OXFORD – As painful as last season’s game against Florida was for Ole Miss senior tackle Diego Pounds and junior wide receiver Cayden Lee, the duo is adamant it isn’t at the front of their minds for the 2025 edition of the game. A new year provides for new opportunities.

And with 18 different starters on offense and defense than a season ago, the composition of the team looks quite different, anyway.

There was already enough chatter coming into No. 6 Ole Miss’ (9-1, 5-1 SEC) primetime matchup with the Gators (3-6, 2-4) on Saturday due to Florida’s expected pursuit of Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin for its recently vacated job. An additional layer to the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium? Those very Gators ended Ole Miss’ College Football Playoff dreams a year ago in Gainesville, Florida.

“Can’t speak too much for that team now, but maybe we just went in there … a little too high, a little too confident,” said Lee, who caught a touchdown against the Gators last season. “And I feel like this year we have a really good mindset going into the game. We’re really locked in, we’re listening to all of our coaches’ details, and we’re going to be ready.”

An 8-2 Ole Miss team ranked No. 9 in the CFP poll – just two weeks removed from a monumental victory over then-No. 3 Georgia – marched into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Nov. 23, 2024 with the program’s first CFP berth firmly within reach. The Rebels were heavy favorites on the road but found themselves tied with the Gators after three quarters. Florida running back Montrell Johnson Jr. scored the go-ahead touchdowns midway through the fourth quarter, though Ole Miss got the ball three more times before time ran out. A punt was followed by a pair of Jaxson Dart interceptions, and the Rebels’ playoff hopes were officially dashed.

The 2025 Gators are 0-2 under current interim head coach Billy Gonzales, the latest a 38-7 loss at Kentucky. Ole Miss is currently a 15.5-point favorite in Saturday’s matchup, according to ESPNBet.

Nothing about last year’s game is particularly impactful this time around, however. The Rebels are focused on the current task at hand, not what went wrong nearly a calendar year ago. Since a narrow eight-point loss at Georgia in October, Ole Miss has won its last three games, including a road matchup at then-No. 13 Oklahoma.

“No, not really,” Pound said. “I mean, it’ll sit on the back of your mind … because (we) went down there, weren’t very victorious. But I mean this year we just have a whole new team, just a bunch of guys that we’ve grinded with. So, it’s a different season than last year.”