FINAL: Florida 24, No. 9 Ole Miss 17

FLORIDA 24, No. 9 OLE MISS 17

What Happened

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Senior tailback Montrell Johnson Jr. scored on a 5-yard run out of the wildcat formation with 7:41 remaining and sophomore safety Bryce Thornton intercepted Heisman Trophy hopeful Jaxson Dart twice in the final minute and half, as the Florida Gators shocked No. 9 Ole Miss by bottling up the Rebels’ high-scoring offense in a 24-17 upset before a Saturday sold-out, sonic-booming Spurrier/Florida Field. 

For the Gators, the win was their second in as many weeks against a ranked opponent, following last week’s defeat of No. 21 LSU. It also clinched bowl eligibility, as well as positioning the team for a winning record for a 2024 season that began two months ago with ugly home losses to Miami and Texas A&M. 

Once again, it was freshman quarterback DJ Lagway injecting life into his team. Lagway completed 10 of 17 passes for 180 yards and two first-half touchdowns and one interception, but this day belonged to the Florida defense, a unit that started the day ranked No. 98 overall and tied for 80th in the country in scoring. On the other side was a Mississippi offense ranked No. 2 nationally at 539.5 yards per game and fourth in scoring at 40.7 points per. The Rebels approached the first number (464 yards), but never came close to the latter — the one that matters — thanks to the bend-don’t-break UF execution that limited Ole Miss to just three second-half points and held the Rebs scoreless in all three of its red-zone opportunities.

Johnson, on his senior day, carried 18 times for 107 yards, none bigger than the five when he switched places with Lagway, took a direct snap on second-and-goal and sliced in off the right side of the line to break a 17-all tie inside eight minutes left in the game. Dart, who completed 24 of 41 attempts for 323 yards, two TDs and two picks, drove the Rebels to the UF 40, but the drive stalled with a Tyreak Sapp/Caleb Banks sack on third-and-10 that forced a punt with 6:26 to go. 

The Rebels got the ball back with 3:58 to go at their own 22. Dart dashed for a big first down on third-and-6, but from the Florida 39 tried to force a deep ball down the middle for Antwane Wells Jr., who was blanketed by the UF secondary. The pass sailed into triple coverage and was intercepted by a leaping Thornton in the end zone for a touchback with 1:32 to go. 

Ole Miss had all three timeouts remaining and called one after three consecutive UF running plays, forcing a Jeremy Crawshaw punt of only 39 yards that started the Rebels at their 34 with 1:03 left. Sapp sacked Dart on first down, but a 19-yard completion on the next play moved Ole Miss to the UF 48 with 34 seconds remaining. On the next play, Dart was pressured to his right and, appearing to try to throw the ball out of bounds, instead hit a sliding Thornton in the chest for the game-sealing turnover with 24 seconds to go. 

The loss was a devastating one for the Rebels, who came into the game in the middle of the College Football Playoff picture, but almost certainly were eliminated. 

The Gators finished with 344 yards of offense, including 180 on the ground and had just the one turnover to three for the Rebels. 

Both teams had a pair of long first-half scoring drives finished off by touchdown passes. The Gators got on the board first by going 89 yards in 11 plays and, on the first snap of the second quarter, Lagway fired an 8-yard score to Elijhah Badger on third-and-goal. Dart needed just seven snaps to even the count with a 43-yard bomb to Tre Harris, who beat Thornton and Dijon Johnson on a deep post to tie the game at 7-all. 

The Rebels capitalized on a high, tipped Lagway pass that was intercepted by safety John Saunders Jr. at the Ole Miss 45. After a 25-yard completion to Jordan Watkins on fourth and 2, Dart finished the drive with a 22-yard touchdown strike to Cayden Lee for a 14-7 lead. Lagway needed only four plays to pull his team even on the next drive. He checked down a third-and-2 pass that Badger took 27 yards into Rebels’ territory and, after a face mask penalty, hit tailback Jadan Baugh on a screen and (thanks to a great kick-out block from guard Damieon George Jr.) zipped in for a 25-yard score to knot the game at 14. 

The third quarter was an exchange of field goals, a 53-yarder by UF’s Trey Smack and 42-yarder from Mississippi’s Caden Davis, that sent the teams into the fourth quarter even at 17, setting the stage for the wild fourth quarter. 

What it Means

In the Spotlight

A couple weeks ago, the notion that Johnson, who came to UF with Napier from Louisiana, had played his final game as a Gator was something that was being discussed. Instead, he returned from injury for a few carries last week and saved one of his finest hours for an emotional, richly satisfying senior day. What a way to go out.  

Staggering Statistic

Before Saturday, the last time Florida defeated ranked opponents in back-to-back games was in 2008 — the program’s last national championship season — when the Gators beat No. 23 Florida State 45-15 on the road, then a week later upset No. 1 Alabama in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. The last time an unranked UF team (like this one) won consecutive games against ranked foes? That was way back in 2003, under Ron Zook, when the Gators beat No. 6 and eventual national champ LSU 19-7, followed by a 33-28 upset of No. 11 Arkansas. Both of those wins were on the road. 

Up Next

Florida (6-5, 4-4) will wrap the regular season with its annual end-of-year showdown against rival Florida State at Tallahassee. The Seminoles (2-9, 1-7), who routed FCS-classified Charleston Southern 41-7 Saturday, are in the midst of one of the worst seasons in program history, but can ruin all these good Gator vibes with a home win next weekend.

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu