for a national championship for the first time since 1960. For this year’s Ole Miss season opener, the same excitement from last season exists from the Rebel Nation, but the outspoken attitude is not. Coach Kiffin seems looser, and he appears to really like this team, having left the door open for the Rebels to take the next step while remaining under the national radar as the season opener approaches. 

Ole Miss will face a Georgia State team on Saturday with a history of taking down SEC teams. In recent memory, it was Vanderbilt last season, and the mighty Tennessee Volunteers back in 2019 inside the confines of Neyland Stadium. With that being said, the level of talent on this Ole Miss roster is far better than that of the Vanderbilt team of last season, and the 2019 Tennessee Volunteers, and in all reality, the Rebels should have no issue on Saturday night in handling the Panthers. 

As far as the Ole Miss perspective, Saturday night against Georgia State is an opportunity to get valuable reps before turning up the volume on the season with a difficult September starting with a road game at Kroger Field next Saturday as they take on a Kentucky football program that came into Vaught Hemingway Stadium and all but ruined the College Football Playoff dreams last season for the Rebels. Following the Kentucky game next Saturday, Ole Miss has three straight home games against Arkansas, Tulane, and LSU before finally reaching the first bye week of the season. Coming out strong against Georgia State on Saturday is vital for the mental state of this team heading into that brutal stretch. 

On the field, Ole Miss fans will see some familiar faces, including Cayden Lee, Suntarine Perkins, and TJ Dottery, while also witnessing the starting debut of Austin Simmons. Although we haven’t seen many in-game reps from Simmons, the raw talent combined with Coach Kiffin’s expertise at quarterback gives Rebel Nation — and really, the college football world — something to be excited about watching on Saturday night. On the defensive side of the ball, it’ll be interesting to see what Defensive Coordinator Pete Golding has in store as he reloads and adds some players who have the potential to take the Landshark defense to the next level this season. 

Overall, Saturday should be an easy win for the Rebels as they fine-tune some things before hitting the road next week to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. 

Ole Miss and Georgia will get underway on Saturday night with a kick-off slated for 6:45 on the SEC Network. 

Photo Credits: Ole Miss Football on X