The Ole Miss football team is officially back in the hunt to compete for a national championship after a convincing 28-10 win over Georgia on Saturday.
Coming in at No. 11 in the latest College Football Playoff poll, Lane Kiffin’s squad has a much clearer path to being one of the 12 teams vying to be crowned the top team in the sport this year after ousting a perennial powerhouse.
If the playoff happened to be held today, Ole Miss would be playing No. 4 Penn State in Happy Valley. The game would be a rematch of last season’s Peach Bowl. The Rebels won that game 38-25 to complete the program’s first-ever 11-win season.
Nonetheless, the task is not yet complete for Ole Miss as two regular season games remain on the docket. For now, Kiffin and company will relish slaying a giant while simultaneously preparing for the final stretch of the season.
Georgia (7-2, 5-2 SEC) came into the matchup against Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2 SEC) with a 48-0 record against teams not named Alabama in four seasons. The Rebels had their backs against the wall with no room for error in the team’s pursuit to make an inaugural appearance in the College Football Playoff and revenge on their mind.
Just one year ago, the Bulldogs trounced Ole Miss 52-17 in Athens, prompting Kiffin and company to do some soul-searching. The response by the Rebels’ staff, key veteran players, and fans contributing to the university’s exclusive name, image, and likeness collective resulted in Ole Miss adding quality talent to its roster through the transfer portal. A strong high school class also complemented the transfer additions.
After falling in two early conference games, to Kentucky and LSU, critics began to question whether or not the Rebels could win at a high level, even after all the work the coaching staff had done ahead of the season. On Saturday, Ole Miss proved it could not just go toe-to-to with the big dogs, but also amass a dominant victory. A full recap of the Rebels’ matchup with Georgia can be found here.
A multitude of players have contributed heavily to Ole Miss’ success this season. At the top of team leaders is veteran field general Jaxson Dart, who elected to forego a shot at the NFL to run it back once more with the Rebels. Dart demonstrated stalwart leadership against Georgia when he bounced back from an early injury and turnover and helped lead his team to the needed win.
Dart, the winningest signal-caller in Ole Miss history is currently a Maxwell and Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist. This season, he’s recorded 3,409 passing yards and 22 touchdowns with four interceptions and has an efficiency rating of 188.6 — the best in the SEC.
Another success story for this Rebel squad is Pete Golding’s defense. The unit collectively leads the nation in both sacks (46) and tackles for loss (103), while also ranking top-10 in rushing defense, scoring defense, and red zone defense.
Two of the group’s brightest stars, linebacker Chris Paul, Jr. and defensive tackle Walter Nolen, have been named Bednarik Award semifinalists Paul has 74 total tackles, with 10 of them being for a loss, 2.5 sacks, nine quarterback hurries, four pass breakups, and one fumble recovery. Nolen, one of the hottest commodities in the transfer portal one year ago, is responsible for 32 tackles, with 7.5 being for a loss, four sacks, three QB hurries, two fumble recoveries, and two pass breakups
Defensive end Jared Ivey was most recently named Bronco Nagurski National Player of the Week. On the year, he has 31 total tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks, four quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, two pass breakups, and one fumble recovery. Ivey was also named the SEC’s co-defensive player of the week alongside Rebel edge rusher Princely Umanmielen following the Georgia win.
Ole Miss will look to get a relatively banged-up roster healthy with an upcoming bye week. On Saturday, November 23, the Rebels will travel to Florida to play the Gators in Gainesville. That game will kick off at 11 a.m. CT. and will be televised on ABC or ESPN and broadcast on participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
If Ole Miss runs the table in its final two scheduled contests, the team will almost certainly earn its first berth into the playoff.
The full College Football Playoff top 25 can be found below:
- Oregon
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Penn State
- Indiana
- BYU
- Tennessee
- Notre Dame
- Miami
- Alabama
- Ole Miss
- Georgia
- Boise State
- SMU
- Texas A&M
- Kansas State
- Colorado
- Washington State
- Louisville
- Clemson
- South Carolina
- LSU
- Missouri
- Army
- Tulane
