The initial College Football Playoff rankings of the 2024-25 season were released on Tuesday, and while No. 16 Ole Miss was not featured among the 12 teams projected to compete for a national championship, Lane Kiffin’s Rebels have an opportunity to make waves this weekend.

A must-win matchup versus America’s No. 3 program, Georgia (7-1, 5-1 SEC), will unfold in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., and Ole Miss (7-2, 3-2 SEC) has one objective to remain hopeful of the prospects of making a playoff debut this year — win.

Last year, a win at Georgia would have given Ole Miss a legitimate shot at being a playoff contender, given the Rebels ran the table after a brutal 52-17 loss in Athens and went on to post their first 11-win season in history.

After that blowout defeat, Kiffin and company made it their mission to use the Grove Collective — the Ole Miss-exclusive name, image, and likeness program — to retain a strong nucleus of veteran talent, pluck some of the most coveted players from the transfer portal, and add a solid crop of newcomers from the high school ranks.

Ole Miss, after receiving a multi-million dollar level of support from fans, delivered in all three phases and constructed arguably the best roster in program history. That roster now has its back against the wall with two nasty scars from earlier defeats, but also a chance to author future history.

“If they beat Georgia, they will be in the top 12 next week,” Bill Bender from Sporting News said on SportsTalk Mississippi. “They’ll leapfrog (No. 11) Alabama, probably. It’ll be close, but I think they would because [the playoff selection committee] would honor that Georgia victory just the same.”

The upcoming battle in Oxford could seemingly lessen the blow of a week five home loss to a Kentucky team that is winless since its contest against the Rebels as well as a heartbreaking three-point defeat in overtime at LSU.

Sandwiched between the Kentucky and LSU games was a promising 27-3 win at South Carolina. After the loss in Death Valley, Ole Miss regrouped in a bye week and displayed defensive dominance in a 26-14 victory against Oklahoma. The Rebels then ended a 16-year curse by trouncing Arkansas on the road 63-31 in a historic offensive outing.

Though the Bulldogs are certainly anticipated to pose a much bigger threat than the Sooners and Razorbacks, Ole Miss appears to be peaking at the right time.

“If you look at their scoring offense and scoring defense, you kind of shake your head and wonder how they have lost a game,” Bender added. “This is a really good football team with the most efficient quarterback in the SEC. They have a lot of things the committee likes.”

With rain in the forecast at game time in Oxford, all signs point to Saturday’s battle coming down to efficiency. Since neither squad has been able to run the ball effectively for the most part this year, it looks like the passing game will be the difference offensively.

That may give Ole Miss fans a sense of relief, given Jaxson Dart has been the most efficient quarterback in the SEC, and has especially shined in the last couple of weeks.

The veteran quarterback tossed for a collective 826 yards and seven touchdowns in his two previous SEC outings. This feat was accomplished without standout receiver Tre Harris on the field. Harris is expected to give it a go against the Bulldogs, sources tell SuperTalk Mississippi News.

Georgia’s Carson Beck, on the other hand, has had a tough time refraining from giving the other team the ball. In the past five games, Beck has thrown more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (10).

However, offensive line play could ultimately be a determining factor in who gets the win. Dart has looked more impressive than Beck this season, but the Bulldogs’ field general has had a cleaner pocket. Dart has been sacked 19 times this season compared to 10 dropdowns of Beck.

For Ole Miss to emerge victorious on Saturday, its makeshift and injury-ridden offensive front must stand tall against a ferocious defensive line. Likewise, Pete Golding’s defense will have a golden opportunity to force a trigger-happy Beck to turn the ball over and place the Rebels in favorable field position.

A successful defensive outing by the Rebels would not come as any surprise as the unit is responsible for a collective 18 sacks in the last two games and have wreaked havoc in the backfield. JJ Pegues, Walter Nolen, Jared Ivey, and Princely Umanmielen have proven to be more than formidable in the trenches as linebackers TJ Dottery, Suntarine Perkins, and Chris “Pooh” Paul, Jr. have held opposing offenses at bay.

Georgia’s shortcomings aside, the Bulldogs have not backed down since the team’s week four loss at Alabama. Kirby Smart’s crew has won each of its last four games, one of which occurred at then- No. 1 Texas, by double-digits.

Ole Miss is not able to afford another loss and Georgia is historically stingy when it comes to losing in recent years, paving the way for what may be an epic showdown between two hungry teams, each led by a Nick Saban disciple.

As things stand, the SEC is slated to have four teams in the first-ever 12-team playoff, meaning Ole Miss may need a little help even if the Rebels run the table. And that aid appears to be built into the schedules of other programs sitting ahead of Kiffin’s squad in the rankings.

On Saturday night, the highly-anticipated matchup between No. 11 Alabama (6-2, 3-2 SEC) and No. 15 LSU (6-2, 3-1 SEC) will ensure a third overall loss and an additional conference defeat for both squads, likely ending any hopes of a playoff appearance. A loss for the Tigers would likely place a major roadblock on Brian Kelly’s team’s path to the SEC Championship, which would keep LSU from possibly jumping Ole Miss for a playoff spot due to the head-to-head advantage.

In the event Ole Miss beats Georgia, the Bulldogs’ November 16 battle against No. 7 Tennessee (7-1, 4-1 SEC) would have the potential to essentially take Smart’s squad out of the playoff equation or blemish the Volunteers’ overall record.

Another future contest to keep an eye on, assuming Ole Miss has won out at this point, will take place in College Station with No. 15 Texas A&M (7-2, 5-1 SEC) hosting bitter rival No. 5 Texas (7-1, 3-1 SEC). A third loss for the Aggies, assuming they are not upset beforehand, would probably be the nail in their playoff appearance coffin.

Regardless, all future games will bear little-to-no significance if the Rebels can’t find a win on Saturday. Ole Miss versus Georgia will be broadcast on ABC and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations. The Bulldogs are currently a 2.5-point favorite.

Georgia Tech opened their season on Wednesday when they welcomed new D1 member West Georgia to the Flats. The Yellow Jackets won 85-62 and had control the entire game which is what I was looking to see.

There was not a ton of surprise to me in the lineup and usage. I had the starting lineup correct (Nait George, Javian McCollum, Kowacie Reeves, Luke O’Brien, and Baye Ndongo) and all of the backups played basically as much as I expected them to. There were two minor surprises for me. First was that Stoudamire went with a looot of three guard lineups. All four of the guards have good ball handling which is great for getting into transition quickly and all but freshman Jaeden Mustaf have proven to be good offensive shooters and a threat from deep which helps the offense a ton. But I’m worried about the defense. None of the three veterans are notably good defenders and that will give up a lot of size against bigger teams. The other surprise was that I don’t think I saw any lineup with both Baye Ndongo and freshman Doryan Onwuchekwa. I was hoping that getting Onwuchekwa on the floor would sometimes let us move Ndongo down to the 4 and go with a bigger lineup. Instead Onwuchekwa just spelled Ndongo. That will limit his playtime this season as I expect Damon Stoudamire to try to keep Baye on the floor.

The offense was mixed, which is weird to say about a team that put up over 50 in the first half, but you have to consider opponent. Shooting was suspect. The team shot just 25.9% from deep on what was mostly pretty good looks. Kowacie Reeves and Luke O’Brien are supposed to be 3-and-D wings, but combined for just 1-9 from deep. Onwuchekwa shot a couple of threes, but missed both. Javian McCollum had the best day hitting 3-6. The ball movement was really good. The team had 20 assists on 33 field goals (61% assist percentage is pretty good). George and McCollum led the way with 7 and 5 respectively, but Ndongo added 4 from the center spot. They also rebounded like crazy. Onwuchekwa and O’Brien both looked really good on the boards. They should dominate a team like this on the boards, but I mostly liked the way they looked while doing it. Ndongo kept poking the ball away from West Georgia on rebounds and I’m not sure that works as well against better teams, but we’ll see.

There were some concerning things. First is Duncan Powell’s hair. His game looked good, but I’m not sure why he seems to be emulating Drew Gooden’s hair choices. There was also the turnovers. All in all 12 turnovers is not bad, but only forcing 8 against a much inferior team is worrying. Especially with a team who has such potential in transition it’d be nice to make that easier.

The freshmen all looked a little bit rough around the edges at first, but grew into the game. Jaeden Mustaf looked tentative, but got more aggressive as the game went on. He was first off the bench so Stoudamire trusts him. Onwuchekwa was a little more assertive, but looked a little lost at times. Darrion Sutton came in later in the game and he really looked tentative and never really grew into the game. I don’t think he’s an immediate contributor, but as the season goes on he could grow into a role.

All in all a solid first effort. The next game is against North Florida at McCamish at 1 pm on Sunday which was supposed to be another warm up game. However in the Ospreys’ first two games they’ve upset South Carolina and blown out Charleston Southern. The team will have to be on their game for game #2 or they’ll fall victim to North Florida as well.

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Jonathan Dean understands the power of having power and that’s why for over 10 years, he’s helped turn the lights on in Georgia communities.

Now, Dean works as a technical training instructor at Georgia Power, teaching others how to be linemen.

On Thursday, Dean told Atlanta News First what the job and the training beforehand looks like.

“We’re teaching them how to climb. We’re teaching the material and how to identify the work they’re going to do every day when they go into the field,” he said.

It is called line work and consists of what you see when you look up at the overhead power lines or the underground boxes in your neighborhood, according to Dean.

Dean said each job that is done is aimed at bringing the customer their power back. That might be power lost due to a fallen tree on a windy day or because of a significant weather event.

Most recently, Dean and thousands of others responded to the hardest hit areas of Georgia after Hurricane Helene, which affected 12,000 utility poles in the state.

“This was the most destructive storm we’ve had,” Dean said. “A lot of our employees that are also in those areas are affected as well, so it hits home for us, too.”

The former lineman reminds people that their job is not an easy one.

“You can’t just jump right into it,” he said. “You have to think about the safety of the community, the safety of the workers and the most efficient and safest way to restore power.”

After a power outage, many communities often wonder about the timeline of restored power. In response, Dean told Atlanta News First he understands the concerns and knows that it takes the power of a team of linemen to make it happen.

“There’s nothing that we do that does not take power nowadays, so when people lose that, their whole world is turned upside down and we understand that,” he said.

Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.