Ole Miss Football's Playoff Hopes Evaporate in Crushing Loss to Florida Gators

The Ole Miss Rebels have fallen out of the College Football Playoff race after a loss on Saturday.

Florida Gators defensive back Jordan Castell (14) celebrates Mississippi’s missed field goal during the first half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 23, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun] / Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels needed a road win over the Florida Gators to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive on Saturday, and they failed to secure one.

Ole Miss (8-3, 4-3 SEC) fell to Florida 24-17 in Gainesville, likely knocking the Rebels out of the College Football Playoff conversation. Ole Miss was 3-of-14 on third downs and 2-of-4 on fourth downs and failed to score a touchdown while in the red zone on the afternoon.

Florida struck first on Saturday on an eight-yard touchdown pass from DJ Lagway to Elijhah Badger in the second quarter, but Ole Miss was able to answer on the ensuing possession with a 43-yard touchdown pass from Jaxson Dart to Tre Harris.

Saturday marked Harris' first game back with Ole Miss since he was injured in the loss to LSU, but he would later exit the game and not return due to another lower body injury in the first half.

After the Rebels hauled in an interception thrown by Lagway, they capitalized with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Dart to Cayden Lee to make the score 14-7, but Florida answered partway through the second quarter with another scoring pass from Lagway that made the score 14-14 at the intermission.

The third quarter saw the Ole Miss defense shut down the Gator offense for most of the frame, although Florida was able to add a field goal early in the quarter following a muffed punt by the Rebels' Micah Davis. With 45 seconds left in the third, Ole Miss kicker Caden Davis sank a 42-yard field goal to tie the game at 17.

The only scoring of the fourth quarter came when Montrell Johnson scored on the ground from nine yards out to give the Gators a 24-17 advantage with 7:40 left to play. Ole Miss had opportunities to drive down the field and try to force overtime, but Dart was intercepted on the Rebels' final two drives to seal the final result.

With the loss, Ole Miss' playoff hopes have all but evaporated, and it will conclude the regular season at home against Mississippi State on Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT in Oxford, and the game will be televised on ABC.