OXFORD, Miss. — It was easy to look at Georgia’s 27-13 win over Ole Miss on Saturday and point out all the flaws. And the Bulldogs will do that, too — on Sunday.
On Saturday, they were more than happy to celebrate their first SEC victory of the season and the possibilities it brings.
“I’m on Cloud Nine right now,” said Georgia tight end Orson Charles, who had five catches for 59 yards and a touchdown. “I’m very happy. SEC wins don’t come easily. So we’re going to celebrate this one till about 12 o’clock, then we’re going to start working on getting one against Mississippi State.”
Said junior safety Bacarri Rambo, who had a pair of interceptions: “It’s kind of scary how we keep getting better every week. Just imagine at the end of the season how we might look. That’s gonna be a scary sight. Wait till we get all our starters back. That’s going to be a scary thing to see us coming on the field.”
The Bulldogs (2-2, 1-1 SEC), who played without four injured starters, won in more dominating fashion than the final score might indicate. They outgained the Rebels (1-3, 1-2) 475 yards to 183, held them to a meager eight first downs and freshman Isaiah Crowell had 147 yards rushing on 30 carries.
But Ole Miss made it interesting with a pair of trick plays: An 81-yard touchdown off a punt-return reverse and a 38-yard touchdown pass on a lateral to the quarterback off another reverse. Meanwhile, Georgia’s Lou Groza Award-candidate kicker Blair Walsh missed three field-goal attempts — more than he missed his entire sophomore season — to keep the game from moving into the category of blowout.
“If we make every field goal, I guess it’d have been around 36 points,” said Mark Richt, who improved to 35-10 in road games as Georgia’s coach. “I’d like to have scored some touchdowns. But we did move the ball well.
“When you get a defense tired like that you’d like to stick a fork in them, but we didn’t do that.”
The outcome was effectively determined in the second quarter. Holding a 10-0 lead, Georgia took over at their own 1 with 10:01 until halftime.
They quickly faced third-and-9 from the 2 when Crowell took a handoff at right tackle, bounced outside and rambled 29 yards to the 31-yard line. That was the key play in an eight-play, 99-yard scoring drive that ended with a touchdown on an Aaron Murray fade pass to Charles. It was the Bulldogs’ first 99-yard scoring drive since they executed one against Central Michigan in 2008.
“Probably the biggest play in the game at that point,” Richt said. “We actually line-called that one,” meaning it was an audible at the line of scrimmage.
But Georgia wouldn’t make it easy on itself. It turned around and allowed a three-play, 80-yard scoring drive by the Rebels, the last two plays of which covered 75 yards. The touchdown came on a flanker reverse, who pitched the ball back to quarterback Randall Mackey, who threw a strike to an uncovered Donte Moncrief to make the score 17-7.
Georgia dodged disaster by holding the Rebels on four plays following their successful onside kick. The Bulldogs answered with a three-play scoring drive of their own.
Leading 24-7, Georgia had a chance to grind out the half and go to the locker room with a three-score lead. Instead, after taking over at their own 27 with 1:26 remaining, the Bulldogs threw three consecutive incompletions — the last of which was dropped by Israel Troupe for what would have been a first down.
The Rebels made them pay with an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown with 49 seconds left in the half.
Alas, it didn’t matter. Georgia’s defense came through by limiting the Rebels to 49 yards in the second half.
“It means a lot,” Rambo said. “It’s our first SEC win. We’re back in the race. Everybody’s been counting us out, but we’re still in this thing.”
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