Revenge was served sweet and cold under the Mississippi lights Saturday night. Avenging their painful Sugar Bowl playoff exit from ten months ago, the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs systematically dismantled the No. 10 Ole Miss Rebels in a staggering 42-7 blowout victory at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The dominant road triumph simultaneously snapped the Rebels’ 16-game home winning streak and made a powerful statement to the College Football Playoff selection committee, who likely will vault UGA to the top spot on Tuesday.
Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC) left no room for doubt, executing a complete performance from the opening kickoff. Fifth-year quarterback Gunner Stockton paced the offense by throwing for 186 yards and four touchdowns while adding another score on the ground. Three of those TD passes landed in the hands of wide receiver Talyn Taylor, who shredded the Ole Miss secondary for 140 yards on just four receptions.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs’ ground game absolutely bullied the Rebels’ front line, racking up 295 rushing yards led by freshman Nate Frazier’s 107-yard night. Head coach Kirby Smart praised his team’s focus and execution, noting that both the offensive and defensive staffs established control at the line of scrimmage from the opening whistle.
“The defense coaches had a great plan,” he said. “The defense coaches did a great job of staying aggressive. We wanted to hold the
line of scrimmage, and I thought we did that.”
The Georgia defense smothered Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss for five sacks and kept the potent Rebels offense scoreless until late in the contest, anchored by linebacker Chris Cole’s nine tackles and 1.5 sacks.
A stunned Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding shouldered the blame postgame, conceding that he simply did not have his squad prepared for the magnitude of the beatdown.
“It was a very disappointing performance in all three phases,” the coach said. “It started on the first play of the game and never stopped. I’m not taking anything away from Kirby and Georgia. That’s a really good football team. We just didn’t help ourselves, so we have to go back and look at everything. You always do when you get your butt whooped, but I didn’t see that coming, I’m not going to lie to you. Hats off to Kirby and Georgia. That was a butt whooping.”
With the rivalry statement wrapped up, Smart immediately turned his attention ahead, reminding the Bulldogs that the matchups only intensify from here as they prepare to host the Missouri Tigers next Saturday in Athens.
There was hope they would get their first night game at home. But, not the case. Kickoff is Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ABC.
