Ole Miss shocked at dwelling by Kentucky: How did Wildcats upend Rebels’ Playoff hopes?

Kentucky upset No. 6 Ole Miss 20-17 on Saturday after the Rebels missed a 48-yard subject objective with 48 seconds left, dealing a blow to the School Soccer Playoff hopes of an Ole Miss group with a few of the highest expectations in program historical past.

The Wildcats (3-2, 1-2 SEC) went for it on fourth-and-7 at their very own 20-yard line with 3:51 remaining, and Brock Vandagriff discovered Barion Brown for a 63-yard acquire into the pink zone. Kentucky scored two performs later when a Gavin Wimsatt fumble ended up within the fingers of tight finish Josh Kattus, who crossed the objective line to take the lead by three with 2:25 to play.

Ole Miss (4-1, 0-1 SEC) subsequently drove into Kentucky territory because of a 42-yard Jaxson Dart fourth-down completion to Caden Prieskorn, however it didn’t get one other first down and settled for a protracted subject objective try that missed.

It was Kentucky’s first street win towards an SEC group ranked within the AP high 10 since upsetting No. 1 Ole Miss in 1964 and its first win in Oxford since 1978.

KENTUCKY GETS ITS HIGHEST-RANKED ROAD WIN SINCE 1977 🤯 pic.twitter.com/9P9WWXmgVH

— ESPN (@espn) September 28, 2024

A giant step backward for Ole Miss’ aspirations of being elite

Perhaps that is one other instance of the SEC being a league the place no one can take the week off. And Kentucky has actually resurrected itself after getting blown out by South Carolina on Sept. 7, taking Georgia to the brink and now upsetting Ole Miss. It’s an enormous win for Mark Stoops, perhaps the largest of his lengthy tenure, and a complete vibe shift from the early debacle towards the Gamecocks. There’s renewed hope for the group, between a stifling protection and an offense that’s getting higher.

However the larger image is about Ole Miss, which entered the sport with the seventh-best odds to make the School Soccer Playoff, in line with The Athletic’s mannequin, at 79 p.c. These Playoff expectations have taken an enormous hit, together with its normal aspirations to be an elite program. When Georgia discovered itself in a sport at Kentucky, it rallied to drag it out. Even Missouri has had two shut calls at dwelling and survived. Ole Miss was alleged to be previous this — the remaining query being if it could actually shut the deal towards the top-tier groups. This was an enormous step backward for the Rebels as a program.

After all, it’s not over, and it actually isn’t for any SEC group within the expanded Playoff period. However Ole Miss nonetheless has to go to LSU and hosts Georgia, and after this video games towards South Carolina (in Columbia subsequent week) and at dwelling towards Oklahoma are removed from a given. — Seth Emerson

How did Kentucky pull off this upset?

It’s time to take the Wildcats’ protection critically. It collapsed a bit below the burden of a hapless offense in a 31-6 dwelling loss to South Carolina that appeared to portend tough seas forward for Stoops’ group. A 13-12 dwelling loss to Georgia was a shocking near-upset, and now the Wildcats have stifled Lane Kiffin’s near-point-a-minute offense. 5 sacks, together with two from Octavious Oxendine and an infinite one late from J.J. Weaver, led to 1-for-10 Ole Miss futility on third down.

BIG TIME SACK BY @jjtimeee pic.twitter.com/hcj0avqjNc

— Kentucky Soccer (@UKFootball) September 28, 2024

Deone Walker and the UK defensive entrance had been dominant, holding the Rebels to 92 speeding yards. And the Kentucky offense chipped in with an environment friendly Vandagriff sport (18 for 28, 243 yards, one landing), serving to the Wildcats practically double the Rebels in possession time. That stat issues in a matchup like this. — Joe Rexrode

Ole Miss’ explosiveness couldn’t match Kentucky’s physicality

Ole Miss misplaced this sport up entrance, elevating questions on the way it will rise up bodily to high groups within the SEC and past — if it could actually truly get better to make the Playoff. Kentucky dominated the road of scrimmage regardless of averaging solely 2.0 yards per carry. The Wildcats had been in a position to dictate tempo offensively and preserve the Rebels’ explosive offense on the sideline. Kentucky held the ball for 39 minutes and 48 seconds, and Ole Miss transformed only one third down. These are killer numbers towards a high-tempo offense that had led the FBS in complete yards, yards per play, passing offense and scoring, placing up 220 factors in its first 4 video games.

Nonetheless, Ole Miss had an opportunity to no less than ship the sport into time beyond regulation when Dart accomplished a 42-yard go to Prieskorn on fourth-and-11 — its second massive fourth-down conversion of the sport after Dart discovered Tre Harris for a 48-yard landing late within the third quarter. However as soon as once more, Kentucky’s benefit on the line of scrimmage got here up massive, as a sack helped restrict Ole Miss to the lengthy subject objective try it missed, severely damaging the excessive hopes of an Ole Miss group that entered 2024 with its highest preseason rating since 1970. — Scott Dochterman

(Photograph: Petre Thomas / Imagn Pictures)