COLUMN | Ole Miss suffers another hard-luck loss with perfect storm of miscues and missed opportunities at Florida

OXFORD, Miss. — It was another completely unexpected defeat for the Ole Miss Rebels in Gainesville, the third such jaw-dropping loss this season. After felling the giant two weeks ago, the Rebels were unable to score even half of their season average against the Gators.

While the bye week did help with the team’s health issues, it did nothing for Ole Miss otherwise. The Rebels started a running back who normally lines up at wide receiver. This is not an indictment of him; he had tallied zero carries this season before kickoff Saturday and was tasked with playing in The Swamp, yet another ridiculously tough SEC road venue. Ole Miss, in its running-back-by-committee mode, had 35 yards rushing at halftime.

With the college football playoffs situation bearing down, this Florida game was to be just another stepping stone towards the Rebels’ rise in the rankings. This game was one of opportunity in which so many opportunities were wasted.

Looking back at the Kentucky and LSU losses, this Florida game had the same “feel” throughout. It was a game that couldn’t be lost, no way. The Rebels were once again double-digit favorites as they were against the Wildcats. While no win is automatic, double-digit favorites are certainly expected to get one. Upsets like this just aren’t expected to happen twice in one season. Perhaps that speaks to the parity of the new world of college football and NIL, but that’s a conversation for another day.

There were failed third down conversions (3-for-14) that led to failed fourth down (2-for-4) conversions. There were three trips into the red zone where the team came up COMPLETELY empty. There’s no room for this in championship-brand football.

The short-yardage package failed miserably when it was needed the most — and that’s not at all a criticism of JJ Pegues, this year’s Chucky Mullins Courage Award winner, who would quite literally do anything for his team. In fact, entering the game against the Gators, he was 12-for-12 on short-yardage situations. The big man can take it straight up the gut, obviously, but having him bounce it outside behind a seemingly unsuspecting quarterback who looks like he’s unaware that he should be throwing a block is rather inconceivable. (That’s not a criticism of the QB, either, as we all know Jaxson would block anytime he’s called upon if he was aware he is supposed to do so.) We wonder if that’s how the play was drawn up.

There were also a number of flat-out dropped passes, some for would-have-been scores, and several other throws to open receivers that were just barely out of reach. It was just so LSU and Kentucky-like. It almost seems like a microcosm of the season — so much within our grasp, only to see it slip through our fingers.

The loss of Tre Harris in the second quarter (and that potential first down completion) was possibly the turning point in the game, and certainly a sad moment for a player who has so much to play for. It was tough watching him suffer what looked to be a painful re-aggravation of his groin injury and leave the game, returning only to sit by helplessly and watch from the sidelines.

Inconsistency became the rule. The defense has surrendered only 66 points after halftime in 11 games. That’s an amazing number, but the second half is also where the offense has seen most of its struggles. The Florida game was yet another example; a half where the defense played lights out but the offense struggled to find its footing. The Rebels held Florida to a field goal — that coming after an Ole Miss flubbed punt — and one legitimate touchdown drive in the second half. Unfortunately, the Rebels’ offense was held to just three points in the entire second half.

On their own 17-yard line on a 3rd-and-2, the Rebels appeared to be running the option before Jaxson Dart was tackled for a loss. That play had no chance. With two minutes to play, we still held hope, but to no avail.

While fans will be talking about this team for many years, it will be with an enigmatic slant. This was the team too big to fail, then it fell twice, only to climb its way back out of the abyss, and yet fall again. There was always a wild-card mentality within this program and, unfortunately, it surfaced again in this game. The negatives somehow, some way, outnumbered the positives on a team with oh-so-many positives.

One big positive the Rebels (8-3, 4-3 SEC) can still achieve, however, is finishing with back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since the 1959 and 1960 seasons. Jaxson Dart, who is already the winningest quarterback in Ole Miss history, has the opportunity to become the only Rebel quarterback other than Consensus All-American and 1960 SEC Player of the Year Jake Gibbs to go back-to-back with 10 wins. Lane Kiffin would be the only Ole Miss coach other than Johnny Vaught to have done so.

Next Up

Ole Miss returns home to host Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Friday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ABC.