The No. 16 Ole Miss Rebels find themselves on the outside looking in at a College Football Playoff spot, and blocking the doorway is a perennial national heavyweight and Southeastern Conference powerhouse, the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs.
The teams meet Saturday in Oxford, Miss., with the Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 SEC) looking to strengthen their bid for a fourth straight conference championship appearance.
Following Tuesday’s release of the season’s first CFP rankings, Georgia landed within the top three for the fourth straight year. Ole Miss (7-2, 3-2) has appeared in four consecutive initial CFP rankings as well, as high as 10th in 2023.
“It’s a great challenge this week, one we’re excited about,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “I don’t talk about playoffs and championships normally, because I think it’s more about how you prepare, but I told my players that you still have all of those things alive. In my opinion, anybody that’s going to win it is going to have to go through Georgia at some point.”
Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart leads the nation with 3,210 passing yards and a 192.4 passing efficiency rating, to go along with 21 touchdowns to just three interceptions. Dart leads an Ole Miss team that wants to avenge last year’s 52-17 loss to the Bulldogs in Athens, Ga. The Rebels were 8-1 going into that game.
“That game didn’t go very well a year ago,” Kiffin said. “But every game and season is independent and different. I think we’re in a better place.”
Georgia’s defense enters the weekend coming off two impressive showings. In beating then-No.1 Texas 30-15 on Oct. 19, the Bulldogs allowed just 259 total yards. Last week, Georgia gave up only 228 to Florida.
Ole Miss appears to be the unit’s biggest test this season, as the Rebels rank second nationally in yards per game (555.4) and fourth in points with 42.1 per contest. They followed a 26-14 win over Oklahoma on Oct. 26 with last weekend’s 63-31 drubbing of host Arkansas.
Georgia has won four straight games since losing 41-34 at Alabama on Sept. 28. The Bulldogs are coming off a 34-20 victory over rival Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. The heavily-favored Bulldogs trailed the Gators by a touchdown at halftime, and were tied at 20 in the fourth quarter before a pair of late touchdowns iced the game.
Quarterback Carson Beck’s inconsistency arose again in that game. One of the preseason’s Heisman Trophy candidates, Beck threw three interceptions for the second straight game and has been picked off 11 times this season.
The fifth-year senior did throw for 309 yards and two touchdowns in the win, and his 2,302 passing yards on the season rank third in the SEC.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart says Beck had more positive plays than negative on Saturday, but the mistakes are apparent.
“I think I was more pleased than anything watching the tape, because of 73 snaps, he made 68 winning decisions,” Smart said. “Sixty-eight of 73 is pretty good in any sport. I think the concern is that the mistakes can’t be catastrophic. You’ve got to make good decisions. The plays that he turned the ball over on weren’t great looks. You’ve got to play for the next down and move on.”
Georgia leads the all-time series 33-12-1 and has won 11 of the last 12 against the Rebels.
