No. 2 Georgia at No. 16 Ole Miss

WHERE: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

WHEN: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 7-1, 5-1; Ole Miss 7-2, 3-2

TV/RADIO: ABC (Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath); Sirius XM (Marc Kestecher, Kelly Stouffer, Ian Fitzsimmons); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Eric Zeier, DJ Shockley).

Georgia’s road schedule has been a gauntlet. Let’s make no mistake about that.

Saturday’s game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is the latest and final chapter in the Bulldogs’ 2024 road saga. Once again, Georgia’s post-season future is at stake.

With five SEC teams entering play Saturday with just one loss, explaining all the different scenarios would take more space than I care to write.

Suffice it to say, if Georgia can beat Ole Miss on Saturday and upend Tennessee next week, the Bulldogs will be back at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

We’ll worry about that later.

First, the Bulldogs must get past Ole Miss, one of the more mercurial teams in the SEC.

At times, Ole Miss looks like the best offensive team in the country. The Rebels have what may be the finest group of receivers around, and a hardscrabble quarterback in Jaxson Dart, who not only knows how to get them the ball but plays the game with a toughness one doesn’t always see from his position.

Georgia’s defense figures to have quite the challenge, although when I look at this game, some “Texas vibes” are certainly going on.

Remember when the Bulldogs were getting ready for their trip to Austin? After allowing Mississippi State to score 31 points, many folks, myself included, wondered how in the world Georgia could go to Texas and come away with a win.

After last week’s mediocre showing against Florida, you hear some of the same murmurs.

As we all know, Georgia went to Texas and played arguably its best game of the year, especially considering the Bulldogs were playing on the road in front of 100,000 screaming Longhorn fans.

The Bulldogs did that despite three early interceptions by Carson Beck, who recovered from the poor start to play his best football down the stretch of the game.

Last week’s game in Jacksonville followed a similar script.

Beck didn’t play his best game but finished strong and Georgia ultimately won the game by 14 points. Take away the picks, and there wouldn’t have been quite the level of grousing from fans as we’ve seen.

However, with everything seemingly in Texas’ favor, Georgia controlled that game.

Can the Bulldogs do the same against Ole Miss?

It’s just going to come down to execution. Ole Miss is legit. The Rebels are a dangerous team. But if the Bulldogs can come with the same mindset they did in Austin and just execute, you’ve got to like their chances.

Georgia: QB Carson Beck, RB Trevor Etienne, WR Arian Smith, WR Dillon Bell, WR Dom Lovett, TE Oscar Delp, C Jared Wilson, DE Mykel Williams, LB Jalon Walker, LB Chaz Chambliss, LB CJ Allen, S Malaki Starks, CB Daylen Everette.

Ole Miss: QB Jaxson Dart, WR Tre Harris, WR Antwane Wells Jr., WR Cayden Lee, WR Jordan Watkins, TE Caden Prieskorn, DE Jared Ivey, NT JJ Pegues, DT Walter Nolan, DE Princely Umanmielen, LB TJ Dottery, DE Sundarine Perkins.

It starts with getting pressure on QB Jaxon Dart: Georgia needs to pressure Dart similarly to the way it pressured Quinn Ewers at Texas or at least find a way to disrupt him. The difference with Dart, however, is unlike Ewers, Ole Miss’ QB is a threat to run, and at 225 pounds isn’t afraid to lower his shoulder.

Run the ball, Bobo: Ole Miss rushes the passer as well as any team in the country. So, how do the Bulldogs combat that? Run the ball. Trevor Etienne is expected to be OK after taking a shot to the ribs against Florida. The Bulldogs will need success running the ball – especially on first down – to keep from falling behind the sticks and make it easier for Carson Beck to make plays.

Speaking of Beck, just relax: If quarterbacks can slump, Beck has shown they can. With 11 interceptions in five games, with eight picks coming on first and second down, Beck’s decision-making hasn’t been the best. The Bulldogs aren’t going to stop throwing the ball. Beck just needs to relax and play smarter football.

Georgia

RB Branson Robinson - Out

WR Anthony Evans - Out

RB Roderick Robinson - Out

DL Joseph Jonah-Ajonye - Out

LB Smael Mondon - Questionable

DT Jordan Hall - Probable

Ole Miss

WR Izaiah Hatrup - Out

RB Henry Parrish Jr. - Out

RB Logan Diggs - Out

RB Matt Jones - Doubtful

WR Tre Harris - Doubtful

WR Jordan Watkins - Doubtful

OL Jayden Williams - Doubtful

OL Cayden Warren - Doubtful

DE Jared Ivey - Questionable

S Yam Banks - Questionable

WR Cayden Lee - Questionable

S Jadon Canady - Questionable

DT JJ Pegues - Questionable

OL Reece McIntyre - Questionable

OL Jeremy James - Questionable

DE Princely Umanmielen - Probable

DT Walter Nolan - Probable

LB Sundarine Perkins - Probable

LB TJ Dottery - Probable

TE Dae'Quan Wright - Probable

CB Cedrick Beavers - Probable

S Andy Jaffe - Probable

RB Rashad Amos - Probable

OL Micah Pettus - Probable

OL Nate Kalepo - Probable

TE Caden Prieskor – Probable

…The Bulldogs have played an SEC-low three home games at this point of the season where they are 3-0. Georgia is 2-1 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites (Atlanta & Jacksonville) this year. Of note, the traveling SEC road show “SEC Nation” will be in Oxford for Saturday’s matchup. In their last true road game on Oct. 19, the Bulldogs knocked off top-ranked Texas 30-15 in front of a record crowd of 105,215 in Austin. Georgia entered the Texas game with 11 sacks on the season and tallied seven against the Longhorns plus three fumble recoveries to give them five on the year. After an open date, Georgia outlasted Florida 34-20 in Jacksonville this past Saturday.

…Georgia is 53-3 in its last 56 games. A school record streak of 42 consecutive regular-season victories ended Sept. 28 this year with a 41-34 defeat at No. 4 Alabama. Also, Georgia had an SEC and school record streak of 28 consecutive SEC regular season wins snap that night.

…The Bulldogs’ 2024 senior class is an FBS-leading 49-3 (43-1 in the regular season) since 2021. The next best in this span belongs to Michigan (45-7) and Alabama (42-8). Georgia’s only three losses since 2021 have come to Alabama. Georgia’s 2023 Senior Class set the school record at 50-4 with two national titles, an SEC crown plus going 6-0 in bowl/CFP games.

…Georgia is starting to return to full strength on the offensive line. Against UF, senior Tate Ratledge saw his first action after missing four games due to ankle/knee injuries. Earlier the line was down two starters when Ratledge and junior center Jared Wilson were out. RS-junior Micah Morris filled in for Ratledge during that time. At No. 1 Texas, Wilson returned and the line surrendered just one sack. Georgia has allowed 10 sacks, which ranks second in the SEC. The Rebel defense has an SEC-best 41 sacks.

…Senior quarterback Carson Beck’s top targets have been senior Dominic Lovett (38-for-389 yards, three touchdowns), senior Arian Smith (31-for-503 yards, three touchdowns) and junior Dillon Bell (30-for-360 yards, four touchdowns). Also, Bell has 92 yards rushing on six attempts including a 3-yarder for a score at Alabama.

…Due to injuries, Georgia has yet to have a full complement of defensive linemen for a game this season. The group flashed its potential in the road win over #1 Texas as junior Mykel Williams made his presence known with his most action since the season opener when he went down with an ankle injury. Against Texas, Williams had three tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble. For the year, Williams is tied for second on the team in tackles for loss with 5.5.

…For the year, Walker has 34 tackles, a team-leading 4.5 sacks, and is tied for second with 5.5 tackles for loss. The three sacks in a game were the most by a Bulldog since Channing Tindall in 2021 against Tennessee.

...The Rebels are 36-12 overall since 2021 and rank third among all SEC schools in wins in that span.

…Ole Miss broke 13 school records vs. Arkansas, including the 4th-best team passing game in SEC history (562).

…Jaxson Dart set Ole Miss records for passing yards (515), and total offense (562) and tied the record for passing TD (6) ... Dart is the only QB in SEC history with 500 yards and six touchdowns passing vs. an SEC defense. Dart also became Ole Miss’ winningest QB of the modern era (25-9) and broke Bo Wallace’s career total offense record, currently sitting at 10,805 ... He’s currently 36 yards shy of the all-time SEC top-10. Dart leads the FBS in total offense (384.9), passing yards (3,210), efficiency (192.4), and yards/attempt (11.6).

…WR Jordan Watkins broke Ole Miss records in receiving yards (254) and touchdowns (5) against Arkansas ... Watkins is one of two in SEC history with 250 yards and 5 touchdowns against an SEC defense (DeVonta Smith).

…Ole Miss leads the SEC and ranks FBS top-10 in 13 offensive categories, leading the FBS in passing (377.1 ypg). The Rebels also lead the FBS in TFL (94) and sacks (41) . The Rebels average 10.4 TFL for 44.2 yards lost per game.

…Suntarine Perkins leads the SEC in sacks (9.0) and is already tied for seventh in Ole Miss' single-season history.

This game has Texas vibes for me after last week’s sluggish win over Florida. Seems a lot of folks were saying the same thing after Georgia struggled to beat Mississippi State before the trip to Austin and we saw what happened there.

Honest admission here. I was all set to pick Ole Miss, but that was before talking to colleague Neal McCready with sister site Rebel Grove. We were talking about the game, and he said the problem with beat writers picking games, is we see all the games. We know what the team’s warts are and sometimes that can blind you to a degree.

Now, I don't know what it means that McCready also picked Georgia to win the game, but what he said made sense. So … Prediction – Georgia 31, Ole Miss 28.