COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 18 Ole Miss at Georgia
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NEW ORLEANS -- The College Football Playoff Selection Committee has shown no hesitation in sending teams against the same opponent twice. According to research by the Tulsa World, there had been 105 rematches in the history of the sport since World War II before this year's CFP -- which has already featured two (Alabama vs. Oklahoma and Tulane vs. Ole Miss). After first-round results, the team that won the initial meeting is 9-28 in bowl or playoff rematches. Most rematches historically occur in conference championship games, which only began in 1992.

It's a dynamic Ole Miss quarterbacks coach Joe Judge knows well from his time in the NFL, where postseason meetings can result in teams facing each other three times in one year.

"It's actually a whole lot more fun," Judge said. "The first time around. There's a large emphasis on Xs and Os schematics, systems and how they match up and all stuff. By the time you get the second time, personnel is the main focus. You have to look at the tape and say they're watching the same tape we are. Where do we struggle? What matchup do they have on us? What are they gonna try to expose again? How do we protect that? And then, also, where do we mismatch them? How do we really feature that matchup and find a way to get to it again, and then knowing they're gonna have a plan for it as well, you look situationally. What do you think they'll adjust within their game plan? Maybe some things you had left over from your game plan. How can you dress that up."

There is always a chess match at play -- the "I know that you know that I know" dynamic. The key for both sides will be avoiding the "overthinking" trap.

One significant personnel change favors Georgia. Bulldogs deep threat Colbie Young was injured on the third offensive play in the first meeting. He'll be healthy going into this game, which will force Ole Miss to defend differently. 

Other than that, these two teams' core identities are largely fixed. Any changes will likely be cosmetic, with occasional bursts of spontaneity.

Rest vs. rust

Georgia also faces the challenge of a long layoff. The Bulldogs last played Dec. 6 in the SEC championship game, resulting in 25 days between games. Ole Miss had a 22-day layoff before its opener against Tulane and knew for 15 days it would face the Green Wave at home in Oxford. 

Georgia, meanwhile, arrives with the benefit of 11 additional days of on-site preparation. The rest-versus-rust debate remains complicated. Last season, all four teams that received first-round byes lost, though two of them -- Arizona State and Boise State -- were double-digit underdogs and not true top-four teams. Oregon famously lost 41-21 to Ohio State after beating the Buckeyes at home earlier in the year, while Georgia fell narrowly to Notre Dame in this same Sugar Bowl setting.

"I feel like [last year] there was a lot of relaxation at the start of prep, and that came in to bite us in the game, for sure," Georgia tight end Lawson Luckie said. "So this year, I feel like there's been such an emphasis on not having those emotions of getting repetitive -- of getting bored with the prep coach always says. Like, don't get tired of doing the right thing."

Playoff layoffs are familiar territory for Georgia under Kirby Smart as a veteran of the four-team CFP format. The 12-team expansion brings the added complication of facing an opponent that played more recently and may be closer to game shape. Smart has consulted coaches in both college football and the NFL who have experience managing postseason layoffs. He declined to offer specifics but explained the challenge.

"You can run all you want, but you can't get in game shape until you play a football play," Smart said. "Football consists of sprinting 10 to 15 yards, tackling somebody, getting up, going back to it, again. Repeat that, repeat that. Repeat that. You don't do that in layoffs. You don't go tackle live and hit people and risk injury, especially this time of year. So the fundamentals, blocking [and} tackling can deteriorate really quickly if you're just worried about being in shape. So we try to attack it all. 

"We try to simulate things, make things happen. As coaches, you get really comfortable, and you don't, don't make decisions in critical moments, and next thing you know, you're out there in special teams, if something happens you haven't prepared for or in the season, you have a routine to follow. So there are things you try to simulate as best you can. But there's no sport where you have this long of layoff. Not basketball, not football, not baseball, where you go from playing once to 25-30 days playing again."

Smart's point is underscored by a play in last year's Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame. The Irish ran their special teams unit off the field on a critical late fourth down and substituted the offense, catching Georgia off guard. A flustered Bulldogs defense jumped offsides, gifting Notre Dame a new set of downs and allowing more clock to bleed.

"That had everybody confused because we ain't never seen it before," Georgia linebacker and special teams player Raylan Wilson said. "A lot of coaches do that now, like, because you see it on TV, or you see it on film, and they'll use it themselves. That was kind of crazy. That was a crazy feeling. I'm running on and off the field. I don't know if I'm supposed to be out there or on the sideline. I just came back on the sideline."

Indicative of Georgia learning from its mistakes, the Bulldogs used a similar tactic against Mississippi State earlier this season. Taken together -- the rematch factor, extended layoffs and the win-or-go-home stakes of a bowl game that isn't a national title -- the Georgia-Ole Miss sequel represents a distinctly 2025 college football scenario.