Georgia vs. Ole Miss: Game Grades, Analysis for Bulldogs vs. Rebels
In a game between two of the SEC's top teams, the Mississippi Rebels blew the Georgia Bulldogs out of the water with a 45-14 thumping at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Ole Miss dominated in nearly all facets of the game as the team jumped out to a 45-0 lead and never looked back. On the other hand, the Bulldogs were downright awful as the defense was routinely gashed by the Rebels and their offense sputtered thanks to drops and inconsistent play from freshman quarterback Jacob Eason.
The Rebels needed this type of resounding victory after blowing 21-point leads in their two losses to Alabama and Florida State. The team remains alive in the SEC West, while Georgia dropped to 1-1 in conference play.
The University of Tennessee comes to Athens next weekend, so Georgia must get better fast. Mississippi will host Memphis, but let us take a look at how each team graded out in Saturday's blowout.
Georgia Offense
1 of 6
Grade: D-
After only putting up 26 points against Nicholls State in Week 2 and needing a late score to salvage a 28-27 win over Missouri last week, Georgia needed a strong performance to get its offense going again. That did not happen Saturday.
The Bulldogs were stymied for most of the afternoon as they saw Ole Miss take a massive early lead, and it was largely due to the ineffectiveness of the passing game.
Eason finished a woeful 16-of-36 passing with 136 yards and an interception. Backup running back Sony Michel led the team in receiving with 34 yards, and 29 of those came on a fake punt. Georgia's receivers were owned by the Ole Miss secondary, as Terry Godwin and Isaiah McKenzie were unable to create any separation.
Eason was rattled as a result, as he threw numerous inaccurate passes deep throughout the afternoon. When he did make an accurate throw, it was often dropped by his receivers. This was huge during a three-play sequence where Georgia dropped two potential touchdowns and a first down deep in Mississippi territory while the game was still hanging in the balance.
The only reason this unit does not get a "F" is that the rushing attack was solid. The team averaged 5.2 yards per carry, and freshman Brian Herrien totaled 78 yards and two scores. Nick Chubb also racked up 57 yards on 12 carries before leaving with an injury around halftime.
A lot of these rushing yards came when Ole Miss was playing reserves, but it still resulted in Georgia avoiding a shutout.
Mississippi Offense
2 of 6
Grade: A+
With a star quarterback in Chad Kelly, Mississippi was expected to have one of the top offenses in the SEC. The unit showed why on Saturday.
Ole Miss was pretty much perfect offensively, finishing with 510 total yards while averaging 8.4 yards per play. The team was able to do whatever it wanted as Georgia was just overwhelmed on defense.
Kelly took advantage of a weak secondary to the tune of 282 yards and two touchdowns for 18-of-24 passing. He also led the team in rushing with 53 yards and a score, including a 41-yard scamper off of a zone-read.
Tight end Evan Engram was once again a star through the air, pacing the offense with six catches for 95 yards and a touchdown. He and his fellow receivers routinely beat Georgia in one-on-one battles, as the team made a living by throwing up jump balls to A.J. Brown and DaMarkus Lodge.
Mississippi put forth an excellent effort offensively, which bodes well for its prospects for the rest of the season.
Georgia Defense
3 of 6
Grade: F
As good as Ole Miss was on offense, Georgia was absolutely abysmal on defense.
The Bulldogs were helpless as Mississippi marched up and down the field to put the game away early. Kelly had plenty of time to throw, while the defensive backs were bullied by the opposing receivers. When it was not getting shredded through the air, Georgia allowed 5.8 yards per rush.
Head coach Kirby Smart was expected to field a tough defense after his work with Alabama, but that was certainly not the case on Saturday. This unit needs considerable work with the meat of the SEC schedule on the horizon.
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Mississippi Defense
4 of 6
Grade: B+
Ole Miss needed to make Eason uncomfortable to win this game, and it accomplished that goal.
The freshman had no place to throw for most of the afternoon, and the Rebels were able to stifle Georgia as a result. Mississippi did allow 396 total yards, but most of them came with the backups in the game, which is when Georgia scored its two touchdowns.
The reason the Rebels miss out an "A" grade is because of their struggles defending the run. Luckily for them, this did not matter a ton since the offense was scoring at will, but this needs to be addressed moving forward. Alabama was able to gash Mississippi for seven yards a carry last week, so the Rebels have a definite weakness on their defense.
Georgia Coaching
5 of 6
Grade: C
Georgia was thoroughly whipped on Saturday, and the coaching staff certainly deserves some heat for not properly preparing the team.
The staff failed to make any adjustments for Georgia's deficiencies in the secondary by mixing in more zone coverage to limit the amount of one-on-one matchups for its defensive backs. The coaches also did not make a great enough effort to get McKenzie, the team's best playmaker, the ball. He had only three catches for 13 yards and one rush for a yard.
Still, the onus is on the players to win the game, and they were terrible. Georgia was simply overmatched at the line of scrimmage, and there is not much the coaching staff can do to fix that. Smart tried to use a fake punt to spark his team, but the players just did not show up to play on Saturday.
Mississippi Coaching
6 of 6
Grade: A
Ole Miss was clearly the better team on Saturday, but the coaching staff did a good job of playing to the team's strengths to leave with a resounding victory.
Mississippi was set up with favorable matchups on the outside offensively, and the play calling utilized the team's advantage in the passing game with an ample amount of fades and fly routes. The staff also did a solid job of confusing Eason with a mix of coverages.
The Rebels were clearly prepared to succeed in this game, which is a testament to the work of head coach Hugh Freeze and his staff.
Statistics are courtesy of NCAA.com.
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