No. No. 16 Ole Miss scored its biggest win of the Lane Kiffin era and boosted its College Football Playoff hopes with a 28-10 victory over No. 3 Georgia on Saturday.

Georgia’s hopes of a comeback disappeared with 7:22 to go when Carson Beck was intercepted on fourth down. The Bulldogs went for it on fourth-and-10 at the Ole Miss 27-yard line, but Beck’s pass was tipped before John Saunders Jr. intercepted him and slid wide to the grass as Georgia players closed in on him.

The Ole Miss offense then sealed the game when Jaxson Dart stepped up despite playing much of the game with a left ankle injury. Dart broke off a 28-yard run on the ensuing possession as the Rebels put the game away with a field goal to put Georgia behind by 15 out of timeouts with 3:22 to go.

It’s the first home win over a team ranked in the top two of the AP Top 25 in Ole Miss history, and the first time Georgia (7-2, 5-2 SEC) has lost to an SEC since losing team outside Alabama. to Florida in 2020.

The Ole Miss fans were so excited about the win that they stormed the field a little too early. Students and fans flooded the field with 16 seconds left as the Bulldogs still had the ball. The conclusion of the match had to be postponed so that fans could be removed from the field ahead of a final match.

Finally, fans got the chance to celebrate on the field.

Ole Miss’ defense dominates

The Rebels (8-2, 4-2) were embarrassed in Athens in 2023. A season ago, Georgia gained more than 600 yards and ran for 300 yards in a 52-17 victory over a seventh-ranked Ole Miss team. lower than the Bulldogs at No. 9 in the CFP rankings.

That game was an offseason focal point for Ole Miss. Lane Kiffin made a point of strengthening his defensive line through the transfer portal, adding players like Florida’s Princely Umanmielen and Texas A&M’s Walter Nolen.

The offseason improvement up front was evident. The Rebels came into the game leading the SEC in sacks and added five more to their total on Saturday. The pass rush was constantly in Beck’s face – especially on the left side of the Georgia line – and the Bulldogs were also unable to get anything going on the ground.

Less than a year ago, Georgia averaged almost 10 yards per carry in this game. On Saturday, the Bulldogs rushed 33 times for 59 yards after sacks were taken into account.

Dart’s comeback

The game couldn’t have started much worse for Ole Miss. Dart was sacked on the second play of the game because his left foot turned out when he was tackled. On third down, Dart had a defender in his face and didn’t step on a throw that sailed into the arms of Georgia’s Dan Jackson after Dart’s arm was hit.

The senior QB limped off the field and into the locker room as Georgia took a quick 7-0 lead.

Freshman Austin Simmons replaced Dart on the second drive of the game and led Ole Miss to a TD. But Dart returned from the locker room and played the rest of the game.

He also played well despite being clearly limited. Dart finished as Ole Miss’ leading rusher and was 13 of 22 passing for 199 yards and a touchdown to Juice Wells.

How good is Georgia’s offense?

A cursory look at Georgia’s offensive stats will show an offense that hasn’t been bad by any means. The Bulldogs are still averaging more than six yards per play this season and their quarterbacks have completed two-thirds of their passes.

But Georgia’s offense has struggled against the top teams in the SEC, aside from an explosive second half against Alabama. And it was especially turnover sensitive.

The Bulldogs turned the ball over four times against the Crimson Tide and scored three times against Texas. The Bulldogs turned it over three times again Saturday when Beck had a fumble to go along with that interception and running back Nate Frazier also fumbled.

Beck was unable to fulfill his Heisman candidacy in the preseason and it’s clear that the Georgia offense could use some explosive playmakers. There’s no Ladd McConkey or Brock Bowers or George Pickens to catch passes, and Frazier and Trevor Etienne haven’t replicated the shredding ground game we’ve seen from the Bulldogs in recent seasons.

But the playoffs are still well within the Bulldogs’ sights if Georgia can bounce back with a home win over No. 7 Tennessee in Week 12.