Postgame Notables: No. 16 Ole Miss defeats No. 3 Georgia

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss football had the game against Georgia circled on the calendar since last year’s loss in Athens. Boy, did the Rebels respond. No. 16 Ole Miss defeated No. 2 Georgia, 28-10, Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway in front of the largest crowd in school history.

Here are some news and notables from the huge victory that holds many playoff implications.

Series Information

• This was the 48th meeting all-time between Ole Miss and Georgia, the first in Oxford since 2016, in a series that dates back to 1940.

• Georgia’s lead in the all-time series is now 33-13-1 … The original record is now 33-14-1 in favor of the Bulldogs, with Ole Miss’ 2016 win in Oxford vacated due to NCAA ruling.

• This was the sixth ranked meeting on the field between the Rebels and Bulldogs, with UGA leading such games 4-2 …This is Ole Miss’ highest ranked win ever against Georgia, the previous best being Ole Miss’ last victory in the series over the 11th-ranked Bulldogs in Oxford in 2016.

• Ole Miss has now accounted for two of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart’s 18 career losses … Smart and the Bulldogs fell 45-14 to the Rebels in Oxford in 2015, the first loss of Smart’s career and still the largest margin of defeat in his career.

• This was the largest margin of defeat for the Bulldogs since the 2019 SEC Championship vs. LSU (37-10), and the largest in the regular season since 2018 vs. LSU (36-16).

Captains

• Nate Kalepo (OL), JJ Pegues (DT), Caden Prieskorn (TE)

Starters

• QB Jaxson Dart made his team-leading 34th-straight start against Georgia.

• Other notable starting streaks include S Trey Washington (25th) and S John Saunders Jr. (23rd).

• RB Ulysses Bentley IV made his first start as a Rebel.

General Notes

• Attendance for today’s game was 68,126, the largest crowd in Vaught-Hemingway history. It’s the fourth consecutive game the Ole Miss attendance record has been reset.

• Ole Miss is now 72-172-2 all-time against ranked opponents and 15-43 against top-five teams on the field.

• This marks the first Ole Miss victory against a top-five team since Sept. 19, 2015 at No. 2 Alabama (43-37) and the first in Oxford since the 2014 Egg Bowl against No. 4 Mississippi State (31-17; later vacated by the NCAA).

• Ole Miss is now 5-19 at home against top-five teams alongside wins in 2014 against No. 1 Alabama (23-17; later vacated by the NCAA) and No. 4 Mississippi State (31-17; later vacated by the NCAA), 1976 vs. No. 4 Georgia (21-17), and in 1952 vs. No. 3 Maryland (21-14).

• This is the highest ranked win for the Rebels in Oxford since beating No. 1 Alabama in 2014 (23-17; later vacated by the NCAA).

• Ole Miss joined Alabama as the only teams to defeat Georgia since 2021 … The last non-Alabama team to beat Georgia in the regular season was Florida in 2020.

• This marked Ole Miss’ largest top-five victory since beating No. 3 Tennessee 38-0 in 1969.

Offensive Notes

• QB Jaxson Dart was 13-of-22 for 199 yards and one touchdown, and added 50 yards on the ground on eight carries.

• Dart moves into fourth in Ole Miss single-season history in passing yards (3,409), as well as sixth in total offense (249) … Additionally, Dart moved past 11,000 passing yards in his career overall.

• Dart’s 50 rushing yards puts him at 1,307 in his Ole Miss career, passing John Fourcade (1,301) for second all-time among Rebel QBs.

• QB Austin Simmons entered the game in the first quarter in relief of Dart following an injury … Simmons went 5-for-6 passing and 64 yards in his first drive, which RB Ulysses Bentley IV capped with a nine-yard touchdown.

• Bentley also hauled in four receptions for 38 yards, including a career-long 31-yard catch in the first quarter.

• WR Cayden Lee led the team with 81 yards receiving on four catches.

• WR Jordan Watkins recorded four catches to move into a tie for 17th all-time in receptions at Ole Miss, passing Michael Harmon and tying DaMarkus Lodge (122) … Watkins ended the night with four receptions for 68 yards.

• TE Caden Prieskorn tallied one catch and 26 yards on the day to move into sixth all-time at Ole Miss among tight ends in receiving yards (749) and ninth all-time in Ole Miss history among tight ends in catches (48).

• WR Antwane Wells Jr. returned to the endzone for his fifth touchdown reception of the year … Wells had three catches for 27 yards.

Defensive Notes

• 10 points are the fewest scored by a Georgia offense since 2021 (Clemson, 10) and the fewest yielded by a Rebel defense against Georgia since 1995 (10).

• Ole Miss held the Bulldogs to 245 yards of total offense, Georgia’s lowest since 2017 vs. Auburn (230).

• Ole Miss held Georgia to just 59 yards rushing, UGA”s lowest since 2021 vs. Cincinnati (45) in the College Football Playoff.

• Ole Miss became the second team this season (Kentucky) to force Georgia into four-straight punts and less than 100 total offensive yards in the first half (69).

• The Rebels forced four fumbles and three total turnovers with nine TFL, five sacks, five pass breakups, four QB hurries and one interception.

• Included are two sack fumbles by DE Jared Ivey and DE Princely Umanmielen … Also forcing fumbles were CB Trey Amos and DT Zxavian Harris, the first as a Rebel for Amos and first overall for Harris.

• Recovering fumbles were DT Walter Nolen and DE Suntarine Perkins, the second for Nolen as a Rebel and first overall for Perkins.

• S John Saunders Jr. picked off Carson Beck on a tipped pass by Ivey, Saunders’ second INT of the season, 10th of his career overall and fifth as a Rebel.

• Ivey, Perkins and Umanmielen each recorded at least one sack and combined for all five of Ole Miss’ sacks … This season, the trio has combined for 26.5 sacks, accounting for 57.6% of the team’s 46.

• Perkins recorded his 10th sack of 2024, tying four Rebels for second-most in a single season.

• Ivey recorded his 15th and 16th career sacks for the Rebels, passing Dewayne Dotson for the ninth most sacks in an Ole Miss career … Ivey also tallied seven tackles and a career best five solo stops.

• With two sacks, Umanmielen has brought down the QB six times in the last three games.

• LB TJ Dottery led the team with 10 tackles, the fourth time that he’s reached double-digit tackles this season.

Special Teams

• K Caden Davis kicked five field goals, increasing his Rebel total to 38, tying Bryan Owen for seventh all-time in program history … He became the first kicker since Luke Logan in 2018 to kick five field goals.

• Davis’ one extra point was his 92nd at Ole Miss, which moved him past Bryan Owen for sixth-most in a Rebel jersey … His 16 points also put him at 206 for his career, moving him into a tie with Owen and Quinshon Judkins for eighth all-time in points scored at Ole Miss.

• P Fraser Masin had a 65-yard punt, tying his career long … He averaged 54 yards per punt and put one inside the 20 yardline.