Dawgs Route Rebels and Return to the Top

Darrell Huckaby is a syndicated columnist and author of six books including two about Georgia football. Read Huck’s Wit and Wisdom every Wednesday and Sunday. Subscribe at https://dhuck.substack.com/.

Dawgs Route Rebels and Return to the Top

It was a beat-down from the first three-and-out, and it was beautiful.

I don't know what they were expecting in Oxford, Mississippi, Saturday night, but I suspect it wasn't what they got.

The Ole Miss Rebels invited the Georgia Bulldogs to town for a little football game, and by the time the evening was over, the home folks were probably wishing they'd invited the Union Army instead.

At least Sherman stopped burning things when he got to the ocean.

Georgia won 42-7, and it wasn't nearly that close.

I've seen some beatdowns in my time. I grew up in Porterdale, where a fellow could get himself whipped for looking at somebody's girlfriend, borrowing somebody's bicycle without asking, or suggesting that Georgia Tech had a better football team than Georgia.

But I don't believe I've ever witnessed a whipping quite like the one King Kirby's boys administered to the Rebels Saturday night.

And the most remarkable thing about it was Kirby Smart himself.

The man coached the entire game like he was 99 points behind and had just discovered somebody had stolen his pickup truck, kicked his dog, and insulted Mary Beth.

Georgia would be ahead 28-0, and Kirby would be pacing the sidelines like a Baptist preacher who had just learned the church treasurer had run off to Las Vegas with the building fund.

I kept waiting for somebody to tell him we were winning.

Apparently, nobody had the nerve.

And I wouldn't have volunteered.

The Bulldogs came out of the dressing room with an attitude. Ole Miss came out with a football team. Unfortunately for the Rebels, those two things were not compatible.

Nate Frazier took his first handoff and rambled 46 yards, apparently under the impression that somebody had told him the nearest Waffle House was closing in five minutes.

He finished with 107 yards rushing, and every time he touched the football, Ole Miss defenders looked like they were trying to tackle a greased pig at the county fair.

Georgia ran for 295 yards altogether. Two hundred and ninety-five! I've seen interstate highways that didn't have that much traffic.

Then there was Gunner Stockton. Lord have mercy.

That young man from Rabun County played quarterback like he'd been doing it since he was old enough to walk. Cool as the other side of the pillow, as they say, and about as rattled as a marble statue. Gunner threw four touchdown passes, ran for another score, and generally treated the Ole Miss secondary like a bunch of Georgia fans who had wandered into historic Grant Field looking for the restroom.

Three of those touchdown passes went to Talyn Taylor.

I don't know what Taylor had for supper Saturday night, but I'd like to order some.

He caught four passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns, including scoring plays of 58 and 65 yards.

The Ole Miss defensive backs spent so much time chasing him that I wouldn't be surprised if they showed up on somebody's Fitbit as having completed a half-marathon.

Taylor was so wide open on that last touchdown that I thought somebody had called a fire drill.

But as impressive as the offense was, I want to talk about that Georgia defense.

The entire defense.

Every last blessed one of them.

Ole Miss came into the game averaging more than 37 points a contest. The Rebels had been moving the football up and down the field all season like they were delivering pizzas. Six-year hero of the Mississippi court system, Trinidad Chambliss had looked unbeatable in New Orleans last New Year’s Day. Saturday night he looked like a junior high player going against a bunch of grown men. Half of that statement, at least, is the bona fide truth.

Saturday night he couldn't have delivered a pepperoni to the end zone with a police escort.

Chris Cole was everywhere. Nine tackles and a sack and a half. KJ Bolden intercepted a pass. Rasean Dinkins stripped the football from the Rebel quarterback and recovered it himself. Khalil Barnes contributed a sack that sent the quarterback backward like he'd stepped on a rattlesnake.

And the rest of the defense?

They were in on the festivities, too.

Five sacks altogether. Ten different Bulldogs recorded at least three tackles. Ole Miss managed only 252 yards of offense. By the end of the third quarter Ole Miss fans were pouring out of Vaught-Hemingway stadium like they heard they were giving away Bourbon at the county line.

I haven't seen that many Rebels surrender since General Lee’s army at Appomattox.

By halftime Georgia led 28-0. By the end of the third quarter, it was 35-0, and I was beginning to worry about the emotional well-being of the Ole Miss faithful.

These are people who take their football seriously. They dress up for games. They have so many beautiful women at Ole Miss that they redshirt Miss Americas, and their team’s manhood was not being challenged, it was being made a mockery of.

They have chandeliers in their tailgating tents in the Grove. Some of them probably have better silverware at the Grove than I have in my dining room.

But all the chandeliers and sterling silver and beauty queens in Mississippi couldn't help them Saturday night.

The Rebels finally scored in the fourth quarter, which was nice. I believe in being charitable, especially when visiting somebody else's home.

Kirby apparently does not share that philosophy.

Georgia promptly answered with another 65-yard touchdown pass to Taylor.

I think Kirby would have gone for two if somebody had suggested it.

And all the while he kept coaching like we were losing by 99.

That's what I love about the man.

He doesn't care about style points. He doesn't care about hurting somebody's feelings. He doesn't care whether the opposing coach likes him.

He cares about winning football games, and he wants his players to perform to a championship standard on every single snap. Saturday night they did.

I don't know what the rest of the season holds. There's still football to be played, and I've lived long enough to know that nothing is guaranteed except death, taxes, and Georgia Tech finding some way to irritate me.

But I do know this.

The Georgia Bulldogs went into Oxford Saturday night, faced the nation's tenth-ranked team on its home field, and administered the kind of whipping that will be discussed at family reunions in Mississippi for generations. And somewhere this morning, I suspect Kirby Smart is watching the game film. He's probably furious about the seven points.

Look for me Saturday when Mizzou comes between the hedges. I’ll be the good-looking old man in the red shirt, hoping his cane can help him get him from the Driftmier Building to Sanford Stadium.

Darrell Huckaby