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Ole Miss-Georgia grades: Chad Kelly, WRs stand out in win over UGA

Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly (10) looks to pass during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Tennessee-Martin in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015. Mississippi 76-3. (AP Photo/Thomas Graning)

Mississippi 45, Georgia 14

Here are the highest-graded players and biggest takeaways from Ole Miss' win over the Georgia Bulldogs:

Mississippi Rebels

Quarterback grade: Chad Kelly, 76.8

While Jacob Eason’s receivers put multiple passes on the ground and didn’t help the Georgia signal caller out, Chad Kelly put the ball in spots for his receivers to make plays for him and they delivered time and time again. Kelly exploited a soft Georgia secondary and put the ball in positions for his receivers to go up and make catches over them. Kelly only had one incompletion on passes less than 10 yards in the air and completed 67 percent of his passes 10+ yards in the air. Better defenses will ask Kelly to do more but Kelly let his receivers share the load this week.

Top offensive grades

TE Evan Ingram 77.7
RT/C Sean Rawlings 76.0
LT Rod Taylor 73.5
WR DaMarkus Lodge 71.8
WR Van Jefferson 71.2

Rebels receivers spread the wealth

From top to bottom the Rebels’ receiving corps was too much for the Georgia defense with six Mississippi skill players earning a receiving grade of 70 or higher. Evan Engram led the way (87.2 receiving) with 95 yards and a touchdown on his six catches which he collected against four different defenders but was ably supported by the likes of A.J. Brown (75.1 receiving) and DaMarkus Lodge who snagged the longest play of the game boxing out Juwuan Briscoe for his 55-yard touchdown. Mississippi finally finished a game and it was their receiving corps that set the table for this win.

Top defensive grades

DE Garrald McDowell, 79.5
CB Derrick Jones, 78.0
CB Jaylon Jones, 75.9
DT Benito Jones, 74.8
S C.J. Hampton, 74.7

Secondary makes Eason pay

Obviously Eason didn't play well in this game, and the Ole Miss defense was more than ready to take advantage of it when he did. Derrick Jones, who has made the switch from wide receiver to defensive back returned an interception for a touchdown, while cornerback Jaylon Jones had a near shut down performance. Seeing six passes thrown into his coverage, he allowed just one catch for 13 yards.

Georgia Bulldogs

Quarterback grade: Jacob Eason 58.7

It wasn't a good day for Eason at all, with the true freshman struggling when put under pressure. Pressured on 13 of his 40 dropbacks, he completed just two of the ten passes he attempted on those dropbacks, with the completions going for just 20 yards. It wasn't all his fault though, with his receivers dropping five passes, including three on one first half drive alone. It was Eason's worst game in his four game college career so far, and even when he was able to make the throws, Georgia's playmakers weren't able to make it count.

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Top offensive grades

G Lamont Gaillard, 83.6
HB Brian Herrien, 75.8
TE Jeb Blazevich, 73.6
T Tyler Catalina, 73.2
C Brandon Kublanow, 73.2

Run game deserving of better outcome

As much as this was a one-sided game, Georgia's running game actually looked pretty good for the most part, and on another day would have been a much bigger talking point. Three offensive linemen finished the game among their three highest-graded offensive players, while the other two included a blocking tight end and a running back. Averaging 6.0 yards per carry, despite no runs of more than 19 yards, this are in Georgia's game was at least impressive. Freshman running back Brian Herrien saw 11 carries and turned in a performance that makes him worth keeping an eye on going forward, forcing a missed tackles and averaging 3.0 yards per carry after contact.

Top defensive grades

LB Roquan Smith 82.2
DT Trenton Thompson 80.3
LB Reggie Carter 77.7
S Aaron Davis 75.6
DT John Atkins 70.9

Bulldogs go down with a whimper on defense

The top five grades above show you that this was not a one to eleven failure from the Georgia defense yesterday. However when your worst performers come in key areas like contain (both run game and on the pocket) and on the back end in coverage, you’re going to give up more big plays than solid play from isolated players can ever overcome. Four defensive backs earned overall grades of 41.3 or below yesterday for the Bulldogs and when you are so routinely losing one-on-one matchups in the secondary and falling off tackles it’s tough to overcome that to be competitive.

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