OXFORD, Miss. -- Redemption was a word tossed around rather freely during practice last week for 23rd-ranked Mississippi.
After suffering heartbreaking losses to the likes of Florida State and Alabama, Saturday's game against No. 12 Georgia was an opportunity the Rebels knew they couldn't let slide by.
They didn't, routing the Bulldogs 45-14 before a crowd of crowd of 65,843 -- the second-largest home attendance in school history.
"It's hard for me to remember all of them, but this one will stand out because of the types of losses that we had to the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country when we played them," Freeze said. "When you lose a game like that and felt like you could have won, and when you have to hear about it in this world with all the social media world, it hurts. It stings. This one is pretty special."
There was never any doubt of the outcome.
The Rebels (2-2, 1-1 SEC) piled up 510 yards of offense, most courtesy of quarterback Chad Kelly, who completed 18 of 24 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns. The senior also rushed three times for 42 yards, 41 coming on a touchdown run in the third quarter.
"I knew I had to go out there and execute the game plan and just take care of the football," Kelly said. "We wanted this one bad and it showed."
All total, five different players scored for the Rebels, including tight end Evan Engram, who led all receivers with six catches for 95 yards and one score.
Georgia, meanwhile, struggled with everything it tried.
That included heralded freshman quarterback Jacob Eason, who completed just 16 of 36 passes for 137 yards against the Rebels, who posted their largest margin of victory in an SEC contest since a 41-3 win over Vanderbilt in 2014.
"I expected this team to compete, fight, play well ... you never believe you're going to play like that. I think we didn't respond real well when they had success," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. "But yet every other game so far we have responded. We didn't get away with some things defensively that we got away with in the past and they made the plays down the field when they had to."
This one was over quickly.
After stopping Georgia (3-1, 1-1) on the Bulldogs' opening drive, the Rebels quickly got on the board with a 24-yard field goal by Gary Wunderlich.
That was just the beginning.
On the Bulldogs' ensuing possession, a 52-yard pick-six by cornerback Derrick Jones gave Ole Miss even more momentum.
The Rebels' offense took it from there, scoring first on 1-yard run by D'Vaughn Pennamon to push the lead to 17-0 before passes of 55 and 19 yards to DaMarkus Lodge and Evan Engram, respectively, extended the halftime lead to 31-0.
"I though the kids competed but once we got behind we didn't do a good job trying to get back in it and that's the most important thing," Smart said. "We didn't respond the right way, but we will move forward, this team will come back and fight and I promise you they'll grow up and give an A-effort this week.
"It was frustrating. This was the opportunity we were looking for. This is obviously the best team we've played. We didn't perform really well."
The Rebels tacked on two more touchdowns in the third, one on a 5-yard pass from Jason Pellerian to Eugene Brazley that was followed by Kelly's 41-yard run.
Georgia finally got on the board with five minutes left in the third quarter on a 10-yard run by freshman Brian Herrien, who also scored the Bulldogs' second and final touchdown on a 1-yard run with 7:38 to go in the game.
"You need to learn to let things go," Bulldog running back Sony Michel said. "Win or lose, you have to move on like this game never happened."
NOTES: Georgia's 31-0 halftime deficit was the largest for Bulldogs since trailing Alabama 31-0 in 2008. The Crimson Tide went to win that game 41-30. ... With 323 total yards, Kelly became Ole Miss' all-time leader in career offensive yardage, breaking the record of 5,621 held by Archie Manning. ... George RB Nick Chubb rushed 12 times for 57 yards before leaving the game in the second quarter. He did not return.
