The No. 5 Ole Miss Rebels will travel to Athens, Ga., to play the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 18 — only a week after Ole Miss’ narrow 24-21 victory over unranked Washington State.
Ole Miss was a 33.5-point favorite over the 3-2 Cougars, but the Rebels found themselves in a four-quarter battle.
Statistically, the Rebel offense had another strong outing led by quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who completed 20 passes for 253 passing yards and added a 15-yard rushing touchdown. Running back Kewan Lacy added 24 carries for 142, 5.9 yards a carry, while tight end Dae’Quan Wright caught four passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Still, the stats do not tell the entire story. Chambliss missed open receivers in all four quarters. He was sacked three times and fumbled in the red zone. Additionally, the offensive attack was heavy on runs up the middle and downfield shots, with little in between.
Ole Miss had trouble containing quarterback Zevi Eckhaus and the Washington State offense. While the Rebel defense did log 6.5 tackles for loss — including four sacks and two forced fumbles — it allowed 345 total yards and 21 points.
Following last Saturday’s nail-biter, the Rebels only fell one spot in the AP poll.
Georgia enters this game following a 20-10 victory at Auburn last weekend. The Bulldog offense has averaged 459 yards per game through five contests, but Auburn’s defense limited it to only 296 yards.
The Ole Miss offense averages 515.3 yards per game, fifth-highest in the country. The Rebel defense has stepped up the last three weeks, giving up 50 total points, compared to the 72 points that the unit yielded through the first three games of the season.
The Bulldogs found a way to win against Auburn following a less-than-ideal first half. In the first half, the Bulldogs allowed 10 points and 227 yards and scored only three of their own. In the second half, however, the Georgia defense gave up zero points and only 50 yards, while rattling off 17 unanswered points to seal the 20-10 victory.
On the season, Georgia averages 179 total yards of offense in the first half, compared to 236 yards in the second half. The Bulldogs also have seven more second-half touchdowns (17) than they do first-half touchdowns (10).
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin attributed Georgia’s resilience to stellar coaching.
“I think Kirby (Smart) has done that for a while with his teams,” Kiffin said in a press conference on Monday. “(You see this) even if you go back to Alabama last year, how that game started and their comeback. I think he does a really good job. Even as you watch him coach on the sidelines, you can’t even tell what the score is because he’s so into it.”
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton has played cleanly this season. He has thrown for 1,264 yards, six touchdown passes and just one interception.
Last season, the No. 11 Rebels got the best of the No. 6 Bulldogs in a rainy game in Oxford. Two years ago, though, it was a much different story. The No. 4 Bulldogs thrashed the No. 9 Rebels 52-17 in Athens, Ga.
Ole Miss has never beaten the Bulldogs twice in a row, so a win from the Rebels this weekend would be historic. Georgia, at 5-1, still has matchups against Florida, No. 21 Texas and undefeated No. 12 Georgia Tech, while Ole Miss 6-0, still has dates with SEC opponents No. 14 Oklahoma, South Carolina, Florida and Mississippi State.
Considering the rigor of each team’s remaining schedules, one thing is clear: Both teams need a win.
