OXFORD – Ole Miss’ team meeting Monday morning admittedly wasn’t the most fun the Rebels have had this season, according to head coach Lane Kiffin. But after Saturday’s gut-wrenching loss, it needed to happen.
It’s on to the next opponent.
The then-undefeated (6-1, 3-1 SEC) Rebels calmly marched into Georgia’s Sanford Stadium and led by nine after three quarters over the weekend. But Ole Miss was outscored 17-0 in the fourth – the Rebels had three drives in the entire game that didn’t result in touchdowns, and they all came in the game’s final 15 minutes. They had just 13 yards of offense in the fourth quarter and fell 43-35 to the Bulldogs.
Georgia scored on all eight of its drives in the game and amassed 34 first downs. The Bulldogs ran for 221 yards, and quarterback Gunner Stockton had 348 total yards and five total touchdowns. The Rebels allowed 510 yards overall – the second most by an opponent this season – and missed eight tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. Ole Miss has 64 missed tackles overall, per PFF.
No. 8 Ole Miss plays at No. 13 Oklahoma Saturday at 11 a.m., and the game will be broadcast on ABC. It will be the third-ever game between the teams and first at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Ole Miss has won its first two meetings with the Sooners.
“We worked on that,” Kiffin said. “It wasn’t a real feel-good meeting … this morning, and some plays to really point out where it didn’t feel like that that should be the effort that was given in any game, let alone when you’re in that spot and how hard it is to beat Georgia and to get up two scores late in the third and to have that opportunity, you’ll remember that forever, that we let that slip away. So, I think that that meeting went well, and I think that they’ll be ready to go this week.”
Oklahoma is coming off a 26-7 win at South Carolina. Quarterback John Mateer threw for a season-low 150 yards, but the Sooners ran for 171 yards, their most in an SEC game this season. The Sooners are second nationally in scoring defense (9.4 points per game) and lead the FBS with four sacks per game.
Last season in a 26-14 win over Oklahoma, Ole Miss sacked Sooners quarterbacks a total of nine times. Oklahoma added Mateer and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle in the offseason from Washington State.
“Night and day. Very different (offensively), and this guy’s done a great job. Presents a lot of problems, runs the quarterback … moves him around. And then they’ve got a background together, which obviously helps too,” Kiffin said. “ … They’ve always had this defense, really got this defense fixed the last couple years, and now they have their offense fixed. And now you have a top-10 team like they have … (like) you’re supposed to have at Oklahoma.”
Ole Miss-South Carolina given six-day window
Ole Miss and South Carolina’s matchup on Nov. 1 will kick off at either 2:30 p.m., 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. The time will officially be determined following the games on Oct. 25, per the SEC.
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