Two SEC programs starting over at the same time collide in Gainesville, and this one's got a Kiffin-sized hangover built into the schedule.
Bush’s Picks
MISSFLA
MISSFLA
OverUnder
Best BetOle Miss
Ole Miss brings back its SEC passing leader and a proven lead back into a new era, while Florida is still sorting out who even plays quarterback. That continuity gap is the whole ballgame right now, and it's hard to price Florida as the safer side until Sumrall's offense shows it can function.
Ole Miss
+Chambliss returns after leading SEC in passing yards
+Kewan Lacy back in the backfield
+Nation's No. 2 transfer portal class under Golding
−First year without Kiffin, staff continuity untested
−Comes off emotional Sept. 19 game vs Kiffin's LSU
−Golding unproven as full-time head coach
Florida
+Jadan Baugh back after 1,170-yard, 8-TD season
+Evan Pryor adds proven RB depth via transfer
+Sumrall has turned around programs fast before
−Napier-era offense failed to top 24 points nine times
−QB job unresolved between Philo and Jones Jr.
−Entirely new staff installing systems on both sides
Ole Miss isn't the same team it was a year ago, but it might be better positioned. Pete Golding, the defensive coordinator who ran the show after Lane Kiffin bolted for LSU, is now the full-time head coach, and he kept the two players who matter most: quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who led the SEC in passing yards a season ago, and running back Kewan Lacy. New offensive coordinator John David Baker came up in a system similar to Kiffin's, so the Rebels aren't reinventing anything.
Florida's version of a fresh start looks messier. Jon Sumrall takes over for Billy Napier, whose Gators offense was miserable to watch late — Florida failed to crack 24 points nine times last season and went 1-8 in those games. Sumrall built winners fast at Troy and Tulane, but he's inheriting a quarterback battle between Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. that reportedly carried through spring practice without a clear resolution.
Show fees
11:00 PM CT
Spread
ML
Total
MISS Ole Miss
FLA Florida
The one thing Florida has that isn't in question is the backfield. Jadan Baugh ran for 1,170 yards and 8 touchdowns last year and is already drawing preseason All-SEC buzz, and Cincinnati transfer Evan Pryor gives Sumrall a proven complementary piece. If the passing game is still finding itself in September, the run game is where the Gators can lean.
Ole Miss Rebels
Sep 19?vs LSU—
Sep 12?vs Charlotte—
Sep 6?vs Louisville—
Florida Gators
Sep 19?@ Auburn—
Sep 12?vs Campbell—
Sep 5?vs Florida Atlantic—
Recent form.
This series has no business being this even — Ole Miss and Florida sit at 13-13-1 all-time, with the two sides trading blows for a century since their first meeting in 1926. Neither program has ever built a real edge in Gainesville long-term, which tracks with two teams that keep reinventing themselves every few years.
The scheduling quirk worth watching is what comes right before this one: Ole Miss hosts Kiffin's LSU team on September 19, a reunion game that's going to swallow every ounce of attention in Oxford. Whatever's left in the tank travels to Florida less than a week later. A Rebels team that's emotionally and physically spent from the Kiffin game is a real letdown risk against a Gators squad still installing a new identity of its own.
