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There are four matchups this week that feature two teams ranked inside the top-25 of the new College Football Playoff rankings that were released on Tuesday. While no game likely will rise to the level of importance of the Michigan and Penn State matchup early Saturday morning, Ole Miss and Georgia comes close. The two-time defending National Champion Georgia Bulldogs are ranked second in the country behind only the Ohio State Buckeyes and host ninth-ranked Ole Miss football in Athens.
The game has plenty of implications. Ole Miss is still mathematically alive for a potential birth in the SEC Championship Game, but would need to win this game and have Alabama lose multiple SEC games to get there. Georgia just has to keep winning to get there, and if they win that they'll probably be back in the College Football Playoff.
Needless to say, there's a lot at stake. This will be a fun game to watch — that's one prediction. Here are some more bold Ole Miss football predictions for a pivotal Week 11 matchup with Georgia.
Jaxson Dart is held below 200 passing yards
Jaxson Dart has been a steady hand at quarterback for Ole Miss in 2023. He beat out former Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders for the starting quarterback spot to begin the season and hasn't looked back since. In eight games, Dart has 2,467 yards and 16 touchdowns to only four interceptions while averaging over 10 yards per attempt. He's also added 334 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. Considering that lost sack yards are included in that tally, those are very impressive numbers.
Dart is going to have his work cut out for him this week against Georgia, however. While Georgia's defense isn't fully composed of Avengers this season compared to the last two seasons, they are still very stout on that side of the field. No one should expect anything different from a Kirby Smart team. Georgia ranks ninth in the country in yards allowed per game at 282.2. They're a bit worse in terms of passing yards allowed per game, but they still hold teams to 182.2 yards through the air on average, a very solid number.
Dart hasn't played his best ball on the road this season, however. While he did put up 267 yards and two touchdowns against a very good Tulane defense on the road, he also threw a pick in that game. Three of his four picks this season have come in Ole Miss' three road games, and Dart has thrown an interception in each of them. He only threw for 244 yards on 35 attempts (6.97 yards per attempt) against Alabama in Tuscaloosa and 202 yards on 16 attempts against Auburn.
Georgia poses an even stiffer test to the Ole Miss offense than those SEC powers. Don't expect the world from Dart this weekend.
Georgia wins by at least three touchdowns
Vegas currently has Georgia as a 10.5-point favorite, according to Fanduel. Essentially, oddsmakers think that Georgia will win by two touchdowns. They might not be high enough on the Bulldogs. Georgia should have a big advantage in the trenches against Ole Miss, which typically struggles against teams that can control the line of scrimmage.
Not only can the Bulldogs do that, but they can also score with the Rebels if they need to. Georgia actually has the most high-powered offense in this matchup. The Bulldogs rank sixth in the nation in yards per game at 493, while Ole Miss is 12th in the country at 478.9. But the Rebels allow roughly 80 more yards per game defensively than Georgia.
The Bulldogs are the more complete team, and are playing at home. Don't be surprised if this game gets more lopsided than what the experts in Vegas project.
