After suffering a 28-10 defeat to No. 12 Mississippi, No. 2 Georgia’s hopes for the SEC championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff have been significantly dampened.

With two losses in SEC matches now, the Bulldogs will rely on other teams in the conference to help secure a top-two finish. While this remains a possibility, the main goal should now be to clinch one of the league’s at-large bids.

However, after yet another uninspired Saturday amidst a season filled with underwhelming performances, Georgia can’t be considered a guaranteed winner in their upcoming games against No. 6 Tennessee and rival Georgia Tech. This loss also ended their remarkable 52-game winning streak against all teams except Alabama.

Florida State stands alone as the biggest disappointment of the season, but if Georgia continues to falter, they could also enter that conversation. This reflects the high expectations placed on this program under coach Kirby Smart and shows how they have lost their grip on the SEC over the past month.

The ongoing issues surrounding senior quarterback Carson Beck are particularly troubling. Once considered a top candidate for the Heisman Trophy, he is now struggling with turnovers and is unlikely to make all-conference recognition in December.

In the game, Beck completed 20 of his 31 attempts for 186 yards and threw an interception. After only throwing six interceptions throughout 417 attempts last season, he’s now thrown 12 in 321 passes this year. He also faced a sack and had the ball stripped from him with three minutes remaining, crushing any chance of a comeback.

Alongside Beck’s struggles, the running game has also underperformed. Last year’s team averaged 5.3 yards per carry with 40 rushing touchdowns and exceeded 180 yards rushing in eight games. This season, the Bulldogs came into the game averaging 4.5 yards per carry, with a maximum of 169 rushing yards in a game. On Saturday, they managed just 59 yards on 33 carries.

Georgia is also facing challenges on defense, an area that has historically been a strength under Smart. Although the defense has shown sparks of dominance, like in their performance against No. 6 Texas last month, they struggled to contain Jaxson Dart and the Rebels.

Despite injuring an ankle early in the game, Dart came back to pass for 199 yards and a touchdown and rushed for an additional 50 yards. Overall, Ole Miss recorded 132 rushing yards at an average of 3.7 yards per carry.

This second defeat will likely drop Georgia in the US LBM Coaches Poll and raises significant concerns across the board. The Bulldogs are at the forefront of this week’s winners and losers:

Winners

Army

No. 19 Army passed a crucial test, defeating North Texas 14-3, which ensures they remain unbeaten heading into a neutral-site game against No. 8 Notre Dame in two weeks. This win marks just the second victory against a team with a winning record, alongside East Carolina. To counter the Mean Green’s strong offense, Army employed a ball-control strategy, maintaining possession for nearly 42 minutes and limiting North Texas to a season-low 55 plays. They rushed for 293 yards and have achieved at least 288 rushing yards in all but one game this season.

Kansas

Kansas was due for a game like this. Each of the Jayhawks’ previous six losses was close, often resulting from unforced mistakes and turnovers in the fourth quarter. Against No. 18 Iowa State, they played like the team that started the season ranked in the Coaches Poll, taking a 31-13 halftime lead and holding off a comeback attempt to win 45-36. While earning a bowl bid will be challenging—since Kansas hasn’t won four conference games in a row since 2007—this win serves as a reminder of their potential when they play up to their capabilities.

Losers

Miami

The No. 4 Hurricanes suffered a setback against Georgia Tech, losing 28-23 after narrowly escaping previous upsets against California, Virginia Tech, Louisville, and Duke. Miami had a chance to pull off a late-game comeback, but quarterback Cam Ward was sacked and fumbled with just two minutes left, sealing the Yellow Jackets’ victory. Thankfully, Miami still holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against Louisville and has an edge over No. 17 Clemson due to the Tigers’ loss to the Cardinals, meaning this defeat won’t necessarily eliminate them from the ACC championship race. However, they’ll need Clemson to defeat Pittsburgh this month to avoid losing a conference tiebreaker if both teams end the season with one loss. Additionally, a loss to No. 15 SMU in December could potentially remove Miami from at-large playoff contention.

Florida

Just days after announcing that troubled coach Billy Napier would return for a fourth season, the Gators faced No. 5 Texas and were decisively defeated 49-17. Without starting quarterback DJ Lagway, Aidan Warner, a former transfer from Yale, started in his place, completing 12 of 25 passes for 132 yards and two interceptions. In contrast, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers threw for 333 yards.

The team has achieved a personal record with five touchdown passes in a game. To reach six wins and qualify for a bowl game for the first time under Coach Napier, they must upset either No. 13 LSU or Mississippi, in addition to winning against their rival, Florida State, in the season’s final match.

Michigan

This season has been quite disappointing for the Wolverines, the reigning national champions, as they sit at 5-5 and are at risk of not making the postseason. They suffered a narrow 20-15 defeat to No. 10 Indiana, who celebrated their first 10-win season ever, making an impression on the playoff committee. While Michigan did manage to halt Indiana’s formidable offense, they struggled once more against one of the least effective offenses in the Power Four. With a match against No. 3 Ohio State ahead, the Wolverines must overcome Northwestern in two weeks to earn a bowl game opportunity. The only previous defending champion to finish a season with a losing record in the modern era was Michigan State in 1967.