Georgia jumps into Top 5 in AP poll after beating Ole Miss
ATHENS — Saturday’s win over Ole Miss was not a traditional Georgia performance under Kirby Smart.
The defense struggled, not forcing a punt until the fourth quarter. Special teams were subpar, with Peyton Woodring shanking two kicks out of bounds.
But the offense was phenomenal, racking up 43 points and 510 yards of offense as it beat Ole Miss 43-35.
“I’m so happy the players get return on the work ethic, physicality we play with, how we practice,” Smart said after the win. “It paid off on offense. Our ability to run the ball at the end of the day is probably the difference in the game. We sure couldn’t stop them very often. We stopped them when we had to.”
The offensive performance helped push Georgia up four spots in the AP Poll Top 25 rankings for Week 9, as the Bulldogs are the No. 5 team. Georgia was ranked No. 5 in the Coaches Poll Top 25 rankings for this week.
Georgia heads into its second off week with a 6-1 record and 4-1 mark in SEC play.
The Bulldogs don’t return to action until Nov. 1, when they take on the Florida Gators in Jacksonville, Florida.
After the Ole Miss game, Georgia clearly has a lot to work on.
“You know, we’ve got to find a way to play better earlier,” Smart said. “And the theme this week was fast and free. I wanted the guys to be free from all hostage of a scoreboard. And I don’t know that we, … I think, offensively we played that way. I don’t know that we did defensively.”
There is some uncertainty surrounding Georgia’s next foe, as Florida coach Billy Napier is in hot water. Napier was booed off the field Saturday, even after Florida held on to beat Mississippi State. The Gators are 3-4 on the season but 22-23 in the four seasons Napier has run the program. Napier is 0-3 against Smart.
While the Florida game may not appear tough, Georgia still has multiple tests in November. The Bulldogs have games against No. 22 Texas and No. 7 Georgia Tech on the schedule.
Georgia will have to be playing its best going into those games. The contest against Florida is set for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC.
The full AP Poll Top 25 rankings for Week 9.
AP Top 25 rankings for Week 9
- Ohio State
- Indiana
- Texas A&M
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Oregon
- Georgia Tech
- Ole Miss
- Miami
- Vanderbilt
- BYU
- Notre Dame
- Oklahoma
- Texas Tech
- Missouri
- Virginia
- Tennessee
- South Florida
- Louisville
- LSU
- Cincinnati
- Texas
- Illinois
- Arizona State
- Michigan
About the Author
Connor Riley has been covering the University of Georgia since 2014 before moving to DawgNation full-time before the 2018 season. He helps in all areas of the site such as team coverage, recruiting, video production, social media and podcasting. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 2016.
