Ole Miss @ Florida preview

Mississippi at Florida

Last Meeting ( Sep 27, 2008 ) Mississippi 31, Florida 30

Ole Miss got away with a lackluster performance last week, but the fifth-ranked Rebels likely can’t afford such a showing when they travel to Florida to face the No. 23 Gators in a matchup of unbeaten teams Saturday. The Rebels survived a hangover from their upset of then-No. 2 Alabama in a 27-16 win over Vanderbilt last week, and they’ll face a tougher test on the road against a Florida team that is 4-0 for the first time since 2012.

The Rebels shot up the rankings after following up two blowout wins with an impressive performance at Alabama, but they were tied midway through the third quarter against Vanderbilt before pulling away. The Gators were an unlikely candidate to arrive at this point undefeated, especially after finding themselves down 27-14 in the second half against Tennessee last week. The teams have not met since the Rebels handed the eventual national champion Gators their only loss of the 2008 season. The past four meetings have been decided by single digits with the higher-ranked team losing three of those contests.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Ole Miss -7.5

ABOUT OLE MISS (4-0, 2-0 SEC): The Rebels lead the SEC in passing (344.5 yards per game), total offense (543.5) and scoring (54.8), but the offense sputtered somewhat against Vanderbilt. Chad Kelly (1,219 passing yards, 10 TDs, 3 INTs) continued to put up big passing numbers but threw two picks against the Commodores after only one in the first three games. The monster offensive numbers the Rebels put up early on overshadowed the work of the defense, which leads the SEC in takeaways (10) and interceptions (7).

ABOUT FLORIDA (4-0, 2-0): Redshirt freshman Will Grier still hasn’t locked up the starting quarterback job, according to coach Jim McElwain, despite passing for a career-high 283 yards and throwing two TD passes to lead the fourth-quarter comeback against the Vols. McElwain said Wednesday that Grier (725 yards, 6 TDs, 3 INTs) will make his fourth straight start but Treon Harris also could see action. The Gators have done a good job of getting after the quarterback, totaling 14 sacks – including nine the past two games – and will need to put pressure on Kelly to slow the Rebels’ high-powered offense.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Florida is 10-for-10 on fourth-down conversions, the only team in the nation with a 100 percent conversion rate and more than five attempts, while Ole Miss has stopped opponents on 8-of-10 fourth-down tries.

2. Ole Miss has outscored opponents 65-3 in the first quarter.

3. RB Kelvin Taylor (256 yards, 5 TDs) is the first Florida player to rush for a touchdown in four straight games since Tim Tebow in 2009 and the first Gator running back to do so since Ciatrick Fason in 2004.

PREDICTION: Ole Miss 31, Florida 20