Ad Disclosure
3 takeaways from Florida upsetting Ole Miss and shaking up the Playoff picture
Published:
And just like that, chaos.
Ole Miss had a straightforward path to the Playoff, and Florida had other plans. The Gators pulled off a 24-17 upset of No. 9 Ole Miss and shook up the postseason picture in a major way.
That marked the first time since 2018 that Florida beat AP Top 25 teams in consecutive weeks. Doing that in front of the home crowd certainly helped Billy Napier’s approval rating in Gainesville.
Here are 3 takeaways from the thriller in The Swamp:
1. DJ Lagway + an improved Florida defense = darn impressive football
If you thought the hype for the true freshman quarterback was off the charts entering Saturday, well, it reached a new speed after he helped take down a top-10 Ole Miss team. It wasn’t a high volume day for Lagway, who was 10-for-17 for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns, but his ability to handle that loaded Ole Miss defensive line was pivotal, as was the return of Montrell Johnson Jr., who had 18 carries for 127 yards and the go-ahead score in the 4th quarter.
But Florida needed an elite defensive showing to close out Ole Miss and that’s exactly what it got. Three red-zone stops and 9 tackles for loss set the tone for the emerging Florida defense, who held Ole Miss to a season-low 17 points (that matched the Kentucky loss).
Two interceptions of Jaxson Dart in the final 2 minutes was the perfect end to the day for the Florida defense.
2. Stick a fork in Ole Miss’ Playoff chances
Just like that, Ole Miss’ Playoff bid is over. Two weeks after looking like it was in total control of that by knocking off Georgia, loss No. 3 felt like a season-ender.
The ESPN Playoff predictor repeatedly showed that Ole Miss’ Playoff chances were at 84% with a win, but 4% with a loss. Take that for what it is. What was evident was that Ole Miss didn’t respond after the bye week. It went 0-for-3 in the red zone and struggled with the seemingly bulletproof JJ Pegues package, which was stopped 3 times.
To make matters worse, Tre Harris returned to action for the first time in a month and scored a 42-yard touchdown on a beautiful ball by Jaxson Dart, but the star receiver left the game after re-injuring his groin injury. It was that kind of day for Ole Miss.
A few days removed from Lane Kiffin speaking on the concerns about Playoff contenders not wanting to play in the SEC Championship, he might hear a thing or two about those comments.
3. Florida is bowl-eligible and actually building something
The Gators will play postseason football. How about that? For all the discussion about Florida’s historically daunting schedule that awaited, especially after a 1-2 start, the Gators have a chance to post a winning season for the first time since 2020.
They can clinch that if they take care of a Florida State team in free fall. Either way, the fact that the Gators will have a winning record heading into that game was unthinkable back in mid-September.
Florida’s offseason will have a much different feel than the team it upset in The Swamp on Saturday.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
