No. 16 Ole Miss earned 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 comeback hopes faded with 7:22 remaining when Carson Beck was intercepted on fourth down. The Bulldogs tried their luck on fourth-and-10 at the Ole Miss 27-yard line, but Beck’s pass was deflected before John Saunders Jr. intercepted it and wisely slid down the turf with players Georgians approaching him.

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

It’s the first home win against 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 a team SEC out of Alabama since a loss. in Florida in 2020.

Ole Miss fans were so excited about the victory that they stormed the field a little too early. Students and fans flooded the court with 16 seconds remaining while the Bulldogs still had the ball. The conclusion of the match had to be delayed so that fans could be evacuated from the field before the final play.

The fans finally had the opportunity 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 rushed for more than 600 total yards and ran for 300 yards in a 52-17 win over an Ole Miss team ranked seven places. lower than the Bulldogs at 9th in the CFP rankings.

This game was a focal point of the offseason for Ole Miss. Lane Kiffin made it a point to strengthen his defensive line via the transfer portal and added players like Princely Umanmielen from Florida and Walter Nolen from Texas A&M.

The offseason improvement was evident. The Rebels entered 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 Georgia’s line – and the Bulldogs were also unable to get anything done down the field.

Less than a year ago, Georgia averaged nearly 10 yards per carry in this game. On Saturday, the Bulldogs rushed 33 times for 59 yards after accounting for sacks.

The return of Jaxson Dart

The game couldn’t have started much worse for Ole Miss. Dart was sacked on the second play of the game as his left foot turned to the outside when he was tackled. On third down, Dart had a defender in his face and failed to throw 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 entered the locker room as Georgia took an early 7-0 lead.

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

He also played well, although he was clearly limited. Dart finished as Ole Miss’ leading rusher and completed 13 of 22 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown to Juice Wells.

How good is Georgia’s offense?

A cursory look at Georgia’s offensive statistics will show an offense that has not 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 struggled against the SEC’s top teams outside of an explosive second half against Alabama. And this has been particularly subject to turnover.

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

Beck failed to live up to his Heisman candidacy in the preseason and it’s clear that Georgia’s offense could use an explosive playmaker or two. There’s no Ladd McConkey, Brock Bowers or George Pickens to catch passes, and Frazier and Trevor Etienne haven’t replicated the mauling ground game we’ve seen from the Bulldogs in recent seasons.

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