Former Ole Miss Spirit contributor Sudu Upadhyay didn’t give Ole Miss much of a chance going into Georgia this time last year. 

He’s changed his tune for this week’s matchup in Oxford.

“Last year I didn’t want to come on the podcast because I thought (Ole Miss) people were going to hate me,” Upadhyay said. “Ole Miss could not match up with them.

“This year? There’s hope. It’s still the No. 2 team in the country coming into town. If Ole Miss pulls off those games against LSU and Kentucky and doesn’t play really stupid football at certain points of the season, I’m sitting here going, ‘I think they can actually do this. I think they’re going pull this off.’ That’s clouded my vision. 

“With that being said, if Ole Miss can protect Jaxson Dart, which is a tough task against Georgia, you can attack this secondary. They aren’t what they were a year ago.”

Upadhyay still expects the Bulldogs to win — but only because he’s still waiting on Lane Kiffin to win a marquee game (such as Saturday) as Rebel head coach. 

This season’s iteration is far closer to a pick-‘em. Ole Miss didn’t have the trench strength on either side of the ball to hang with the Bulldogs last season and lost by five touchdowns. 

The Rebels roll into the weekend with a championship-caliber defense ranked No. 1 nationally in sacks. No. 16 Ole Miss (7-2, 3-2 SEC) hosts No. 2 Georgia (7-1, 5-1) at 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC.

“(Last year) I wanted to say, ‘Guys, we’re going to get our (butts) rocked. It’s going to be ugly,” Upadhyay said. “This year? I can’t say that.”

Upadhyay joins his one-time Spirit teammate, Ben Garrett (OMSpirit.com) in this Monday (November 4, 2024) edition of ‘Talk of Champions,’ powered by RiverLand Roofing. 

Call or text RiverLand for all your roofing needs: 662-644-4297. Visit them online at RiverLandRoofing.com.

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