Man, the Bulldogs had people scared. Going into the 2nd half, Kirby Smart and his boys were 17-17 against the Vols. Now, the problem was that Georgia’s offense was struggling yet again. See, the Vols were never that gifted in terms of their offensive capability. We discussed before that if Tennessee wants to win; they have to step up their defense. And for Kirby Smart, if Vols managed to get that done, the Dawgs empire would be over. But, in good old CFB fashion, Smart pulled out an upset on the Vols by gunning it down in the 2nd half, and the Dawgs grabbed a 31-17 win. Before the game, the prediction was that if the Dawgs lost this, they would have around a 40% shot at making the playoffs, but if they won it? It’ll be around 91%.

Now, you might think that Dawgs are locked in or whatever, but Paul Finebaum doesn’t think so. Back on The Matt Barrie Show, Finebaum had a different pick for the strongest SEC team. “To me, Ole Miss, at the moment, looks the best,” Finebaum mentioned. See, right now, the Dawgs are 6-2 in the SEC, and the Rebels are 4-2, and this pick from Finebaum kind of makes sense when you go back and check the tape for the Ole Miss vs Bulldogs game. Lane Kiffin had Georgia in a chokehold. They could neither run the football nor pass it. And that, mixed with the disaster Carson Beck was? Well, let’s just say it wasn’t a good look.

While you can argue that the win Dawgs had over the Vols does give them an edge, you also have to consider the fact that they were still struggling in that game. In the entire first half, Georgia was basically trailing the Vols. It was after Peyton Woodring‘s FG that the Dawgs managed to hit a 17-17 run on the board.

See, before this showdown even happened, we had covered how David Pollack had pointed out that Georgia’s entire offense was one-dimensional. That same thing happened in the first quarter yet again. Carson Beck took a while to finally gain back his old momentum, push forward, and change up the pass-and-run game. But again, at the same time, we also have to keep in mind that for the Vols, this was another road game.

The last time Tennessee faced someone on the road, they lost (vs Razorbacks). Kirby Smart and Co. had their backs against the wall, but they did manage to come out with a win. However, will this win wash away the stain Ole Miss left? Probably not. However, could Ole Miss make a U-turn with 2 back-to-back wins and give Smart another scare during the playoffs? Probably yes.

Lane Kiffin on a streak

See, that Dawgs win not only solidified Kiffin as an amazing coach but also brought forward the pin-point recruitment the Ole Miss staff had done to build up the perfect defense that can handle Smart and Co. It looks like that blowout 52-point loss against the Bulldogs last year did sting the HC.

However, the Rebels just had their bye-week, and next weekend they are facing off against the Gators and then, finally, MS State. While Georgia has edged past them with the 6-2 SEC run, that doesn’t mean Kiffin does not have a shot at biting Smart yet again during the playoffs.

Considering MS State a challenge isn’t even fair. This would be a stat-padding game at best. However, Gators, on the other hand, are a surprising one. Billy Napier and Co. are coming off of a massive win against LSU. And in the center of it all is DJ Lagway‘s return to the game. This was the same dude who gave Smart a run for his money during the Dawgs vs Gators showdown.

That hamstring injury did sideline him for a crucial Texas game, but boy, oh boy, did he come back with grace against LSU. From what we saw, Napier has done something to this defense, and Lagway has done something to this offense. This “something” is working perfectly to keep the Florida boat afloat in the swamp. They need one more win for Bowl eligibility, and Kiffin is their next target to chomp on. This showdown will be an important one for Ole Miss and Kiffin.