After a soul-crushing loss against Alabama last weekend, you had to wonder what you’d see from Ole Miss against Georgia. Would the Rebels listen to a lot of the media – which wants to repeat ad nauseam that the team blew two 20-point leads this year – or would it play like a team that still has an outside shot at a conference championship?
It’s clearly the latter. The Ole Miss Rebels played like a team on a mission in their 45-14 victory over the Bulldogs. This impressive win keeps them in the hunt for an NY6 bowl bid.
The Rebels wasted no time racing out to a big lead, kicking a field goal on the opening drive and returning a Jacob Eason pick for a touchdown to take a 10-0 lead just eight minutes into the contest. On its next possession, Ole Miss marched 84 yards for a score, capped off by a D’Vaughn Pennamon 1-yard TD run. The Rebels would follow this up with two more quick drives in the second quarter, essentially putting the game out of reach by halftime. However, Ole Miss made absolutely certain that there would be no comeback this time, scoring on its first two second-half possessions to go up 45-0 midway through the third quarter.
Simply put: this was a dominant performance by Ole Miss, which many left for dead after last week’s loss to Alabama. Quarterback Chad Kelly played a near perfect game, connecting on 18 of 24 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns, while adding another TD on a nifty 41-yard run in the third quarter. The defense was every bit as solid, sacking Jacob Eason three times, and holding him to a career-worst 44.4% completion percentage.
This strong showing proves that the Rebels are very much alive in the SEC West, as well as the NY6 Bowl conversation. Sure, Ole Miss will need some help in order to leapfrog Alabama, but with all of the great teams in the West, that’s certainly possible. Yet, even if the Rebels don’t overtake the Crimson Tide in the standings, they still have three games against ranked opponents remaining on the schedule. With victories in those contests, Ole Miss would almost certainly land in one of the better New Year’s Day bowl games. While that’s not exactly the same as playing in the College Football Playoff, it’s still a great season.
