At this point in the season, No. 7 Ole Miss should have just one goal: don’t lose.
It doesn’t matter how pretty or ugly the win is, if the Rebels avoid a loss they’ll be in the College Football Playoff.
The Rebels woke up Saturday morning needing to do that four times. They’ll go to sleep Saturday night needing to do it just three more times.
Ole Miss defeated South Carolina 30-14 and avoided a day full of upsets that’ll impact Tuesday’s initial CFP rankings.
It wasn’t a perfect win for the Rebels. They led South Carolina 17-7 at halftime and 20-14 at the start of the third quarter. But it a win is a win and this win is better than it looks at first glance.
Ole Miss held the Gamecocks to 50 total rushing yards on 32 carries. Lanoris Sellers was 16-of-30 for 180 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The Rebels’ offense finished with 417 total yards, averaged 6.3 yards per play, had fewer penalties, more first downs, more time of possession and was perfect in the red zone.
If you want a negative stat, Ole Miss was just 1-for-11 on its third down attempts (but was 3-for-4 on fourth down attempts).
Now the Rebels must accomplish its goal three more times against The Citadel, Florida and Mississippi State.
One of those games is against an FCS school, but the other two will pose serious threats to Ole Miss.
The Gators have a win against No. 20 Texas and nearly beat No. 5 Georgia this weekend.
Mississippi State always represents a serious threat because of the Egg Bowl rivalry, but the Bulldogs could be one win away from bowl eligibility entering the game and extremely motivated.
Basically, the situation in Oxford hasn’t changed. The Rebels still need to win the rest of their games or else it’ll feel like 2024 all over again.
Next Up
Ole Miss will remain in Oxford next week for its game against The Citadel at noon Saturday on SECN+.
