ATHENS —Kirby Smart acknowledged he’s going to need Georgia’s fans on Saturday if he’s to beat No. 5 Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin.

The Georgia coach used part of his opening statement to acknowledge the Georgia fans who made the trip to Auburn this past weekend. He felt their noise had an impact on Auburn’s ability to execute.

He wants much more of that this Saturday when the Bulldogs should have a significant homefield advantage.

“We need the best atmosphere we’ve ever had in Sanford Stadium,” Smart said.

After challenging his own fans, Smart went right into praising Kiffin. The two worked together on Nick Sabana’s Alabama staff in 2014 and 2015.

Smart and Georgia won the first matchup between the two coaches in 2023. Ole Miss returned the favor last season, upsetting Georgia in Oxford, Mississippi.

The home team has won the first two meetings between the two coaches with the most SEC wins since the start of the 2021 season.

While Smart’s prowess comes on the defensive side of the ball, Kiffin is highly thought of because of his work with quarterbacks.

“His having impact on the quarterback and the offensive play and the ability to communicate with the quarterback, whether it’s by headset or by sideline, he does a great job of getting the quarterback’s attention and getting them in the right plays based on looks,” Smart said. “Probably better than anybody else in the country.”

Austin Simmons was thought to be the guy for Ole Miss to start the season, but an ankle injury has sidelined him for the last five games. Simmons came off the bench last year when Jaxson Dart was injured to lead an Ole Miss touchdown drive against Georgia.

Trindad Chambliss has taken over for Simmons, pushing the Ole Miss offense to wins over Tulane, Arkansas and LSU. Saturday would be the first road start for Chambliss, who has accounted for 1,567 passing and rushing yards to go along with 10 combined touchdowns.

“He does an unbelievable job, and we need to make that extremely difficult,” Smart said. “So the issue and the challenge has been issued for our fan base to be extremely difficult for them to communicate and do things offensively that they do, especially at home and sometimes on the road when it’s not the right environment.”

Georgia is 2-0 on the road this season, weathering a tough start against Auburn this past week to win 20-10. The Bulldogs saw their 33-game home winning streak snapped earlier this year with a home loss to Alabama.

There was some talk about last year’s Ole Miss game at the Monday press conference, especially as Ole Miss fans stormed the field after the game. Ole Miss was fined for the action but gladly paid it for the memory.

From the Georgia perspective, that game doesn’t seem to linger. Perhaps because it was such a forgettable performance for Georgia — the 18-point loss was the biggest margin of defeat for Georgia since a 2019 loss to LSU — but more so because these teams are so different.

Dart is now the starting quarterback for the New York Giants, while Georgia starter Carson Beck is now the starting quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes.

“Yeah, this is a whole new year,” Georgia’s current quarterback Gunner Stockton said. “We’re definitely excited for Ole Miss, and it’ll be a great environment, great SEC game.”

Smart expects something similar on Saturday. He hopes both his fans and players answer the call.

“Not a big revenge guy,” Smart said. “They coulda said that last year about us because they came here and played the year before. I’m big into what gets us to play our best, and that usually comes from intrinsic stuff for me, not looking in the past. Those teams were different teams. This team’s a different team.”

Saturday’s game will be set for a 3:30 p.m. ET start time. It will be the first time Georgia hosts a team ranked in the top 5 of the AP Poll since the 2022 game against the Tennessee Volunteers.

Kirby Smart challenges Georgia football fans