ATHENS – There was a sense of relief in the Georgia locker room after the Bulldogs’ 34-20 win over Florida on Saturday.
Coach Kirby Smart and his players celebrated the trip to Jacksonville, but most importantly, they survived.
And now it’s time for Carson Beck and his Bulldogs teammates to quickly look ahead to a very intimidating and very losing trip to red-hot Ole Miss this Saturday.
It’s the kind of challenge that Georgia teams of the past have embraced and overcome, but that doesn’t guarantee anything for next Saturday’s 3:30 PM match in Oxford.
It’s not a stretch to suggest this road trip is even more intimidating than the Bulldogs travel to face then-No. 1-ranked Texas in Austin just 2 1/2 weeks ago.
Those Longhorns didn’t know what kind of Georgia team would come for them.
But many on this Ole Miss team know the pain of the Bulldogs’ bite after suffering a thorough, 52-17 dominant loss to Georgia between the hedges last season.
These Rebels’ offense is better than last year’s, with a dominant 63-31 road win at Arkansas on Saturday tying a program record for most points scored above against an SEC opponent.
It’s true that Ole Miss gave up a lot of points, but the defense also recorded eight sacks — just a week after sacking Oklahoma’s quarterbacks nine times in a 26-14 win.
The Rebels, 7-2 overall and fighting for their postseason lives, have a chance to win their way to the College Football Playoffs by beating Georgia, Florida and Mississippi State.
Kiffin said last week that if his team had a better Red Zone offense, it would be undefeated: Ole Miss two losses combined by a combined six points (20-17 vs. Kentucky, 29-26 OT at LSU).
A case could be made that the Rebels are the most dangerous team in the SEC right now, playing the best offensive football and coming off the most impressive win streak. As motivated as any team in the country with the hope of CFP still within reach.
Lane Kiffin’s college hires – all but four or five of whom are almost all transfers – have come together and have something very special in store for them.
“They showed in the second half of last week and today how good they really can be,” Kiffin said, whose Ole Miss program won in Fayetteville for just the third time in the past 30 years.
“I think it speaks to what we talked to them about last night. “Stop making mistakes so you can show the country that you are one of the best teams in the country. You really are when you play well. We are still two very normal games away from being undefeated.”
Georgia’s latest stats from the 34-20 win over Florida and pending national ranking (No. 2 or No. 3) suggest the Bulldogs are sailing along.
But Smart knows his team caught a break when the Gators’ red-hot starting quarterback left Saturday’s game with an injury.
There’s no shame in saying that – just as Florida and the rest of the SEC got a break, UGA lost two starting receivers (Rara Thomas, Colbie Young) to suspensions and gained three tailbacks (Rod Robinson, Branson Robinson and now Trevor Etienne ) missing time with injuries.
How much better would Beck look if he had those players in his supporting cast?
Somewhere, Stetson Bennett is smiling, grateful to have had a No. 1-ranked defense and NFL skill position starters Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey, George Pickens and James Cook to back him up.
That was then, and this is now, and today’s Georgia needed four quarters to beat a freshman Ivy League quarterback from Florida who actually had just two weeks of practice time in the Gators’ offense and had caught four passes before Saturday pitched in the game.
Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart is a different animal.
Dart looks like the most NFL-ready and NFL-capable quarterback in the SEC after his school-record 515 yards and 6 touchdowns.
The Rebels will also have a record-breaking receiver for Georgia to plan for after Jordan Watkins had 254 yards receiving and five touchdowns against Arkansas.
This, in addition to SEC MVP candidate Tre Wells (59 catches, 987 yards) and 2022 South Carolina All-SEC pick Antwane Wells Jr.
Kiffin was asked if he let his mind wander as he raved about Sam Pittman’s proud Arkansas program.
“No… that’s a good Arkansas team,” Kiffin said. “I was excited about how we played and I wanted to keep playing better. I wanted to stop them on defense regardless of the score… I didn’t think at all about who we were playing next.
“We still have plenty of time to figure that out.”
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