The Ole Miss Rebels i know what test level awaits them Saturday afternoon when the Georgia Bulldogs come to town, but the growth of players like wide receiver Cayden Lee gives the Rebels more than a punch in this SEC matchup.

Lee, a sophomore from Kennesaw, Ga., will face a school from his home state this weekend, but he has grown as a player since the last time Ole Miss faced the Bulldogs, so much so that he is second in receiving team. yardage (615) in early November.

On Monday, Lee was made available to the media, where he fielded questions about whether or not he can feel his growth as a football player during a special campaign for him individually.

“I feel like I’ve always been blocked,” Lee said, “but confidence-wise, I feel like my confidence has grown a little bit. I feel like a team, we did really well. a freshman, the game is really fast, but when you get older and play a lot more, the game starts to slow down, you start being able to read defenses and things like that.”

Ole Miss’ offense put together its best performance yet in SEC play on Saturday as the Rebels beat Arkansas 63-31 in Fayetteville. Much of that day was wide receiver Jordan Watkins that broke multiple single-game records for the Rebels, and Lee said he “expected nothing less” from the veteran wideout during his performance.

Much of that expectation comes from the work Lee and his teammates have put in at practice, even during the offseason. To transfer Arkansas’ strong performance to a solid Georgia defense, the Rebels plan to continue to evaluate and improve inside the Manning Center.

“Georgia definitely has a very good defense,” Lee said. “We just have to be dialed in and listen to what our coaches tell us to do. Once we understand our game plan and watch a lot of film, I feel like we’re going to have a really good plan.

“I feel like for us, it’s all about us. Just not looking too much at who the opponent is, not looking at the logo and putting together another dominant performance and firing on all cylinders.”

This may be easier said than done against a program with the pedigree that Georgia it does, but this game carries a lot of weight for Ole Miss. If the Rebels win, they stay (and likely improve) in the College Football Playoff discussion. With a loss, however, those dreams are pretty much out the window.

In Lee’s words, Ole Miss will need to be “shut down” if it wants to keep its playoff hopes alive after Saturday.