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On a day when there was so much college football chaos, Ole Miss choking on the road in The Swamp stood out.
Lane Kiffin’s rebuilt Rebels out-flexed Georgia a couple of weeks ago, looking like one of the nation’s scariest groups. Out of a horde of two-loss SEC teams, Ole Miss was settled into the No. 10 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings, comfortably controlling their destiny as an at-large bid.
Everything came crashing down in a Florida frenzy.
Nearly a two-touchdown favorite against the 5-5 Gators, Ole Miss fell flat. Kiffin gambled too much on fourth down rather than taking sure-fire points, and Florida came up huge time and time again on defense.
Whether it was drive-stopping short-yardage plays or intercepting Jaxson Dart, Florida had answers. The Gators forced three turnovers, stopped the Rebels three times in the red zone and held them to 3-of-14 on third down.
The Ole Miss signal-caller entered the game a fringe Heisman Trophy candidate, but struggled with his decision-making late. He finished 24-of-41 for 323 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions—both coming on the final two drives.
First, Bryce Thornton picked Dart in the end zone. Then, after what was called an interception on the field on Ole Miss’ attempt at a final, game-tying drive was overturned, Dart threw another one to Thornton on the 22-yard line to end the threat.
It also ended the Rebels’ playoff hopes.
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