Ole Miss football falls on the road at No. 1 Georgia
ATHENS, Ga.– (Release) Ole Miss got two touchdowns from its star running back to make it tight early, but was unable to keep pace with a powerful Georgia Bulldogs team in a 52-17 loss between the hedges at Sanford Stadium on Saturday night.
The 9th-ranked Rebels (8-2, 5-2 SEC) made it a fight early on after two scores from sophomore running back Quinshon Judkins, but the two-time defending national champions Georgia (10-0, 7-0 SEC) took command of the game with a 14-0 run to close the half and ultimately a 31-0 run from the end of the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth.
Ole Miss was able to move the ball early on thanks to the ground game established by Judkins, but the Bulldog defense quickly adjusted and stymied the potent Rebel offensive attack. Judkins finished the night with 75 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, becoming the first rusher to score twice in a game against Georgia since 2020.
Starting quarterback Jaxson Dart finished the night 10-of-17 for 112 yards and one interception, and was forced out of the game late in the third quarter due to injury. Spencer Sanders was 4-of-7 for 61 yards in relief, and leading the way receiving was senior Dayton Wade with three catches for 45 yards – including a spectacular 23-yard one-handed grab in the fourth quarter from Sanders.
The Rebels got on the board first 7-0, with Judkins taking some of the energy out of the 92,746 Bulldog faithful in attendance with a 15-yard punch-in at 10:30 on the clock. The Bulldogs responded in kind, as Georgia QB Carson Beck orchestrated a quick six-play, 75-yard drive finished off by a one-yard score by Daijun Edwards to knot the game 7-7 with 7:28 left in the frame.
The Bulldogs got a stop and got right back on the board on its next drive, with Beck finding Ladd McConkey from 28 yards out to take a 14-7 lead with 3:09 left in the opening quarter. Judkins answered for the Rebels in the early moments of the second quarter, scoring from four yards with 14:16 left in the half to tie the game 14-14.
Georgia ended the half with a 1-yard score from Edwards and a 7-yard rushing touchdown from Kendall Milton, and the third quarter saw another score from Milton from 33 yards out and a 27-yard field goal from Peyton Woodring to give Georgia a 38-14 advantage heading into the fourth.
Star Bulldog tight end Brock Bowers found the endzone in his return from eight yards out with 14:12 left in the game before a 29-yard Ole Miss field goal from Caden Davis at 8:50 made it a 45-17 game. Georgia’s Andrew Paul ended the scoring with a four-yard touchdown run with 4:12 left in the game, putting the top-ranked Bulldogs on top for good at 52-17.
Ole Miss now returns home to host non-conference ULM (2-7, 0-6 Sun Belt) next Saturday, Nov. 18, for Senior Day. Kickoff at Vaught-Hemingway is set for 11 a.m. CT, and the game will air live on SEC Network.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
