Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss have 'nothing to lose' attitude vs. Georgia - ESPN

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said he learned his lesson the past two times his Rebels went on the road in marquee games, both against Alabama, and he's not making that mistake again.

The No. 9 Rebels travel to face No. 2 Georgia on Saturday at Sanford Stadium and are 10.5-point underdogs. The Bulldogs have won 26 straight games overall and haven't lost at home since falling 20-17 in two overtimes to South Carolina in 2019.

«I think you've got to watch that you don't give off a tight, nervous vibe to your team,» Kiffin told ESPN on Wednesday. «As I've looked back at the two road trips like this with elite teams, the two times we went to Alabama, the players could feel me get uptight and we played that way.

»I don't feel like that this week."

Ole Miss (8-1, 5-1 in the SEC) lost 24-10 to Alabama earlier this season in Tuscaloosa. The Rebels led 7-6 at the half but managed only a field goal in the second half in what was the lowest-scoring output for Ole Miss against an SEC opponent since Kiffin arrived in Oxford in 2020.

«I do think sometimes with age and doing it longer, and obviously I think differently now, but you're much more like, 'Oh gosh, we've got to cover every situation. What about this? What about that?' And that's a good thing,» Kiffin said. «But you never want your team to pick up on any of that.»

«I remember going to Alabama when I was at Tennessee in 2009,» Kiffin added, referring to a 12-10 loss to No. 2 Alabama, «and I didn't think one time about losing or care about, 'Man, if we lose, I'm going to have to say this or say that.' I was like, 'We're going to go there and win. Who cares?'»

Kiffin coached alongside Georgia coach Kirby Smart on Alabama's 2015 national championship team under Nick Saban when