Rebels Best Team in SEC, Playoff Elimination Game Set Saturday

OXFORD, Miss. — Fresh off a convincing 63-31 victory on the road against Arkansas this week, the Ole Miss proved it is the best team in the SEC and it isn’t close.

It was painfully obvious that the Razorbacks didn’t have the horses to guard Ole Miss in man, press or zone coverage as Jordan Watkins and company raced past defenders with ease. The case was closed much before halftime as quarterback Jaxson Dart tossed three consecutive passes for touchdowns, literally 50+ yard bombs, to lead 35-10 at intermission.

Watkins scored his fifth touchdown of the day rather easily in the third quarter as Arkansas cornerback Hudson Clark tried to slow him down at the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately, the hand play wasn’t enough as Clark lost his footing as Watkins caught Dart’s pass in stride for 62-yards. He finished with eight receptions for a school record for yards (254) and five scores.

Ole Miss has struggled a bit to find its identity a bit during conference play as the offense was slowed by talented defenses like Kentucky, South Carolina and Oklahoma. A breakthrough performance against LSU fell short as quarterback Garrett Nussmeier got the last word for a game winning touchdown pass.

In its struggles, the Rebels defense has still handled opponents rather easily keeping points off the board at a shade over 19 points per game in league play which ranks No. 3 in the SEC. Not a single rushing attack has been run for more than 151 yards on Ole Miss’ defensive front all season either. The front seven has stuffed rushers to just over two yards per game which is not only best in the league but also nationally. The group also leads the nation in tackles for loss by a large margin at 94 and lead the FBS with 41 sacks.

While Georgia does rank No. 2 nationally by AP voters, it may be because of how strong the Bulldogs brand has been for the better part of the past nine seasons. Since 2021, the Bulldogs have lost just three games and two national championships but recent weeks have shown Kirby Smart’s team to be beatable at any moment.

A monumental home victory against the No. 2 team in the nation this week could catapult the Rebels into the conversation as a playoff bid stealer after all. One loss shouldn’t negate a teams postseason hopes with the newly expanded field of 12, in similar fashion to the NCAA Basketball tournament, how a team has finished should matter more than a complete season anyway.

Kiffin has finally assembled a championship contender and will have an elimination game of sorts at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium Saturday against Georgia.

“We told them last night, stop making the mistakes — show them that you’re one of the best teams in the country,” Kiffin said. “You really are when you play well. Again, we’re two very normal plays from being undefeated. It’s neat to see them play like this.”