The Forgotten Rivalry: Georgia vs. Ole Miss

In honor of Georgia vs. Ole Miss this Saturday, let’s look at the history between these two teams that have more of it than most people realize.

The Bulldogs and Rebels have met 45 times since their first meeting in 1940. Early on, the meetings were rare. They played three years straight from 1940 to 1942 with the record in that span being an even 1-1-1.

They would not play again until the Rebels beat Georgia, 26-13, in 1955. But in 1966, the two universities began playing annually until 2002. Since then, the two have only played four times (2006-2007, 2011-2012).

Georgia leads the all-time series 32-12-1. They have outscored Ole Miss 1,117 to 700. Georgia is 18-4-1 against Ole Miss in Sanford Stadium, 9-5 in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and 4-3 in neutral site games played mostly in Jackson, Miss. With that being said, let’s take a deeper look into this series.

Pre-Rivalry

Georgia and Ole Miss first met in Athens in 1940, and the Rebels won that game 28-14. Ole Miss returned to Athens in 1941, but this time the game ended in a 14-14 tie. The three-year series ended in 1942, when the Bulldogs won 48-12. Georgia ended that season as SEC and National Champions.

When the Rebels beat Georgia in 1955, they had a 2-1-1 lead in the series. Ole Miss also won the SEC Championship in 1955.

Beginning of the Rivalry

In 1966, Georgia and Ole Miss began an annual rivalry that would last 32 years. During the first 11 years, the series was tight. Georgia went 6-5 against Ole Miss in that span to even the all-time record at 7-7-1.

The first four meetings were split. Georgia won 9-3 and 21-7 in their 1966 and 1968 SEC Championship seasons. Ole Miss won 29-20 and 25-17 in 1967 and 1969. The Rebels beat Georgia again in 1970 to the score of 31-21 to have the first winning streak in the series.

But Georgia started a winning streak of their own by winning four straight games from 1971-1974. All but one of those games was a blowout.

1971: Georgia 38, Ole Miss 7

1972: Georgia 14, Ole Miss 13

1973: Georgia 20, Ole Miss 0

1974: Georgia 49, Ole Miss 0

Ole Miss managed to win two straight games in 1975 and 1976. The latter was the only regular season game Georgia lost against the Rebels en route to a SEC Championship. After that however, the series became all Georgia.

Dawgs on Top

Starting in 1977, Georgia began a 12-game winning streak over Ole Miss. The Bulldogs outscored the Rebels 362-159.

This span of time saw both programs begin to move in opposite directions. Georgia only had one losing record (1977) in those 12 years. Head coach Vince Dooley lead the Dawgs to three SEC Championships and a national title in 1980.

Ole Miss, on the other hand, had only three winning seasons, 1977 (6-5), 1983 (7-5) and 1986 (8-3-1), with three head coaches: Ken Cooper, Steve Sloan and Billy Brewer.

Gone were the days of Johnny Vaught leading the Rebels throughout the 1950s to the early 1970s, when both programs were completing for SEC Championships with Alabama. The series was not tight any more, Georgia had stretched the series lead to 19-7-1 when Dooley retired.

Rebel success in the 1990’s

In 1989, Ray Goff succeeded Dooley as head coach at Georgia, but after six years on the job, Brewer lead the Rebels to an 8-4 season and a 17-13 win over the Bulldogs. In 1990, Ole Miss went 9-3 and defeated Georgia again 28-12.

The tables had suddenly turned. Georgia endured two-straight losing seasons while Ole Miss enjoyed success. But Georgia ended the pre-expansion SEC era with a 37-17 win over Ole Miss.

In 1992, South Carolina and Arkansas joined the SEC and expanded the conference to twelve teams. The SEC decided to split into two divisions: the east and the west. But they did not want to sacrifice rivalries.

To keep rivalries intact, everyone in the SEC played two teams from the other division annually. For Georgia, it was Auburn (The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry) and Ole Miss. The rivalry had survived the SEC expansion at that point.

In 1992, Georgia and Ole Miss both had great seasons. Georgia finished 10-2 while Ole Miss finished 9-3, but the Bulldogs blew out the Rebels 37-11 in Athens.

Both teams struggled in 1993, with Georgia going 5-6 and Ole Miss going 6-5, but Ole Miss returned the favor from the previous two seasons and defeated Georgia 31-14.

The year 1994 was also tough for Georgia and Ole Miss. The Bulldogs went 6-4-1 and decided not to renew Goff’s contract, but he would get to coach in 1995. The Rebels were coached by interim head coach Joe Lee Dunn after Brewer was fired because of recruiting violations.

The NCAA found Ole Miss guilty of 15 serious violations. The Rebels fell to 4-7, and Georgia won that year’s meeting 17-14.

Tommy Tuberville was hired in Oxford, and the Rebels ended the Ray Goff era at Georgia with an 18-10 win over the Bulldogs. The Rebels then opened new Georgia coach Jim Donnan’s era with a, 31-27, win.

After Ole Miss controlled the series for most of the eight-year period from 1989-1996, the series was cut to 22-13-1 in Georgia’s favor. But since then, the Bulldogs have dominated.

Final Years – Georgia Dominates

The annual rivalry only lasted six more seasons with Georgia winning all of them. In 1997, Ole Miss had their best season with Tuberville as head coach, as the Rebels finished 8-4. But 1997 was also Donnan’s best year at Georgia, as the Bulldogs went 10-2. Georgia won that year 21-14.

Both teams took a step back in 1998, but the result was the same; Georgia won 24-17. In 1999, Tuberville left Oxford to become Auburn’s new head coach. Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe became the new head coach of Ole Miss.

His first year was a good one, as they went 8-4, but they were beaten 20-17 by an 8-4 Georgia team. The Rebels fell to 7-5 in 2000, and Georgia dominated them 32-24 in that year’s game.

Donnan was fired after the 2000 season and was replaced by Mark Richt. Ole Miss had a better year in 2001, but they still lost to Georgia 35-15. The series was put on a hiatus in 2002 with Georgia winning the final annual meeting 31-17.

The End

The SEC changed their schedule policy for the 2003 season because scheduling was not balanced enough. Auburn, for one, had to play both Georgia and Florida every year, while Mississippi State played perennial cupcakes Kentucky and South Carolina.

The SEC decided to cut one permanent cross-division rivalry from each team’s schedule. Because Georgia and Auburn have way more history together being the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry and their series being close to tied in 2003, that rivalry was kept, and Georgia versus Ole Miss was scrapped.

More from Dawn of the Dawg

The rivalry was not again renewed until 2006, when Georgia traveled to Oxford. That game ended with the Bulldogs winning 14-9. Ole Miss traveled to Athens in 2007 with Georgia finishing on top 45-17.

Ole Miss rotated with Arkansas for 2009 and 2010, so Georgia didn’t play the Rebels again until 2011 and 2012. Georgia won both games 27-13 and 37-10 respectively.

In 2012, Texas A&M and Missouri expanded the SEC to 14 teams and caused the conference to change scheduling again. The teams in the league wanted to remain playing eight conference and four non-conference games instead of making the schedule format 9-to-3.

As a result, the conference had to cut out one rotating cross-division game. Now teams in one division go several years between meetings with their non-permanent rival and even more time before they trade meetings in each others’ home stadiums.

The Future

This Saturday, one of the lost rivalries caused by SEC expansion is going to be renewed. Georgia travels to Oxford for the first time since 2011. Both teams are ranked in the top 20, and both teams have hopes of winning their respective divisions in the SEC.

This may be the biggest meeting between Georgia and Ole Miss since Dooley and Vaught were marching the sidelines in the 1960’s. But after this, the rivalry is back on hold. Georgia and Ole Miss are not scheduled to play a regular season game until the two meet in Athens in 2023.

Legacy

Georgia and Ole Miss are barely rivals now, but, looking back, they are truly a lost rivalry in the SEC.

It may be one-sided in the record books, but between both schools, there are 18 SEC Championships, eight claimed national championships and three consensus national championships.

There are Heisman winners. Archie Manning at Ole Miss. Frank Sinkwich and Herschel Walker at Georgia.

There are legendary coaches. The Rebels have Johnny Vaught. The Bulldogs have Wally Butts and Vince Dooley.

At the height of the rivalry, they were competing for SEC championships, and even at the series’ lows, both teams still made it entertaining. This makes Saturday’s game even more memorable as the Dawgs seek to add another win in the forgotten rivalry.

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