ATHENS — Life without Lane Kiffin didn’t look all that different for Ole Miss in its most recent game.

The Rebels pounded Tulane 41-10 in the first round of the College Football Playoff. It was the second time Ole Miss played Tulane this year, with the Rebels winning 45-10 during the regular season.

For all that has been made of Kiffin and his departure to LSU, Ole Miss still has quarterback Trinidad Chambliss.

He gave Georgia plenty of problems the first time they met.

“Arguably the quarterback that may be playing the best in the country, in terms of his ability to make throws in all areas,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “I mean, the guy’s elite. He’s elite last time he played him. He’s just as elite or more elite now because he’s gotten more experience and more confidence.”

Chambliss finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting this season, one spot behind Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton. Chambliss powered Ole Miss to touchdowns on their first five drives against the Bulldogs when they met back on Oct. 18. He finished the game with 263 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns.

While Kiffin is no longer standing on the sidelines, the entire Ole Miss offensive staff is back in Oxford, helping push all the right buttons. Charlie Weis Jr. is the team’s offensive coordinator and play caller.

Given how much success Ole Miss had the first time around, Smart is more than wary of what the Rebels can do.

“The offensive coordinator and the staff is still all there,” Smart said. “So, I mean, they’re not going to make overhaul or make large changes, right? They got something that really works well.”

If there is one change, it could be the status of running back Kewan Lacy. He left the Tulane game with a shoulder injury in the third quarter.

Lacy is second in the country in rushing touchdowns, in addition to being Ole Miss’s leading running back.

“We’re still working through that right now,” Ole Miss coach Pete Golding said.” Obviously, several of those guys came back into the game after the injury occurred. Not feeling any issues on those. But we’re still working through some of the other ones.”

Losing Lacy could make Ole Miss more one-dimensional, something that proved costly against Georgia the first time around. In the fourth quarter of the 43-35 win, Ole Miss called just one run play, which ironically was its most successful play of the quarter. The Rebels scored no points in the final 15 minutes, despite entering the quarter with a 35-26 lead.

The 10 called pass plays in the fourth quarter for Ole Miss netted just one yard of offense.

Ole Miss did not let the one quarter derail its season, as the Rebels bounced back the next week with a win over Oklahoma.

“They do a really good job. They’re hard to stop,” Smart said. “They’re explosive for a reason. They have good players, they have good tempo, they have good schemes, and the quarterback makes things go and so does the back.”

The loss of Kiffin didn’t slow things down either. And while Smart has had a ton of success with in-season rematches — he’s 4-0 in such games — he knows this Ole Miss team is very capable of beating Georgia. Even without Kiffin.

“They’re playing at a really high level offensively,” Smart said. “I mean, Lane has something to do with that because he helped build it and get them there, but Charlie’s done a tremendous job calling the plays and doing those things.”