Georgia's humbling loss to Mississippi leads college football winners and losers for Week 11

Georgia’s humbling loss to Mississippi leads college football winners and losers for Week 11

Posted by Admin November 10, 2024 Football

Playing for the SEC championship, winning the SEC, even reaching the College Football Playoff: Nothing is certain for No. 2 Georgia after losing 28-10 to No. 12 Mississippi.

Now with two losses in SEC play, the Bulldogs will need help elsewhere in the conference to finish in the top two. While possible, focus should instead shift to securing one of the league’s at-large bids.

But after another flat Saturday in a season littered with less-than-impressive performances, Georgia can’t be seen as a sure thing to win out the rest of November given matchups with No. 6 Tennessee and rival Georgia Tech. Remarkably, the defeat snaps the Bulldogs’ 52-game winning streak against teams other than Alabama.

No team can compare with Florida State for the title of this season’s biggest disappointment. Another loss would put Georgia in that conversation, though, which speaks to both the program’s immense expectations under coach Kirby Smart and the way the Bulldogs have ceded away control of the SEC across the last month.

What has been most concerning is the continued ineffectiveness of senior quarterback Carson Beck, who began the year as one of the leading Heisman Trophy favorites. Mired in a constant battle with turnovers, Beck won’t even earn all-conference accolades in December.

He went 20 of 31 for 186 yards and an interception in the loss. After tossing six interceptions in 417 attempts last season, Beck now has 12 in 321 throws this year. He was also sacked and stripped with three minutes left, ending any chance of a late comeback.

Coinciding with Beck’s struggles has been the disappearing act of the running game. Last year’s team averaged 5.3 yards per carry with 40 rushing touchdowns and cracked the 180-yard mark eight times. This year’s squad went into Saturday averaging 4.5 yards per carry with a season high of 169 yards. On Saturday, the Bulldogs ran for 59 yards on 33 carries.

These aren’t the only problems for Georgia. Another has been the defense, long an area of total strength under Smart. This year’s defense has had moments of dominance, including in a vintage performance against No. 6 Texas last month, but was unable to stop Jaxson Dart and the Rebels.

Despite injuring his ankle early in the game, Dart returned and threw for 199 yards with a touchdown and ran for 50 yards. Overall, Ole Miss had 132 yards on the ground on 3.7 yards per carry.

This second loss will dump Georgia down the US LBM Coaches Poll and raises some serious doubts across the board. The Bulldogs lead Saturday’s winners and losers:

Winners

Army

No. 19 Army passed another test with a 14-3 win at North Texas that secures an unbeaten record heading into a neutral-site matchup in two weeks against No. 8 Notre Dame. The victory is only the Black Knights’ second against an opponent currently with a winning record, joining East Carolina. To combat the Mean Green’s high-powered offense, Army ran a ball-control offense that held possession for nearly 42 minutes while limiting North Texas to a season-low 55 plays. The Black Knights ran for 293 yards and have gained at least 288 yards on the ground in all but one game this season.

Kansas

This type of game had been brewing for Kansas. Every one of the Jayhawks’ six losses coming into Saturday was winnable, to put it lightly; several, including a recent loss to No. 21 Kansas State, was only made possible by unforced errors and turnovers in the fourth quarter. Against No. 18 Iowa State, the Jayhawks looked like the team that began the year in the Coaches Poll by taking a 31-13 halftime lead and weathering the Cyclones’ comeback attempt for a 45-36 win. While a bowl bid will take a borderline miracle — Kansas hasn’t taken four conference games in a row since 2007 — the win is a reminder of how good the Jayhawks can be when they get out of their own way.

Losers

Miami

After escaping upsets against California, Virginia Tech, Louisville and Duke, the No. 4 Hurricanes were upended by Georgia Tech in a 28-23 loss. Miami had a chance for more fourth-quarter heroics with two minutes left but quarterback Cam Ward was sacked and fumbled, securing the Yellow Jackets’ win. Miami has that head-to-head tiebreaker with Louisville and a comparative edge against No. 17 Clemson thanks to the Tigers’ loss to the Cardinals, so the loss alone won’t keep the Hurricanes out of the ACC championship game. But they’ll have to root for Clemson to beat Pittsburgh this month, since the Panthers will edge past Miami should both finish the year with one conference loss. In addition, the loss to the Yellow Jackets means a loss in December to No. 15 SMU could knock Miami out of the at-large playoff mix.

Florida

A few days after announcing that embattled coach Billy Napier would return for his fourth season, the Gators took on No. 5 Texas without starting quarterback DJ Lagway and were blown off the field in a 49-17 slaughter. Starting in place of Lagway, former Yale transfer Aidan Warner completed 12 of 25 attempts for 132 yards and two interceptions. His counterpart, Quinn Ewers, had 333 passing yards with a career-best five touchdowns. Getting to six wins a bowl game for the first time under Napier demands an upset of either No. 13 LSU or Mississippi along with a win against rival Florida State in the finale.

Michigan

The Wolverines are putting together one of the worst seasons by the defending national champions in modern FBS history. Michigan is now 5-5 and in realistic danger of missing the postseason after losing 20-15 to No. 10 Indiana, which earned the first 10-win season in program history and made another statement to the playoff selection committee. While the first team to slow down the Hoosiers’ powerful offense, Michigan was once again stymied by one of the worst offenses in the Power Four. With No. 3 Ohio State looming, the Wolverines will have to beat Northwestern in two weeks to secure a bowl berth. The only defending champion in the modern era to finish with a losing record was Michigan State in 1967.