By: Matthew Weatherby
I think first and foremost, a big thank you is due to Sean McDonough. The call he had on this game was fantastic, and he proved why he was named the 2025 NSMA National Sportscaster of the Year. He gave us the call of the year, and now has some people wondering why he is ESPN’s B-team play-by-play guy. Now to the game itself…
Ole Miss finished the job this time
Going into this game, both Georgia fans and the general public seemed to forget just how close Ole Miss was to beating Georgia in Athens on October 18th. The Rebels led by 9 in the 4th quarter and are a 4th&1 stop away from winning that game. Yet that didn’t stop seemingly every single member of the national media from picking Georgia. Plus, all of the general public put their money on Georgia. DraftKings reported that 95% of the money was on Georgia’s moneyline and 89% was on Georgia -6.
But Ole Miss did to Georgia exactly what they couldn’t in Athens. Put them away. When Georgia punched late, Trinidad Chambliss and the offense had a counterpunch. The Ole Miss defense gave up field goals instead of touchdowns for the most part in the second half. After I had time to digest the game, I thought about how that game in Athens earlier this year probably won Ole Miss this game.
There is a certain aspect in sports that is unquantifiable: game pressure. Each player deals with it differently, and you really don’t know how someone will react until they are in the moment. Trinidad Chambliss folded under the pressure of the moment in Athens earlier this year. ESPN actually asked him about it, and he made acknowledgments about his 4th quarter struggles in the first game. However, this time coming into the second half down 9, he didn’t just handle the game pressure; it felt like he attacked it.
I mean, some of the throws Chambliss made in that second half probably gave Kirby flashbacks to his time at Alabama facing Johnny Manziel. Scramble drills that resulted in some wild plays to keep drives alive or hit them for explosives. Those plays that Chambliss was able to make with his legs were impactful outside of the yards they gained. They gassed the Georgia defense. They had their hands on their hips, they were slower in their rushes, and were less effective in their run fits. That allowed Kewan Lacy to get going in the second half as well.
Since I haven’t yet given them credit. The Ole Miss defense got better throughout the year. A big storyline in the second half of the season was about how Georgia’s defense had improved. There wasn’t a lot of noise about how Ole Miss had gotten better. I guess if your Head Coach leaves, that automatically means you’re not allowed to improve as a team. They did, though. The biggest improvement was in their run defense. In game one in Athens, the Rebels gave up 221 yards on 49 carries, good for an average of 4.5. Game two, however, 124 yards on 37 carries, good for 3.4 yards a carry. In Athens, the Rebels didn’t force a punt; on Thursday, they forced 4. Their Pass defense was also better. I think that is a result of their improved run defense putting Georgia in disadvantaged situations on 2nd and 3rd down.
Now that we have given the Rebels their due credit, it’s time for a rant or two…
Questions regarding Georgia’s philosophy
I’ll be honest. I truly do not understand the philosophy regarding aggressiveness from Kirby Smart. Let me make one thing clear: I’m not questioning the outright play calling. I will never be in his realm in terms of what Kirby Smart knows about football. But I do feel like I have a good sense of momentum and clock management. There were two instances that I just don’t get…
The first comes after Georgia took a 9-point lead. The Bulldogs had three drives in which they were up 9 points. They went as follows: 3 plays, 3 yards, punt; 3 plays, 4 yards, punt; 6 plays, 12 yards, missed field goal. There was a lack of aggressiveness in those drives that was apparent. The only thing that makes those drives confusing is the fact that Kirby Smart would get aggressive after Georgia’s lead dwindled and dissipated. It gave the feeling of having a good grip on a rope, and once it starts slipping, you just start grabbing at it, hoping to hold on.
The second comes on Georgia’s last true offensive possession. With 1:13, Georgia has the ball at the Ole Miss 8. They run for 5 yards, run for 3 yards. Those caused Ole Miss to burn their two timeouts. They then decide to throw for it on 3rd down and don’t get it. Why? It seems that you had committed yourself to a conservative approach through the first 2 plays, then you get aggressive? The only reason it matters is that Georgia had all kinds of problems stopping Ole Miss between the 20’s, the entire second half. Their kicker had shown you he had plenty of leg to make a long field goal as well. You would think Georgia would have been content running down the clock and going into overtime, a format that would have favored the Dawgs, with what would have been momentum on their side going into the overtime period
Philosophy wasn’t Georgia’s only problem Ole Miss was too
There was a troubling underlying stat for Georgia that they kind of covered up for most of the year. The offensive efficiency has been a problem all year for the Dawgs. Offensive efficiency, at its core, is your ability to sustain drives. That’s fine when you’re one of the top teams in the country at turning red zone opportunities into touchdowns. But when those touchdowns stop, the cracks start to show. Twice in the second half, Georgia had red zone opportunities turn into field goals. They just could not finish the drives that they were successful on in the second half, and it cost them dearly.
Lastly, as a personal gripe, they had a complete and utter inability to maintain containment on Trinidad Chambliss. Which some of that is absolutely a credit to Chambliss. But specifically, the play that Chambliss made to Kewan Lacy on 3rd down, I watched Daylen Everette flatten his rush off, which allowed Chambliss to flip himself back to the left. Daylen is a corner, and pass rushing is not his job, but man, was that a crucial mistake.
To Georgia Fans
I will preface this by acknowledging that I am most likely talking to a loud minority, but. No, it wasn’t the officials’ fault that Georgia lost. I get it, targeting is frustrating, inconsistent, and needs to be addressed. It also isn’t a loss that should make you want to fire Mike Bobo or (and yes, I did see some people say this) have Kirby Smart step down. Ole Miss won this game because they executed when it mattered most better than Georgia did. Plain and simple. For as long as Kirby Smart is the Head Coach, Georgia will continue to be in this position, and it is physically impossible to win them all. Not to mention this is a relatively young team, and they will most likely be in a similar position next year. But for the love of god, as a fanbase, we have got to learn to lose better.
