Why Ole Miss is playing Georgia at the perfect time to spring an upset

Ole Miss is in urgent territory. After the College Football Playoff committee ranked the Rebels as the 16th best team in college football, they know they can’t afford anymore losses. 

With two losses — both conference losses at that — a third loss would almost certainly end any chance of the Rebels storming into the 12-team playoff. That said, they don’t need anymore more reason to be excited about its clash with Georgia this week. 

Don’t let Georgia’s ranking fool you either, the Rebels have a really good chance to upset the No. 3 ranked Bulldogs. 

UGA quarterback Carson Beck has had his struggles this season. Particularly in the first half. He struggled early against Alabama and the Crimson Tide managed to punish them for that. He struggled against Texas and Georgia as well. 

Between those three games, he’s thrown nine of his 11 interceptions on the season. What makes it even more interesting, two of those games were road games with last week’s game against Georgia a neutral site game in Jacksonville. 

Guess where Georgia plays Ole Miss this week?

Ole Miss can shatter the College Football Playoff a week after first rankings with win over UGA

The Rebels have a chance to do something that doesn’t seem far-fetched like it did when the schedule was announced. They honestly should pull off the upset over Georgia. 

This season, Beck has not only struggled on the road, which favors Ole Miss this week but has been atrocious in the first half. 

In the loss to Bama and close wins over Texas and Florida, all three of Beck’s interceptions in each game came in the first half. 

If it weren’t for DJ Lagway going out with an injury, I’m pretty confident the Gators pull off that upset too.

Even as good as Georgia’s defense is, if Beck is reckless with the ball in Oxford, it should cost him. And it’s up to Ole Miss and Jaxon Dart to punish Georgia for its mistakes. Only one team has. 

Georgia is a bad offensive game and a QB injury away from not being ranked and with three losses this season. 

The one thing Ole Miss has to do is jump on Georgia early. This season, Beck has thrown for three touchdowns and six interceptions on the road. In the first quarter in 2024, he’s thrown two touchdowns and four interceptions. In the first half, it’s six touchdowns to seven interceptions. 

He also doesn’t play well against ranked teams in general. All signs are pointing to Ole Miss pulling off the upset. Because since the start of the season, it doesn’t seem like it’s impossible. 

But if Lane Kiffin the offensive maestro doesn’t show up, it will be the game that got away from the Rebels. And the game that cost it a shot at a national championship.