The Rebels hosted their most difficult opponent this past weekend — then No. 3 Georgia. Every Rebel fan knew that a loss to the Bulldogs would crush Ole Miss’ playoff hopes.
Facing one of the best defensive fronts in the country, quarterback Jaxson Dart and the offense had to show up and perform to put points on the board. With special appearances from Barstool Sports and SEC Nation, the pressure was on for the Rebels.
The defense showed up and showed out, holding Georgia to just 10 points. Ole Miss finished a solid defensive performance with five sacks and nine tackles for loss and held the Bulldogs to 59 rushing yards.
After two field storms and two broken goalposts, the Rebels proved they are in it for the long haul with a shot at slipping into the 12-team playoff.
A solid Rebel offense — no matter the lineup
This offense earned its right to be named one of the most explosive offenses in college football. Even with Dart not playing at full capacity, they still put up points.
When Dart was injured at the beginning of the game, backup redshirt freshman quarterback Austin Simmons had to enter the game. This resulted in a 10 play, 75 yard drive that was capped off by a Ulysses Bentley rushing touchdown — the first of the game.
The wide receiver core is an unstoppable unit consisting of Tre Harris, Cayden Lee, Juice Wells and Jordan Watkins. For instance, wide receiver Lee came to play, stepping up in the absence of leading receiver Harris. Lee had 4 catches for 81 yards.
Aside from the not-so-pretty stats on paper from Saturday’s performance — only completing 199 passing yards — Dart still pushed his total passing yards to 3,409. This is second in the nation and only about 100 yards behind the top passer in the nation, Miami quarterback Cameron Ward.
Dart ended the game as the winningest quarterback in Ole Miss history, while kicker Caden Davis went five-for-five on field goals and earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
The defense is elite — regardless of the opponent
Despite the rainy conditions, the Ole Miss front seven came to play, notching five sacks and nine tackles for loss on the day and pushing their total sack count to 46 and their total tackles for loss count to 103 — both of which lead the nation.
Jared Ivey and Princely Umanmielen teamed up once again, both producing two sacks individually and two tackles for loss. Suntarine Perkins also counted a sack and a tackle for loss.
The Rebels’ defense was able to strip quarterback Carson Beck and running back Nate Frazier two times and recovered two of the fumbles. Tallying sacks, tackles for loss and fumbles, this defense can be a game changer and is something that Ole Miss teams of old have been missing.
The secondary limited Beck to a 55.9 QBR and did not allow a single passing touchdown. The Rebels finished with five pass deflections and an interception.
Ole Miss playoff dreams are still alive
This season has been a whirlwind for the Rebels — possibly one of the best in recent memory. Almost every major team has at least one loss, and there are no guaranteed wins or losses anymore. If there was a season to institute the 12 team playoff, this would be the year.
Technically, Ole Miss is not out of the fight for the SEC championship, but the road to get there requires many upsets and perfect scenarios to play out. However, there is still a great chance to make the playoffs, but Ole Miss has to win out the rest of the season. One more loss and the Rebels are out of playoff contention.
This year of college football has been a season of upsets and surprises; Alabama lost to perennial SEC punching bag Vanderbilt, and then No. 4 Miami was upset by an unranked Georgia Tech. Anybody can beat anybody this season and if there was a year for the Rebels, this is it. Many key players are going to be graduating this season, and Ole Miss has to take advantage.
