After tough road games at Kentucky, Alabama, and Texas, Kirby Smart said during Wednesday’s SEC Teleconference he has a good idea of what it’s going to take Saturday afternoon at Ole Miss (3:30 p.m., ABC).

From a noise standpoint, Smart expects the environment at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium to be every bit as raucous as what his team saw in each of those other venues.

So, while those games can give his Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1) an idea of what they’ll be dealing with, it’s his team’s running game that will have to play a pivotal role.

“I mean, it's relative to your ability to run the ball,” said Smart, when asked in what ways those three games could help his team on Saturday.

“I mean, it's a direct correlation on the road in the SEC to be able to run the ball,” Smart said. “You protect your quarterback. You help your quarterback when you can find success in the run game and be physical to the line of scrimmage.”

If the statistics are to be believed, Ole Miss will not make it easy.

The Rebels’ run defense is the best in the SEC, giving up just under 85 yards of rushing offense per game, although in five conference games, SEC foes have fared a bit better, averaging 120.4.

Ironically, Georgia is averaging 120.5 yards rushing in its six conference games, with Trevor Etienne responsible for most of the yardage.

Etienne suffered a rib injury against Florida and had to leave the game, but after practice on Tuesday, Smart sounded optimistic that the junior would be able to play against the Rebels.

Combined with his team’s road experience, Smart hopes it makes for a winning combination in Oxford.

“Having played on the road multiple times this year, it helps,” Smart said. “But if you're in third and long, it's not going to matter. You've got to win first and second down to stay on schedule.”

• About Georgia’s running back room, Smart was asked how long he stays within the framework before he has to start doing different things as the result of the team’s recent injuries at the position.

“Well, we are who we are. I mean, part of your job as a coach is, to begin the year to figure out your top players. We rank our players in the spring, we rank our players in fall camp. And we go through it, we don't do it by position, it's not position-specific. So, if you got all these great wideouts, then you might need to be 10 personnel,” Smart said. “If you got all these great backs, then you might need to be three back sets. I mean, you gotta get your best football players on the field and figure out how to use them. So, we're at the point with injuries, attrition, and people not hearing more that we have to figure out who our best combination of players are on the field and use that set.

“That's what good offensive minds try to do use football players, not just plays. I mean, we got guys that are, we got receivers, we got guys that tight ends, we got guys at back that are still good players. They just might not have as much experience as the other guys.”

• Smart was also asked if he’s added any elements to his program to help players deal with NIL, along with the expectations and criticisms that could come their way as a result.

“There’s not a program in America that's worth a dime that doesn't have that. I mean, we have programming in for players just like the NFL does. Whether it's financial education, the pressures of social media, and the scrutiny you're under as a football player related to your NIL,” Smart said. “Nobody really understands the pressure these guys are under. They're the breadwinner of their family and probably 50 to 60 percent of the cases on our team. So, they're having to navigate financial situations where they're sending home money to their parents, supporting their brothers and sisters, and doing all kinds of things at 18 and 19, that's unchartered territory for kids.

“Yeah, it's an unintended consequence, but what's the alternative? That they don't support them and they don't get the money? So yeah, there's definitely pressures there and there's programming here to try to help them with that.”

• Another day, another question was posed to Smart about his relationship with Lane Kiffin. Wednesday, a reporter from Texas wanted to know if Smart, Kiffin, and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian ever texted or communicated after games, and whether their former boss Nick Saban ever chimed in.

“No, Coach Saban, he's old school. He's not a guy that communicates much by text. He likes to directly talk and communicate. He's not interested in the text banter back and forth,” Smart said. “I mean, we're playing each other, whether it's Sark or Lane. There's not much communication back and forth. It's understood; mutual respect. You're getting ready to play each other. And in pregame, you see each other shake each other's hands. It's not really about us. It's about the universities and the programs and the kids playing the game. I mean, I talk to both those guys in the offseason and different times, but not really in the week of a game.”

• Smart agreed. Yes, this looks like a different Ole Miss team than the one that was shellacked by the Bulldogs last year in Athens.

“Well, I mean, the biggest difference is their defense. I mean, they're really good. They’re arguably the best defense in the country in terms of sacks, and tackles for a loss within the SEC. And it's a product of their line-of-scrimmage play. I mean, they upgraded across the board,” Smart said. "I mean, last year was the first year and he didn't have the personnel to play like he wanted to. He was having to do it with smoke and mirrors. Now he's got really good players. Players make schemes better. They haven't had to rely totally on their offense. With the defense, if anything, they've leaned on their defense, and that defense has really kept them in games and almost won games for them. They could very easily be undefeated.”