Another week, another exciting SEC clash on the road! Kirby Smart and Georgia are looking to tackle Ole Miss next after adjusting their big Alabama loss with a win over No. 1 Texas. The projection calls for a close game while keeping the Rebels a bit higher than the Bulldogs. Whether or not Ole Miss will have a hard time pulling off an upset on the grove, their recruiting streak has been dumped ahead of the heavyweight fight. Thanks to the Bulldogs’ latest masterstroke off the court. Elite Wide Receiver Vance Spafford is now officially a dawg.

One of the top prospects out West in the 2026 class just spilled the bean of his commitment to Georgia weeks after he returned home from a game visit to Athens. “When I went on my visit there earlier this season, I just noticed how amazing their offensive line was, how much time Carson Beck had to throw, so why not join a team that is going to throw the ball like that? The program will always attract the best players, and it’s got a winning culture, so that’s something that really was hard to turn down for me,” explained the WR, who was already destined to be in SEC. However, it’s a loss for Lane Kiffin as Ole Miss was heavily under the top 8 choices of Spafford unless and until he made up his mind about the Bulldogs.

Georgia is, however, not the end goal for the four-star receiver from Mission Viejo. His dream stretches beyond. ”When you’re at Georgia practicing against the best every day, it prepares you to play against the best and it’s the closest to being in the NFL, which is where I want to go,” said the California prospect.

Spafford also has a clear vision of how he would fit into the Georgia bubble to start making contributions as soon as possible. He has been subjected to strategic comparison with NFL legend Ladd McConkey. However, as far as he can make it from his limited interaction with the coaches, he will be given more leeway and push than McConkey as he possesses more speed and versatility at his age.

The No 15. rated national recruit made a critical choice to go with the Bulldogs, overlooking the offers from a slew of programs like Nebraska, Arizona, TCU, Washington, Oregon, and Notre Dame. But The Rebels bear the biggest shock to their core, and here’s why.

Vance Spafford went beyond his emotion to choose Georgia over Ole Miss

Before becoming the center of attention of the high-graded schools, the Top247 wide receiver Vance Spafford used to root for the Rebels during each fall. Quite unsurprisingly, the interest has grown as he stacked up years and experience in his career and eventually, the childhood favorite team was considered Georgia’s most suitable competitor in this race. In past interviews, the current Georgia commit also mentioned how he sees Ole Miss as one of the top five future prospects of his choice.

Just a month back, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound pass catcher was on the watch of Ole Miss’ dominating win over the FCS Furman alongside Luke Fahe. Although both the top targets showed zero desperation to get onto the board, the game-day experience was undoubtedly impressive.

‘‘Ole Miss is big on my list. It has been my dream school since I was little. I don’t even know why, but I think it came from watching Blindside. All I know is, since I was really young, I always really liked them. Then they have those blue jerseys, and blue is my favorite color,” Spafford said, explaining his innate emotional tie with the Rebels. Maybe it was Kirby Smart’s usual strategic lure in the recruitment front that won over a childhood sentiment!