For Pete Golding, keeping Ole Miss focused will be challenging with LSU game still two weeks away

For Pete Golding, keeping Ole Miss focused will be challenging with LSU game still two weeks away

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For Pete Golding, keeping Ole Miss focused will be challenging with LSU game still two weeks away
Ole Miss football coach Pete Golding. (Photo by Michael Grant)
Ole Miss football coach Pete Golding. (Photo by Michael Grant)

NASHVILLE, Tenn — A season-opening victory is always worth celebrating in college football. No. 9 Ole Miss vs. No. 24 Louisville was the only matchup between ranked teams in Week 1, and the game lived up to the hype as the Rebels escaped with a 41-38 Sunday night win on a game-ending 38-yard field goal. Hotty Toddy.

However, as good as Pete Golding must have felt, it didn’t take long for a question about that “other” game on the September schedule to surface. Like it or not, Ole Miss’ season will be largely defined by what happens when LSU visits Oxford on Sept. 19.

Never mind that the Rebels still must play their home opener against Charlotte on Saturday. In the Southeastern Conference, where it just means more, everyone is looking forward to this one. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss’ former coach, left the Rebels for LSU. It was as ugly a breakup as you’ll see in sports.

After beating Louisville, the second question at the postseason press conference was naturally about keeping his team focused on the season’s first two games before one of the biggest regular-season events in program history.

“I could be naive, I guess. I don’t think it had anything to do with the game,” Golding said. “I think our kids worked their tails off this summer, worked their butts off in fall camp. We were not overlooking Louisville at all. It wasn’t like there were days that you were using for other people. We knew we had a lot on our hands, and we were going to have to play our best football to win. So, I don’t think our kids think like that.”

Kiffin’s departure led to Golding’s promotion from defensive coordinator. Golding coached Ole Miss to a pair of victories in the College Football Playoff before losing to Miami in the semifinals, 31-27. This will be his first full season in charge, so he has a lot to prove. He passed his first test by defeating feisty Louisville. Although for a while, it looked like he was in trouble when the Rebels squandered a 38-24 fourth-quarter lead.

Good news for Golding: he has one of the SEC’s best players. Trinidad Chambliss, an exceptional dual threat, marched the Rebels down the field for Lucas Carneiro’s winning field goal. Chambliss (336 passing yards, three touchdown passes, and 60 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown) bounced back from a slow start. When he’s at his best, Ole Miss is a national champion contender.

“It kind of felt like a therapy session,” Golding said of the game. “It didn’t go very well for half of it, but it was awesome.”

No one expects Ole Miss to have this kind of trouble against Charlotte. However, college football can be weird. And as much as Golding would like to downplay it, the showdown with LSU is looming.

Perhaps some lessons from facing Louisville will help the Rebels going forward.

“That was a heavyweight fight,” Golding said. “That was a good football team. And we got punched in the mouth a lot. We didn’t always respond the right way. And that was the one thing that we talked about this whole week. You’re going to get punched in the face. It’s going to happen in this game, and are you going to pick yourself up or not? I think we had a lot of guys that did.”

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