Ole Miss vs. Georgia: Lane Kiffin’s Rebels Ready to Take on the Bulldogs in Huge SEC Matchup

OXFORD, Miss. — The day has finally arrived, one that Rebels have had circled on their calendar for a year: a rematch with the Georgia Bulldogs. The outcome of today’s game holds huge playoff implications, especially for a two-loss Ole Miss team that is looking to run the table to make it into the newly-expanded 12-team College Football Playoffs.

Here’s everything you need to know about today’s game, with notables, series history, scouting report as well as how to watch, listen and stream the Rebels.

Game Details 

Kickoff: Saturday, November 9, 2:30 PM CT

TV: ABC

Radio: OleMissSports.com

Memphis: WHBQ-AM 560

Oxford: WOXF-FM 105.1

Jackson: WFMN-FM 97.3

Betting Odds:  Ole Miss +2; O/U 54.5 (as of Saturday morning)

Ole Miss Notes | Georgia Notes | SEC Notes

Ole Miss – Georgia Series History

• Ole Miss and Georgia will meet for the 48th time in a series that started in 1940, the first in Oxford since 2016.
• Georgia leads the all-time series 33-12-. The original record is 33-13-1 in favor of the Bulldogs, with Ole Miss’ 2016 win in Oxford vacated due to NCAA ruling.
• This will be the sixth ranked meeting on the field between the Rebels and Bulldogs, with UGA leading such games 4-1. Ole Miss’ 2016 win (later vacated by the NCAA) snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Bulldogs dating to 1996.

Rebels in the Polls

 

• Ole Miss ranks No. 12 in the Coaches poll and No. 16 in both the initial CFP rankings and the AP poll for Week 11.
• Dating back to 2021, Ole Miss has been ranked in the top-25 in 55 of the last 59 poll releases … That includes a streak of 29 across 2021 and 2022, the longest streak since being ranked for 41 straight weeks from 2014-16.
• Ole Miss’ current ranked streak stands at 27 consecutive appearances since the beginning of the 2023 season.
• The SEC boasts nine teams in the top 25, including three within the top-10.

Rebels in the PFF Ranks

Ole Miss ranks among the best FBS teams nationally per Pro Football Focus, ranking second in the SEC and sixth overall in team rating (93.3). The Rebel defense leads the FBS in run defense (95.6) while ranking third in tackling (86.0; SEC No. 2), fifth in overall defensive rating (93.2; SEC No. 2) and fifth in pass rushing (85.8; SEC No. 2). Offensively, Ole Miss leads in passing (92.4) while also ranking top-10 in receiving (4th, 85.4; SEC No. 1) and overall offensive rating (8th, 86.9; SEC No. 1).

Georgia Rebels 

Ole Miss features 16 players from Georgia: RB Rashad Amos (Atlanta), CB AJ Brown (Cordele), S Nick Cull (Donalsonville), WR Micah Davis (Atlanta), DE Jared Ivey (Suwanee), OL Jeremy James (Cumming), S Zach Johansen (Suwanee), WR Cayden Lee (Kennesaw), OL Reece McIntyre (Buford), LB Chris Paul Jr. (Cordele), P Charlie Pollock (Marietta), RB Ali Scott (Powder Springs), TE Wyatt Smalley (Milton), DT Akelo Stone (Savannah), LB Mark Trigg Jr. (Roswell) and TE Dae’Quan Wright (Perry).

Bulldog Scouting Report

Georgia heads into the matchup with the Rebels ranked No. 2 in both the AP poll AFCA Coaches rankings. The Bulldogs are 47-3 over their last 50 games and haven’t lost more than one game in a season since 2020.

Offensively, Georgia averages just over 430 yards per game, with 299 yards per game coming through the air. Redshirt senior Carson Beck continues to lead the Bulldogs at quarterback, ranking top 25 nationally in passing yards (2,302), passing touchdowns (17) and completions per game (23.75). Four Bulldog receivers have hauled in three or more receiving TDs this season. Arian Smith leads Georgia with 503 receiving yards on 31 catches. On the ground, Georgia is led by Florida transfer, Trevor Etienne, and true freshman, Nate Frazier. Etienne and Frazier average 65 and 41 yards rushing per game respectively.

Defensively, the Bulldogs rank No. 12 in FBS, allowing just 295.3 yards per game. Georgia limits its opponents to just a 28 percent conversion rate on third down, No. 6 in the country. Malaki Starks leads the Bulldogs in tackles, with 43 total stops. Linebacker Jalon Walker is the best Georgia player at getting to the quarterback with 4.5 sacks on the season.

FLASHBACK: Georgia’s last trip to Oxford

The last time the Bulldogs came to Oxford, it was the Rebels who came out on top in dominant fashion, besting Georgia 45-14 on Sept. 24, 2016. The 21st-ranked Rebels scored the first 45 points of the game and tallied 510 yards of total offense against the No. 11 Bulldogs. Those 45 points are still the most ever scored by Ole Miss against Georgia, and it came in front of a capacity crowd of 65,843.

QB Chad Kelly was 18-of-24 for 282 yards and two touchdowns — a 55-yard strike to WR DaMarkus Lodge (2 rec., 72 yards, 1 TD) and a nine-yard connection with TE Evan Engram (6 rec., 95 yards, 1 TD) — and he added a 41-yard touchdown scamper on the ground. Defensively, the Rebels stifled a Georgia offense that featured the likes of Sony Michel and Nick Chubb. Setting the tone defensively was Derrick Jones, who picked off a Jacob Eason pass in the first quarter and returned it 52 yards for a score.

Notables

• Ole Miss is 25-3 at home since 2021, which includes an 11-1 mark since the start of 2023.
• Head coach Lane Kiffin (102) is one of three active SEC head coaches with 100 FBS wins (Brian Kelly, 192; Kirby Smart, 101) … Kiffin (41-17) recently became the fastest coach to 40 wins in Ole Miss history.
• 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).
• QB Jaxson Dart set Ole Miss records for passing yards (515), total offense (562) and tied the record for passing TD (6) … Dart is the only QB in SEC history with 500 yards and 6 TD 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 TD 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).
• Ole Miss leads the FBS in TFL (94) and sacks (41) … The Rebels average 10.4 TFL for 44.2 yards lost per game.
• DE Suntarine Perkins leads the SEC in sacks (9.0) and is already tied for seventh in Ole Miss single-season history.

The Two Coaches

Lane Kiffin: Lane Kiffin is in his fifth season at Ole Miss and has led the Rebels to four consecutive bowl berths, including two New Year’s Six appearances, under his guidance since 2020. In 11 years at the NCAA level, Kiffin has posted an all-time record of 102-51, including a 41-17 mark at Ole Miss. Kiffin led the 2023 Rebels to the best season in Ole Miss history in terms of wins, notching an 11-2 overall record capped by a 38-25 Peach Bowl victory over Penn State. The Rebels finished No. 9 in both final versions of the AP and Coaches polls, the highest finish overall since 2015 (No. 9 Coaches) and their highest in the final AP poll since 1969 (No. 8).

In 2022, Kiffin led the Rebels to the Texas Bowl, thanks to another dynamite offense that ranked No. 3 nationally in rushing offense (256.6) and No. 8 in total offense (496.4) in 2022. Kiffin guided the Rebels to a 10-3 record in 2021, the first 10-win regular season in school history. The Rebels finished the season ranked No. 11 in both the AP and AFCA Coaches Poll, its highest final ranking since 2016. Ole Miss ranked top-20 in the FBS in nine different offensive categories in his first season in 2020.

In December 2016, Kiffin took over an FAU program that had won a total of nine combined games over the previous three seasons. Kiffin proceeded to take the Owls to new heights over the last three years, including two conference titles and two 10-win seasons. In his head coaching stops at USC, Tennessee and FAU, Kiffin has shown a propensity in helping turn programs around. Kiffin graduated from Fresno State in 1998 after playing quarterback for three seasons (1994-96) for the Bulldogs. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at Fresno State under Pat Hill in 1997 and 1998.

Kirby Smart: Kirby Smart is in his ninth season as head coach at Georgia, holding a record of 101-17 during his stint in Athens. In his time at the helm, Smart led the Bulldogs to back-to-back national titles (2021, ’22), 2017 CFP title game appearance, Southeastern Conference Championships in 2017 and 2022, six SEC Eastern Division titles and eight bowl victories.

Smart took over the Bulldogs in December 2015 while still serving as Alabama’s defensive coordinator through the end of the season. In nine seasons in Tuscaloosa, including seven as the Crimson Tide’s defensive coordinator, Smart helped Alabama win four national championships and three SEC championships. Other coaching stops for Smart include the Georgia (2005), Miami Dolphins (2006), LSU (2004), Florida State (2002-03) and Valdosta State (2000-01).

Hot at Home 

Ole Miss has only lost at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium three times since the beginning of the 2021 season and only six times total in the Lane Kiffin era. That includes only one loss since the start of the 2023 season back on Sept. 28 to Kentucky. In that span, the Rebels have consistently put on a show for the Ole Miss faithful, welcoming in a grand total of 781,623 fans through its turnstiles — good for a capacity crowd per game average of 65,135.

Home Sweet Home 

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium has been a safe haven for the Rebels historically, owning a 303-116-8 (.719) record all-time in Oxford before vacated wins (281-113-8), and that’s been no different in the Lane Kiffin era.

Ole Miss is 25-3 in its last 28 home games, and since the beginning of Kiffin’s tenure in 2020, the Rebels have gone 25-6 overall at Vaught-Hemingway — which includes a 14-game home winning streak that spanned Nov. 14, 2020 to Oct. 15, 2022. That streak was among the longest home winning streaks nationally when it was snapped by No. 9 Alabama in 2022. It was also the longest winning streak in Oxford since winning 21 straight games from Nov. 1, 1952 to Nov. 7, 1959. Including a tie to LSU in 1960, the Rebels went unbeaten for 34 games over the course of 12 years (1952-64).

Under Kiffin, the Rebels have recorded the first two seven-win home seasons in program history in 2021 and 2023.

Racking up the yards 

Lane Kiffin’s dynamic Ole Miss offenses have single-handedly dismantled the Rebel record books, recording three of the top-five and four of the top-10 offensive seasons in school history. Kiffin owns 27 games during his Ole Miss tenure with at least 600 yards of total offense, as opposed to just 16 times total from the beginning of the Ole Miss football program in 1893 until Kiffin’s arrival in 2020.

At the 700-yard plateau, Kiffin’s Rebels own five of the seven total 700-yard games in Ole Miss history, as well as seven of the top-nine performances all-time.

Video game numbers for Dart

QB Jaxson Dart put together a historic outing against Arkansas, breaking or tying school records in total offense (562), passing yards (515) and passing touchdowns (6).

In SEC history, Dart’s sizzling day against the Razorbacks ranks as the fourth-best in terms of total offense, as well as the sixth-best passing performance in an SEC game. This was the 13th game in SEC history with 500 passing yards by one QB, making Dart one of two alongside Missouri’s Drew Lock to notch 500 yards and six touchdowns, and the only one to ever do so against a power conference opponent.

Go Long!

QB Jaxson Dart currently owns a substantial lead among all FBS quarterbacks on attempts of at least 20 yards downfield (per PFF). At that distance, Dart owns a line of 28-of-61 (45.9 percent) for 1,199 yards and 13 touchdowns. That constitutes 37.4 percent of his 3,210 passing yards, as well as 61.9 percent of his 21 passing touchdowns.

Against Arkansas alone, Dart was 10-of-13 for 311 yards and four touchdowns on attempts further than 10 yards down field. Dart ranks fourth nationally in completions of at least 10 yards with 110, but he leads the FBS by wide margins at 30-plus (30), 40-plus (16), 50-plus (10) and 60-plus (8) passing plays.

Legendary Status 

Senior QB Jaxson Dart has etched his name all over Ole Miss’ record book in three highly successful seasons leading the Rebel offensive attack, but against Arkansas Dart became the winningest quarterback of Ole Miss’ modern era. At 25-9 as a starter at Ole Miss, Dart has now passed Eli Manning (24-13) and Bo Wallace (24-15) for the record. For this scenario, Ole Miss’ modern era is considered since the first career start by Archie Manning on Sept. 21, 1968 at Memphis.

Verifying games started prior to Manning’s 1968 season is inconsistent via available records, as well as considering that underclassmen rarely started and the quarterback was less of a permanent position in John Vaught’s offensive scheme. One unverified source has College Football Hall of Famer Jake Gibbs at 23-3-1 as the starter of Ole Miss’ powerhouse teams from 1958-60, while several other QBs during the highly successful 1950s would have potentially high (but unlikely) win totals as well.

Unstoppable 

WR Jordan Watkins didn’t just have a career day at Arkansas — he had an otherworldly day. Watkins was the key cog in Ole Miss’ record-breaking offensive explosion against the Razorbacks, breaking the single-game school records in both receiving yards (254) and touchdowns (5) on eight catches. His five receiving scores tied the SEC single-game record, making him one of six in SEC history to ever haul in five touchdown passes and the first since Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt against Alabama in 2022.

Watkins’ 254 yards, meanwhile, constituted the 12th game of 250 yards receiving in SEC history, and it made him one of two receivers in SEC history with 250 yards and five scores in the same game alongside Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith’s 2019 performance against Ole Miss. Since 2013, Watkins is among five FBS receivers nationally to haul in five touchdowns in one game, and one of three total to add on 250 yards through the air. Prior to Nov. 2, Watkins’ single-game receiving career-highs were 119 yards and one touchdown.

Wide open Watkins 

Jordan Watkins has been a deep threat since first arriving at Ole Miss, as evidenced by his seven receptions of at least 60 yards during his three seasons as a Rebel. That includes an FBS-leading four catches of at least 60 this season, three of which came for touchdowns in a record-setting day at Arkansas on Nov. 2. That game, all eight of Watkins’ catches went for a least a first down, averaging a whopping 31.8 yards per reception against the Razorbacks.

Per PFF, Watkins has the second-highest NFL passer rating when targeted at least 20 yards downfield in the FBS at 141.4, hauling in eight of his 14 targets beyond 20 yards for 391 yards and five touchdowns. Teammate Tre Harris also ranks on this list in fourth at 138.2.

Don’t blink 

Ole Miss is once again running a lightning-quick offense in 2024, currently leading the SEC and ranked sixth in FBS at 23.1 seconds per play.

On the season, Ole Miss owns 24 scoring drives under two minutes and 13 under one minute. Included in the latter total are three furiously fast drives under 10 seconds: two against Furman in the season opener — a 7-second drive that featured Austin Simmons’ first collegiate pass, a 35-yard touchdown strike to Cayden Lee, and a 9-second score on a 61-yard bomb from Jaxson Dart to Tre Harris — as well as an eight-second score on a 62-yard strike from Dart to Jordan Watkins at Arkansas. In the Kiffin era, Ole Miss is 34-8 when scoring first.

Lead the Way, QB 

Senior QB Jaxson Dart stands among the more decorated signal-callers nationwide in 2024. Dart is one of four active FBS quarterbacks with 12,000 career yards of total offense, the lone QB in the SEC and the only one with 10,000 passing yards at 1,300 rushing yards.

Dart owns a career line of 774-of-1,185 (65.3 percent) for 10,901 yards, 73 TD and a career rushing line of 1,300 yards and 14 scores on 346 carries. In a Rebel uniform since 2022, Dart has gone 657-of-996 for 9,548 yards and 64 touchdowns, while racking up 1,257 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing on 324 attempts.