OXFORD, Miss. -Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss finally broke the ceiling by winning the kind of showdown that could get them into the College Football Playoff and validate their spending on transfer portals.

Kirby Smart and Georgia, meanwhile, have more work to do after losing to someone other than Alabama for the first time since the 2020 season.

Takeaways from No. 16 Ole Miss’ 28-10 win over No. 3 Georgia on Saturday night, Ole Miss’ biggest win against an AP top-10 opponent since beating No. 3 Tennessee 38-0 in 1969:

The breakthrough for Ole Miss

This was the game Kiffin knew he had to win since last year when his team was defeated by Georgia in Athens. The talent shortage was too great, Kiffin acknowledged afterward, especially along the line, and when the season ended, the Rebels and their collective spent money to acquire transfers, including linemen Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen.

GO DEEPER

Ole Miss built a $10 million roster to reach the 12-team Playoff. What now if you lose 2?

But before Saturday, it all seemed like nothing. An embarrassing home loss to Kentucky and then a close loss at LSU put Ole Miss on the brink of almost certainly being out of the Playoff if it didn’t win.

The Rebels took the opportunity in this match. Jaxson Dart and the pass offense were explosive. The defensive front made its money by sacking Carson Beck five times, pressuring him other times and limiting the run.

This victory does not earn a bid, as the Rebels still need to win in Florida and then beat Mississippi State. Even then, it’s not entirely certain depending on how strong the rest of the field is, but a win over Georgia is a huge addition to the resume, especially if it involves a bid from these two teams.

And for Kiffin, it was an answer to the big questions that haunted him: He hadn’t coached a team to a victory over an AP top-five team since 2011, when his Southern California team defeated Oregon.

The questions for Georgia

Before the season, the Bulldogs knew their season could come down to how they did in three very tough road games: Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss. The result was 1-2, which could still be enough if they can beat Tennessee in Athens next. week, and avoid upsetting UMass or Georgia Tech.

Still, this loss says so much about what has made this a frustrating Georgia team.

The offense had a painful first half, save for a touchdown on the opening drive, but even that came after starting 21 yards from the end zone and making seven plays to get there. After that, Georgia’s next three drives yielded just 26 yards.

When the offense got going in the second half, it hung inside the 10 and settled for a field goal, only to have Nate Frazier fumble the ball away.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s defense was abused in the middle of the field, making a number of wide-open passes. After a dominant start – a sack on the second play, an interception on the next – Georgia looked outmatched.

Dart didn’t even have its top receiver, Tre Harris, who missed a second straight game. But receivers Jordan Watkins, Cayden Lee and Juice Wells flew open downfield, and the offensive line gave Dart time to hit them.

Once again, Georgia’s defense was wildly inconsistent: at times it looked like its old self, especially at Texas two games ago, and the first drive of this game. At times it looked pedestrian, like most of the rest of this game.

But credit for that also goes to Ole Miss, which got a spark from backup quarterback Austin Simmons – 64 yards on the second drive, when Dart briefly went to the locker room, and Dart picked it up there.

The loss marked the Bulldogs’ largest margin of defeat since the 37-10 loss to LSU in the 2019 SEC title game.

(Photo of Ole Miss running back Ulysses Bentley IV and Georgia defensive backs Dan Jackson (17) and KJ Bolden (4): Petre Thomas / Imagn Images)