Ole Miss certainly made a statement on Saturday with a dominant 28-10 win over Georgia, avenging last year’s humiliating defeat. After Georgia’s offensive explosion in the 2023 meeting, the Rebels’ defense stepped up in a big way, limiting the Bulldogs to just 245 yards of offense. Georgia’s only touchdown came courtesy of a turnover—an interception by Jaxson Dart on the opening drive.
On offense, Ole Miss was methodical and efficient, capitalizing on Georgia’s mistakes and wearing down the Bulldogs’ defense. Dart and the Rebels’ offense showed balance, controlling the clock and making plays when it mattered. With the win, Ole Miss is in a prime position for a playoff berth, especially with only Florida and Mississippi State left on the schedule.
The victory could be a turning point for Lane Kiffin’s squad, proving they’re a legitimate contender in the College Football Playoff race. If they can handle business in their final regular season games, a spot in the postseason seems likely.
It’s a perplexing and frustrating twist in Ole Miss’s season. The Rebels, just weeks after making Georgia look mortal with that impressive 28-10 win, inexplicably fell to a Kentucky team that had only three wins at the time. That loss in Oxford now feels even more mystifying in light of how Ole Miss handled Georgia, one of the top programs in college football.
A lot of the inconsistency in college football comes down to the unpredictable nature of matchups, and sometimes teams just can’t get out of their own way—whether it’s a lack of focus, mental lapses, or simply being caught off guard by an opponent who overachieves. Kentucky, for all their struggles earlier in the season, showed up in Oxford with a chip on their shoulder, playing perhaps their best football of the year.
But for Ole Miss, it raises legitimate questions about their ability to stay focused and play at a high level week in and week out. A team with playoff aspirations can’t afford to drop games like that, especially with the opportunities they had to prove themselves against Georgia and other top teams. It’s a stark reminder that in college football, even the most dominant performances can be followed by a baffling setback, and consistency is often what separates playoff-caliber teams from the rest.It’s even more bewildering when you look at the individual performances in that Kentucky loss. Henry Parrish and Tre Harris, two key playmakers who were out for the Georgia game, both had standout performances in the loss to Kentucky. Parrish averaged 4.8 yards per carry and found the end zone, while Harris exploded for 176 yards and a touchdown. Yet neither of them were available for the dominant Georgia win. It leaves you scratching your head—how could Ole Miss look so dominant against the Bulldogs with those absences, but then struggle with Kentucky at home with those key pieces back?
And then, just to add another layer of the paradox, Ole Miss scores a blistering 63 points at Arkansas, in a place where Arkansas had just taken down a solid Tennessee team—a squad with one loss and real playoff aspirations. Arkansas had shown they could compete with top-tier SEC teams, making Ole Miss’s offensive fireworks even more impressive.
It’s the kind of inconsistency that makes college football so frustrating and fascinating. The Rebels can beat Georgia one week and drop a game to a struggling Kentucky team the next. Yet, Ole Miss’s ability to score in bunches, as they did at Arkansas, shows just how dangerous they can be when they’re firing on all cylinders. If they can channel that level of play consistently, they could be a real threat in the postseason. But until they figure out how to avoid those inexplicable lapses, it’s hard to take their playoff contention for granted.
