Kentucky upset No. 6 Ole Miss 20-17 on Saturday after the Rebels missed a 48-yard field goal with 48 seconds left.
The Wildcats (3-2, 1-2 SEC) went for it on fourth-and-7 at their own 20-yard line with 3:51 left, and Brock Vandagriff found Barion Brown for a 63-yard gain into the red zone. Two plays later, Josh Kattus punched it in for a 2-yard score to take the lead by three with 2:25 to play.
Ole Miss (4-1, 0-1 SEC) subsequently drove into Kentucky territory thanks to a 42-yard Jaxson Dart completion to Caden Prieskorn, but it failed to get another first down and settled for a long field goal attempt that missed.
It was Kentucky’s first road win against an SEC team ranked in the AP top 10 since upsetting No. 1 Ole Miss in 1964 and its first win in Oxford since 1978.
KENTUCKY’S KNOCKING ON THE DOOR đź‘€ @UKFootball
đź“ş ABC/ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/y2qEhfql1y
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 28, 2024
What does Ole Miss’ loss mean for the SEC?
Maybe this is another example of the SEC being a league where nobody can take the week off. And Kentucky has certainly resurrected itself after getting blown out by South Carolina on Sept. 7, taking Georgia to the brink and now upsetting Ole Miss. It’s a huge win for Mark Stoops, maybe the biggest of his long tenure, and a total vibe shift from the early debacle against the Gamecocks. There’s renewed hope for the team, between a stifling defense and an offense that’s getting better.
But the bigger picture is about Ole Miss, which entered the game with the seventh-best odds to make the College Football Playoff, according to The Athletic’s model, at 79 percent. Those Playoff expectations have taken a big hit, along with its general aspirations to be an elite program. When Georgia found itself in a game at Kentucky, it rallied to pull it out. Even Missouri has had two close calls at home and survived. Ole Miss was supposed to be past this — the remaining question being if it can close the deal against the top-tier teams. This was a big step backward for the Rebels as a program.
Of course, it’s not over, and it really isn’t for any SEC team in the expanded Playoff era. But Ole Miss still has to go to LSU and hosts Georgia, and after this games against South Carolina (in Columbia next week) and at home against Oklahoma are far from a given. — Seth Emerson
How did Kentucky pull off this upset?
It’s time to take the Wildcats’ defense seriously. It collapsed a bit under the weight of a hapless offense in a 31-6 home loss to South Carolina that seemed to portend rough seas ahead for Stoops’ team. A 13-12 home loss to Georgia was a surprising near-upset, and now the Wildcats have stifled Lane Kiffin’s near-point-a-minute offense. Five sacks, including two from Octavious Oxendine and an enormous one late from J.J. Weaver, led to 1-for-10 Ole Miss futility on third down.
BIG TIME SACK BY @jjtimeee pic.twitter.com/hcj0avqjNc
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 28, 2024
Deone Walker and the UK defensive front were dominant, holding the Rebels to 92 rushing yards. And the Kentucky offense chipped in with an efficient Vandagriff game (18 for 28, 243 yards, one touchdown), helping the Wildcats nearly double the Rebels in possession time with 39 minutes, 43 seconds of it. That stat matters in a matchup like this in which Kentucky knocked Ole Miss — owner of the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense entering Saturday — out of its usual rhythm — Joe Rexrode
(Photo: Petre Thomas / Imagn Images)
