Ole Miss blocks path to Georgia title three-peat
Rebels’ dynamic offense will have to be explosive
ATHENS, Ga. — No. 1 Georgia breezed through the first two months of the season, rarely encountering a serious challenger.
Things got a lot tougher when the calendar flipped to November.
For the second week in a row, the Bulldogs (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference, No. 2 College Football Playoff ) will find a ranked team standing across the line.
No. 10 Mississippi (8-1, 5-1, No. 9 CFP) visits Sanford Stadium for a Saturday night game that will have a major impact on Georgia’s bid for a third straight national title.
“We’ve got a hell of a challenge,” said Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart, whose team beat No. 16 Missouri last week and faces a trip to Rocky Top next week to meet No. 14 Tennessee. “We need it to be as great an atmosphere in Sanford Stadium as it’s ever been to help take care of our homefield advantage.”
Georgia can clinch a spot in the SEC championship with a victory, though that little item would be checked off before the Bulldogs take the field if Missouri knocks off Tennessee.
Of course, Georgia has its sights on bigger goals. No team has won three straight national championships in the poll era.
“To be close to a three-peat is really phenomenal at any time, let alone nowadays with scholarship limitations and the
portal and everything,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin marveled.
Kiffin’s high-scoring Rebels, led by quarterback Jaxson Dart and a host of offensive playmakers, haven’t given up on winning the SEC West. But a lot of things have to go their way.
Alabama would have to lose its last two conference games, including Saturday’s contest at Kentucky, while Ole Miss would have to win out — a daunting task, indeed, with Georgia next up on the schedule.
“This is a very challenging combination now of having elite, phenomenal players and elite, phenomenal coaches combined. And on the road,” Kiffin said. “So there’s a trifecta of what’s the hardest thing to pull off, and this would be it.”
Then there’s the College Football Playoff.
Ole Miss is on the outside, for now, but could push into the mix with an 11-1 record that includes a road victory over the twotime national champions — even if the Rebels don’t play for the conference title.
“I think people are really, really starting to believe that we have a shot to go to the College Football Playoff,” tight end Caden Prieskorn said. “That was our main goal coming into the season. You can see it in people’s eyes, that we can go do this thing.”