OXFORD – While much of the attention Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was focused on the new face lining up at quarterback, No. 21 Ole Miss’ defense quietly stole the show.
The Rebels (1-0) dominated Georgia State 63-7 in their season opener, the first career start for redshirt sophomore quarterback Austin Simmons. Simmons threw for 341 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, and Ole Miss’ offense racked up 695 yards of offense despite nine new starters.
Ole Miss’ defense returned just two starters from last season, too, and showed spectators what defenders and defensive coordinator Pete Golding told media throughout fall practice: the new-look Rebels defense has plenty of talent and doesn’t expect a dropoff. Ole Miss ranked second nationally in points per game allowed and rushing defense last season and led the nation in sacks per game and tackles-for-loss.
The Rebels wanted to make a statement about the 2025 version of their defense and did just that in their debut.
Georgia State managed just 260 total yards of offense – including just 69 passing yards, the lowest total for an Ole Miss opponent since November 2023 against Louisiana-Monroe. The Rebels held the Panthers to 2 of 15 on third down in the game and allowed 10 first downs total. Georgia State managed just 25 yards of offense in a third quarter, where it was outscored 17-0. The Panthers racked up 191 rushing yards, though 76 of those came in the fourth quarter.
“(It was) very important, for just us and the room, for confidence,” junior linebacker TJ Dottery said. “A lot of doubt, a lot of people said we lost a lot. So, very important to just show that we (are) still the same and might be better.”
Dottery led the team with nine tackles, and senior defensive tackle Zxavian Harris notched his first career interception in the third quarter. Saturday was the 11th time under Golding that the Rebels held an opponent to fewer than 300 total yards of offense. Georgia State had just three plays of 25 or more yards in the game.
“Every time we lace the cleats up, whether we have practice or in the games or when we scrimmage, you can truly tell this group just loves to play football and (are) just happy to be out there,” Dottery said.
Ole Miss plays at Kentucky on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
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