ATHENS — There was a sense of relief in the Georgia locker room after the Bulldogs’ 34-20 win over Florida on Saturday.

Coach Kirby Smart and his players celebrated the Jacksonville trip, but more than anything, they survived it.

And now it’s time for Carson Beck and his Bulldogs’ teammates to quickly look ahead to a very daunting and very losable trip to red-hot Ole Miss next Saturday.

It’s the sort of challenge past Georgia teams have embraced and conquered, but that guarantees nothing about next Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game in Oxford.

It’s not a stretch to suggest this road trip even more daunting than the Bulldogs travels to play then-No. 1-ranked Texas in Austin just 2 1/2 weeks ago.

Those Longhorns didn’t know what sort of Georgia team was coming for them.

But many on this Ole Miss team do know the pain of the Bulldogs’ bite, having suffered a thorough, 52-17 dominating loss to Georgia between the hedges last season.

This Rebels’ offense is better than last year’s, scoring a dominant 63-31 road win at Arkansas on Saturday, tying a program record for most points over scored against an SEC opponent.

True enough, Ole Miss gave up a lot of points, but the defense also recorded eight sacks -- just one week after sacking Oklahoma quarterbacks nine times in a 26-14 win.

The Rebels, 7-2 overall and fighting for its postseason life, have a chance to win their way into the College Football Playoffs by beating Georgia, Florida and Mississippi State.

Kiffin said last week if his team had a better Red Zone offense, it would be undefeated: Ole Miss two losses have combined by a combined six points (20-17 to Kentucky, 29-26 OT at LSU).

The argument could be made the Rebels are currently the most dangerous team in the SEC, playing the best offensive brand of football, and coming off the most impressive win. As motivated as any team in the nation with CFP hopes still within reach.

Indeed, Lane Kiffin’s college football mercenaries -- most all but four or five starters are transfers -- have banded together and have something very special going for them.

“They showed the second half of last week and today how good they can really be,” said Kiffin, whose Ole Miss program won in Fayetteville for only the third time in the past 30 years.

“I think it says what we talked about last night with them. ‘Stop making the mistakes so you can show the country that you’re one of the best teams in the country. You really are when you play well. We’re two very normal plays away from being undefeated.”

Georgia’s final stats from the 34-20 win over Florida and pending national rank (No. 2 or No. 3) will suggest the Bulldogs are sailing along.

But Smart knows his team caught a break when the Gators’ red-hot starting quarterback left Saturday’s game with an injury.

There’s no shame in saying as much — just as Florida and the rest of the SEC caught a break that UGA lost two starting receivers (Rara Thomas, Colbie Young) to suspensions and has had three tailbacks (Rod Robinson, Branson Robinson and now Trevor Etienne) missing time with injuries.

How much better would Beck look if he had those players in his supporting cast?

Somewhere, Stetson Bennett is smiling, thankful to have had a No. 1-ranked defense and NFL skill position starters Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey, George Pickens and James Cook propping him up.

That was then, and this is now, and today’s Georgia needed four quarters to overcome a Florida redshirt freshman Ivy League quarterback who effectively had only two weeks of practice time in the Gators’ offense and thrown four passes in game action before Saturday.

Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart is a different animal.

Dart looks like the most NFL-ready and NFL-capable quarterback in the SEC coming off his school-record 515-yard, 6-touchdown passing performance,

The Rebels will have a record-breaking receiver for Georgia to scheme up, too, after Jordan Watkins had 254 yards receiving and five touchdowns against Arkansas.

This, in addition to SEC MVP candidate Tre Wells (59 catches, 987 yards) and 2022 South Carolina All-SEC pick Antwane Wells Jr.

Kiffin was asked if he allowed his mind to wander while blowing out Sam Pittman’s proud Arkansas program.

“No ….. that’s a good Arkansas team,” Kiffin said. “I was excited how we were playing, and I wanted to keep playing even better. I wanted to stop them on defense, regardless of what the score was … I was not thinking about who we were playing next at all.

“We’ve got plenty of time to figure that out.”