No. 16 Ole Miss’ defense shines in upset of No. 3 Georgia

Behind Jaxson Dart, Caden Davis and an impressive defense, No. 16 Ole Miss upset No. 3 Georgia 28-10 in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, denting the Bulldogs’ national title hopes in the process.

Dart completed 13 of 22 passes for 199 yards, a touchdown and an interception and ran for a team-high 50 yards. while Davis made all five of his field goal attempts as the Rebels (8-2, 4-2 SEC) won their third straight game.

Carson Beck was 20-of-31 passing for 185 yards but threw an interception and fumbled twice for the Bulldogs (7-2, 5-2), who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Nate Frazier ran for 47 yards and a touchdown for Georgia, which was outgained 395-244.

Trailing 16-7, Beck found Cash Jones for 29 yards on Georgia’s opening drive of the second half, advancing to Ole Miss’ 10-yard line. From there, Georgia had to settle for Peyton Woodring’s 23-yard field goal at the 9:47 mark of the third quarter.

Ole Miss answered on the following drive as Dart connected with Cayden Lee for gains of 23 and 26, before finding Antwane Wells on a 10-yard scoring pass with 6:10 left in the third. Dart’s two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful, and the Rebels led 22-10.

Georgia turned the ball over on its next two drives. Frazier fumbled at Ole Miss’ 29-yard line with 3:26 left in the third, before Beck was picked off by John Saunders Jr. at the Rebels’ 15-yard line at the 7:22 mark of the fourth.

Davis tacked on another field goal with 3:22 left, extending Ole Miss’ lead to 25-10. Two plays into Georgia’s next drive, Beck was strip-sacked by Princely Umanmielen, and Suntarine Perkins recovered the ball on Georgia’s 19-yard line. Davis capped the scoring on a 32-yard field goal with 1:11 left.

On Ole Miss’ third play of the game, Dart was picked off by Dan Jackson, giving Georgia the ball at Ole Miss’ 21. Seven plays later, Frazier’s 2-yard touchdown run with 10:32 left in the first quarter put the visitors ahead 7-0.

The Rebels answered with a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped with Ulysses Bentley IV’s 9-yard run at the 6:53 mark. After a Georgia punt, Davis’ 23-yard field goal gave Ole Miss its first lead at 10-7 with three minutes left in the opening quarter.

The Rebels followed two more Georgia punts with a pair of Davis field goals from 43 and 53 yards, respectively, as Ole Miss held a 16-7 halftime lead.