With No. 10 Ole Miss’ playoff hopes in the balance, the Rebels lost to the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs 42-7 on Saturday, Nov. 7. Ole Miss was not cohesive as a team, and Georgia dominated in all phases of the game. The Rebels dropped to 6-3 overall, and their playoff hopes are all but extinguished.
First half
Like most games, Ole Miss did not start off well. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss’ slightly overthrown pass to wide receiver Horatio Fields on third down ended the drive. The Rebels have punted or turned the ball over on the first drive in every game except against Charlotte this season.
After the punt, Georgia struck immediately with a 46-yard run by running back Nate Frazier. He caught the defense lacking and juked out multiple Rebel defenders. Nate Frazier took another handoff to bring the Bulldogs down to the 4-yard line before an end-around rush by wide receiver Craig Dandridge Jr. finished off the drive.
Chambliss rectified his previous errors by bulleting a pass to Fields over the middle. He followed that up by almost throwing an interception directly into the hands of Georgia’s Khalil Barnes. A false start penalty on 4th-and-2 ended any hopes of converting, and Oscar Bird punted it away.
Georgia’s ground game helped open up the rest of their offense. By relying on quarterback Gunner Stockton’s legs and running backs Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens, the Bulldogs were able to freeze defenses to the run, which opened up massive passing lanes.
Stockton was able to fit a pass right over cornerback Jay Crawford’s head, leading to a 58-yard touchdown to wide receiver Talyn Taylor.
Down 14-0, Ole Miss needed to respond. After a few missed passes, Chambliss used his legs on third down to extend the drive to about midfield. After the drive stalled, kicker Lucas Carneiro’s 56-yard field goal attempt was short.
Georgia’s momentum could not be stopped. The Bulldogs ended the first quarter with a drive down to the Ole Miss 8-yard line. The team had a total of 127 rushing yards — 72 of which came from Fraizer alone — and averaged 12 yards a carry.
At the start of the second quarter, Georgia capped off the drive with an end-around touchdown pass to tight end Ethan Barbour, giving Georgia a 21-0 lead.
Reminiscent of the game against Texas, the Rebels faced a large deficit early. After an unsuccessful rush up the middle by running back Makhi Frazier, Chambliss endured a rare sack, one of the few this season. Chambliss completed a pass to tight end Caleb Odom, but he was about 12 yards short of first down. Yet again, Bird punted it away.
Both sides of the ball started out poorly for the Rebels. The offense lacked explosiveness and the defense could not stop the Bulldog offense on the ground or through the air.
Ole Miss finally seemed to have a lucky break when Stockton threw up a terrible deep ball that was picked off. However, a roughing the passer penalty wiped the interception off the board and gave Georgia more room to work.
A 7-yard sack by defensive tackle Will Echoles pushed Georgia back and forced the Bulldogs to punt. However, the Bulldogs downed the punt at the Rebels’ 2-yard line.
The poor starting field position for the Rebels crippled their drive from the start, and they were forced to punt for a fourth time.
The Bulldogs’ ensuing drive was delayed when the Ole Miss student section started throwing wristbands, drinks and anything else they could find onto the field. They were protesting what they believed was an unfair pass interference penalty.
Despite the crowd interference, Georgia scored off Stockton’s legs with a 15-yard touchdown to put the Dawgs up 28-0.
With three minutes left in the half, the Rebels needed any gasp of effort they could muster to stop the onslaught. With their season on the line, the Rebels actually started driving. Relying on a mix of sideline catches and swing passes to Makhi Frazier, they got down to about the 14-yard line.
However, Chambliss got sacked again, this time for 16 yards. The following play, Chambliss faced pressure again and tried to throw out of the sack, but ended up throwing a shaky interception to KJ Bolden.
With another opportunity to score before the end of the half, Georgia ended up trying for a field goal but missed ending the half 28-0 in favor of the Dawgs.
There is not much to say about the first half performance. Ole Miss was terrible in all three phases of the game. Punting four times, missing a field goal and then throwing an interception is not a great half to say the least. In contrast, Georgia had four touchdown drives, one punt and one field goal attempted.
Second half
To start the second half, Georgia’s drive stalled. Three straight incomplete passes by Stockton killed the drive before Georgia’s second punt of the day.
Ole Miss was finally stringing together positive plays. A pass interference penalty combined with a 26-yard pass to Fields led Ole Miss across midfield. Fields had two more catches for nine total yards to push the Rebels even farther.
The drive ended after Chambliss was pressured heavily multiple times, resulting in another sack and a punt by Bird.
The Ole Miss defense finally made a good play with a 3-yard tackle for loss in the backfield. After five straight rushes, Georgia punted right back. On third down, Chambliss missed on open receiver. Makhi Frazier converted on fourth down, but on the next play, Chambliss got hit as he was trying to throw and fumbled, ending the drive.
Georgia started with the ball at Ole Miss’ 22-yard line. On third-and-goal, Stockton faced pressure, escaped and then threw a dart to Taylor in the end zone to put the Bulldogs up 35-0.
Running back Shekai Mills-Knight scored a rushing touchdown to give the Rebels some semblance of honor, but it was too little, too late.
Georgia heaped on the shame with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Stockton to Taylor to put the Bulldogs up 42-7.
With nine minutes left to go, Ole Miss subbed in Deuce Knight at quarterback, who promptly got sacked. The drive ended with another Bird punt.
Georgia ended the game by running out the clock.
What’s next?
Ole Miss will limp to Norman, Okla., to take on the Sooners in the afternoon timeslot on Saturday, Nov. 14.
