No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs dominated by Rebels in loss to No. 16 Ole Miss

Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2 SEC), which entered the game with two SEC losses by a total of six points to LSU and Kentucky, moves on to face Florida in Gainesville on Nov. 23 and closes the season at home against Mississippi State.

“I told our team that I felt like they were probably the most talented team that we had played, counting both sides of the ball and special teams,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “They have elite specialists, and they have really good players on defense and skill positions on offense. Give their quarterback credit. He made a lot of really good throws, and their defense affected us with the pass rush. A lot of credit goes to their staff. They really should be undefeated.”

It was the Rebels’ best win in history in terms of the Associated Press rankings, with Georgia at No. 2 in that poll. They will, however, have to pay Georgia $250,000 for storming the field, as per the SEC’s policy.

The Bulldogs has lost two games in a season for the first time since 2020, when they fell to Alabama and Florida.

As for the battle of great quarterbacks that ABC was hoping to get, that was a one-sided affair. Ole Miss senior Jaxson Dart, while not nearly as prolific as a week ago, was lethally efficient. After throwing an interception and getting knocked out of the game on the Rebels’ opening possession, Dart was back on the field for the third series on and finished 13-of-22 passing for 199 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another 50 yards in Georgia’s worst loss since losing to LSU 37-10 in the 2019 SEC Championship game.

“To win by three scores in this game is just awesome,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “That was a year’s worth of worth, after they beat us like they did last year. I’m just really proud of everybody.”

Georgia, then No. 2, defeated No. 9 Ole Miss 52-17 one year ago in Athens.

The troubles continued for Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, who threw his 12th interception in the past six games and was sacked five times, fumbling twice. After not getting the ball into the end zone Saturday, the fifth-year senior has only 10 touchdowns in that span. He finished 20-of-31 passing.

“It’s really not about how I play but how we play,” said Beck, who lost for just the third time as Georgia’s starting quarterback. “We just try to go 1-0 every week, and we obviously weren’t able to accomplish that. Obviously with the outcome of tonight, we can’t go back and change it. it is what it is. Well, guess what? Being in the SEC means next week we’ve got a big game.”

Georgia had allowed only 10 sacks in the previous eight games. More damaging, though, was the Bulldogs’ inability to run the football. They finished with 59 yards rushing and 245 total. Georgia’s sole touchdown drive covered only 21 yards.

“It’s great to look at that stat line and know that it was not the Georgia defense that dominated,” Kiffin said. “That doesn’t happen often.”

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium has been a tough venue for Smart. Including a 45-14 loss in 2016 — the worst of his career — Georgia’s ninth-year coach falls to 0-2 here.

After Georgia jumped to a quick 7-0 lead, the Rebels went on a 22-3 run. The Bulldogs were on the move late in the third quarter had a first down at the Ole Miss 29. But on second down, freshman running back Nate Frazier fumbled on a short reception out of the backfield, and Walter Nolen recovered the ball to end the threat at the 3:26 mark of the third quarter.

Starting from its own 9, Beck had Georgia’s offense on the move again. After some deft work converting four third downs — one of them thanks to an Ole Miss facemask penalty — the Bulldogs could not convert a fifth. Dillon Bell had his second drop of the game on a slant pass that likely would have been short of the first down.

Rather than try what would have been a 44-yard field goal, Smart elected to go for it on fourth-and-10 at the Ole Miss 27. Beck’s pass for Dominic Lovett was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by safety John Saunders, who returned it a few yards before sliding down at the Rebels’ 25-yard line.

There was still 7:22 to play. But that quickly became moot as Ole Miss flew down the field again. Helped by a 28-yard Dart scramble, the Rebels were quickly in Georgia territory again.

Dominating the Bulldogs from the second possession on, the Rebels were just shy of 400 yards on their last one.

It seemed like the game could not have started any better for Georgia. The Bulldogs won the opening coin toss, deferred to the second half, knocked Dart out of the game on the Rebels’ first possession, recorded an interception deep in Ole Miss territory and scored a few plays later on an almost all-runs possession. Georgia led 7-0 less than 4½ minutes into the game.

Turns out, getting Dart out of the game early wasn’t at all advantageous. Redshirt freshman backup Austin Simmons stepped in on the next series and promptly led the Rebels down the field on a mostly stress-free, 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Simmons threw six passes on the possession, none going for fewer than nine yards and one good for 13, which converted a fourth down into a first at Georgia’s 32.

Another 11-yard completion converted a third-and-8, and the Rebels lined up quickly to get into the the end zone on a 9-yard run by Ulysses Bentley.

With the score now tied at 7-7, the rain-soaked home crowd was reinspired. Georgia further excited the masses by mishandling the kickoff return. A three-and-out that featured a penalty a dropped pass by Bell gave the ball right back to the Rebels via punt.

Now Dart was back under center and took over at midfield. After his first two passes following reentry went for 38 yards, it wasn’t looking good for the visiting team. But the Bulldogs actually bowed up in the red zone and forced a 23-yard field goal. The Rebels now led 10-7 with 1:03 remaining in the quarter.

Georgia was three-and-out again when London Humphreys could not hang on to a third-down pass because of a hard hit by Saunders. And once again Ole Miss made good on the exchange.

Again, Dart’s first two passes went for 38 yards, and the Rebels were quickly in business in Bulldogs’ territory. A 7-yard tackle-for-loss by Georgia’s Damon Wilson put Ole Miss behind the sticks at the 28, and they’d settle for another Caden Davis field goal, this one from 43 yards. It was 13-7 with 12:12 remaining in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs finally put together a semblance of a drive, helped by a defensive holding call against the Mississippians. Facing fourth-and-6 at the Rebels’ 45, Smart elected to punt.

It seemed a wise move, especially after Brett Thorson’s punt went out of bounds on the Ole Miss 1. But instead of keeping the Rebels backed up, Dart completed a 16-yard pass to Jordan Watkins on third-and-9 to get them away from the end zone. Those two would connect for 33 yards on the next play, and just like that Ole Miss was back in Georgia territory.

The Bulldogs forced them into fourth-and-7 at the 36, and Kiffin was going for it before he had to call timeout to prevent a delay-of-game penalty. The decision to kick a field goal instead proved prudent as Davis’ 53-yard field goal could have been good from 63. That made the score 16-7.

Davis’s five field goals in the game was the most since Luke Logan also kicked five in 28.

The primary difference in the game, though, was turnovers. Georgia lost two fumbles and had one interception. The led to only three points for the Rebels, but the Bulldogs are minus-3 in turnover margin for the season. Georgia’s opponents have scored 37 points off 15 turnovers.

“We obviously struggled in a lot of areas,” Smart said. “Miscues, mistakes, things that are really important.”