With last week's win over Missouri, Georgia extends its school-record win streak to 26 games. It is the third longest win streak by an SEC team all-time (Alabama has two streaks of 28). The Bulldogs are looking to win their first ten games for the third straight season. Ole Miss is Georgia's next opponent, and the two have not met since 2016 (Kirby Smart's first season). Ole Miss is currently the only SEC team that Smart has not defeated.
Georgia leads the all-time series against Ole Miss 32-13-1. UGA won 12 games in a row in the series from 1977 to 1988 and a ten-game win streak from 1997 to 2012. Ole Miss won 45-14 in the last meeting. The 45 points scored was by far the most by the Rebels in the series (the previous high was 31 points three different times).
That last meeting was in Oxford, while this one is in Athens. Georgia has won 24 straight games between the hedges. That ties the school record originally set from 1980 to 1983. Since Kirby Smart took over in 2016, the Bulldogs have one of the best home records in the game. If you go a season later, the Bulldogs are the best.
As you can see, Georgia was 3-3 in Smart's first season, but the Bulldogs have been dominant ever since. These stats make it look even better:
One reason for this season on why Georgia has looked so good has been quarterback Carson Beck. The current signal caller has completed 213-of-295 passes this year. The 72.2 completion percentage would be the highest ever in Bulldog history.
Beck is also approaching top ten status in some other Georgia categories. Check out where he ranks in the single season record list by the Dawgs...
Brock Bowers has missed the last two games, but Georgia's receiving corp has still looked sharp. The Bulldogs have been well balanced over the years in terms of who is catching the ball. The Dawgs have ten players with at least ten receptions this season and five players with at least 20 receptions. Georgia leads the SEC in both stats.
In case you missed it, UGASports provided the latest in the Bowers situatiion...
Ladd McConkey set a career-high with seven receptions against Missouri. He also went over the 1,500 yard mark for his career. He currently sits at 1,546. Dominic Lovett is close to that milestone with 1,417 yards receiving (1,019 with Missouri).
In terms of the Bulldogs running the ball, the duo of Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton have found the end zone often. Edwards is fifth in the SEC with eight touchdown rushes and Milton is tied for 11th with five. Georgia is tied for the conference lead with two different players with at least five touchdown rushes. Last season, the Dawgs had four different players. Here are all the players season-by-season under Smart that have at least five touchdowns via the ground.
For his career, Edwards needs 166 more yards rushing to reach 2,000 for his career and one touchdown rush for 20. Milton currently has 1,344 rush yards and 14 scores on the ground.
On defense, one of the things Georgia will have to worry about this week is the play of quarterback Jaxson Dart. He has thrown for 2,467 yards and has run for 334 more. He has 23 total touchdowns (16 pass, 7 rush). He has also completed 65.3 percent of his passes. However, Georgia's pass defense has held its own for the most part in that category. The Bulldogs lead the SEC in opponent's completion percentage.
The Dawgs' defense has held three of the nine opponents to under a 50 percent completion percentage for the game (Ball State, Kentucky and Missouri).
Georgia is tied for first in the conference with 11 interceptions on defense. The Bulldogs picked off two passes last week. One was by Javon Bullard. It was Bullard's first interception since picking off two against TCU back in the CFP Championship last January. The other interception was by 320 pound defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse. 11 times in the 2000s a Bulldog defensive lineman has registered an interception. Here are the defensive ends and defensive tackles, nose tackles or any hybird of the position that have accomplished this feat for the Dawgs.
Peyton Woodring was 4-for-7 in field goal attempts in his first three games, but after the South Carolina game he has been hot and he has connected on 13 straight. His 17 field goals this season is second in the conference. He trails Texas A&M's Randy Bond by one field goal for the lead. Eight times, a Bulldog placekicker has led the SEC in field goals with the last being just a season ago.
There have been some big moments individually for Georgia in the series against Ole Miss and here are some of them...
Herschel Walker rushed for 265 yards against Ole Miss as a sophomore in 1981 which was a lot better than his 44 yards he rushed for as a freshman. As a junior, he ran for 149 yards, but scored three touchdowns.
Rodney Hampton also reached the 200-yard mark on the ground as he ran for a career-high 227 yards against the Rebels in 1987. It is one of seven games in Georgia history that a Bulldog freshman ran for over 200 yards.
Verron Haynes almost got there as he totalled 192 yards on the ground in Oxford and scored twice.
Putting up 180 yards on the ground against Ole Miss was a pair of Bulldogs. Robert Edwards did it in 1997 and Thomas Brown did it ten years later in 2007. Brown also tied his career-high with three rushing touchdowns.
Eric Zeier threw for 327 yards and had three touchdown passes against the Rebels in 1992.
Aaron Murray had a big day throwing the ball as well in 2012. He went 21-for-28 passing for 384 yards and four touchdowns
A few Bulldogs took it to the house in 1974. Matt Robinson connected with Richard Appleby for a 86-yard score. In that same game Horace King ran for a 79-yard touchdown of his own.
Mo Lewis had a big day defensively as he had a career-high four sacks in the 1989 clash and Bacarri Rambo had two interceptions against Ole Miss in 2011. Jermaine Phillips only had one pick against the Rebels in 2001, but his was a pick six against Eli Manning and went 82 yards for the score.
One final person I want to give a shout out to pertaining to this series. Former head coach Harry Mehre led Georgia to a 59-34-6 record from 1928 to 1937. He then became the Ole Miss head coach and led them to a 39-26-1 record from 1938 to 1945.
