Ole Miss got caught in the trap.
Florida may prove itself to be one of the best teams in the SEC, but it’s hard to ignore how different the Rebels looked on the field in Gainesville than they did in Oxford last week.
Playing without Kewan Lacy, the offense needed most of the first half to get its engines started. The defense was consistently gashed for runs of six, seven yards and the only thing that stopped Florida’s offense was Florida. The Rebels missed more tackles than a stormtrooper misses blaster shots in Star Wars and walked off the field with a 52-28 loss.
It was not a pretty performance by the Ole Miss defense.
The Gators finished with 303 rushing yards, including 142 from Jadan Baugh who also averaged 5.0 yards per carry. His backup, Duke Clark, had an even higher average with 10.5 (126 rushing yards). There was little interior disruption Ole Miss showed last week. Instead, the defensive line looked like it was on roller skates with how easily the Gators’ offensive line pushed them back.
That rushing success set up the play action for Florida later in the game and, unsurprisingly, it worked. Several of Aaron Philo’s passes were to receivers who were wide open because Ole Miss defenders were crashing hard on run looks.
A lot of the attention will be put on the Rebels’ defense and it’s fair to wonder how or why we were talking about this group matching the level of the elite 2024 defense.
But there’s plenty of blame to go around, including in at least one unexpected way.
Florida’s London Montgomery had 128 kick return yards. He had a 41-yard return after Ole Miss scored a touchdown and two-point conversion that made the score 17-14. Then he had a 74-yard kick return that resulted in a one-yard Philo touchdown sneak.
Each of those returns came after Ole Miss scored a touchdown to cut the deficit to three points. Whether you’re a believer in momentum or not, those returns brought life back into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium that had gone quiet.
The best part about Ole Miss was its offense. However, by the time it got going, Florida had a 10-point lead. Trinidad Chambliss’ third quarter fumble allowed Florida to build a 17-point lead and ended up being too much for the Rebels to overcome.
Chambliss had one second-half touchdown and ran for another, but his magic had no effect when the defense was on the field. Every time Chambliss led a quick, pass-heavy drive for a touchdown, Florida had an answer.
Usually in the form of a long run by Baugh or Clark that set up a short, easy touchdown for the Gators.
And that’s the story.
Everyone knew Florida would try to run the ball. It did and the Rebels had no way to consistently stop it.
Now Ole Miss will head back to Oxford with a bye week next on the schedule and a lot of things to work on.
