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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Fresh off the Field: Party in the Backfield
10/27/2024 | Football
Presented by Kroger
Ole Miss overcame a 14-10 halftime deficit and dominated the second half, outscoring the Sooners 16-0 down the stretch for the victory. Head coach Lane Kiffin became the fastest in program history to 40 wins. Click here for a full recap and highlights, and scroll on for our top storylines coming out of the game.
Proud of our guys," Kiffin said. "The first half, obviously we didn't play very well and they had the touchdown drive at the end. But I was really pleased because obviously there was some dead energy at half in there after coming off a loss and being down in the first half. It's a lot of adversity to kind of fight through there and to come out immediately three and out on defense, score a touchdown, then three and out again, and score a touchdown again. It was a great response. I thought our defense in the second half played as advertised.
Dart's Key Play
Jaxson Dart was without his favorite target, the nation's leading receiver Tre Harris, but the Rebel quarterback still posted the 12th 300-yard passing day of his career, tying Jordan Ta'amu and Chad Kelly for the most in program history.
Dart (10,243) eclipsed 10,000 yards of total offense in his Ole Miss career, passing Eli Manning (9,984) for second and joining Bo Wallace (10,478) as the only two Rebels in the 10K club. Dart also joined that pair as the only three QBs with 9,000 career passing yards (9,033).
With Harris out of commission, Dart connected with seven different receivers on the day. Perhaps the biggest fell in the hands of Micah Davis, who had just one reception as a Rebel when he woke up Saturday morning. Facing 3rd-and-14, Dart eluded three Oklahoma rushers and lofted a pass to Davis for a 26-yard reception that set up a touchdown to put Ole Miss ahead by two scores.
I thought we did a great job and I thought the coaches did a great job scheming up the last two weeks," Dart said. "Just with getting in different sets that we haven't been in a lot this year. I was super proud of a lot of guys stepping up. Micah Davis got a huge third down conversion, which I felt was a play that changed the momentum of the game. So, guys knew their role this week and I thought they did a great job handling it.
Party in the Backfield
Once Ole Miss reached the coveted two-score lead late in the game, it was time for the defensive line to shine—and shine it did. The Rebels finished with a season-high 10 sacks, including seven in the second half. The 10 sacks tied for the second most in Ole Miss single-game history, ranking only behind 11 in a win over Mississippi State on Nov. 28, 2008, and the most ever allowed by an Oklahoma team.
Ole Miss ended with 15 tackles for loss, its most in an SEC game since charting 17 against Mississippi State on Nov. 23, 2000. The Sooners lost 79 yards on those 15 TFLs, the most by any Ole Miss squad since bruising Mississippi State for 120 on Nov. 28, 2008. The 61 yards lost on sacks also rank as the most by Ole Miss since that very same game, when the Rebels sacked State for a loss of 110 yards total.
Suntarine Perkins led the way on the stat sheet with five TFLs and four sacks, the most since Cassius Ware had four against Georgia in 1993, but the simple presence of Princely Umanmielen was perhaps the difference maker. The star Rebel pass rusher missed the last two games due to injury but came back in a big way this week with a pair of sacks on the afternoon.
These last few weeks were really hard for me watching my team and not being able to go out there and help. During LSU especially, it was really hard but I just kept my faith in God and hoped my injury would get better and it all paid off," Umanmielen said. "I feel like we showed how great our defensive line is today which is a testament to the work these guys put in. Whenever it translates in the game it feels great.
Winning Protection
Sacks were a guarantee in this game, which pitted the No. 2 and 3 pass rushes in the SEC, and two of the top 10 in the nation. Ole Miss did its part with double-digit sacks for 61 negative yards, but the Rebel offensive front didn't allow the Sooners to hold up their end.
Ole Miss allowed just one sack on the day for a four-yard loss. The lone sack tied a season low against Texas, and their four sack yards are their lowest since going without a sack on Nov. 11 last year against West Virginia.
Stay ConnectedOffensively, I thought Jaxson [Dart] played a really efficient game," Kiffin said. "It's been different lineups up front. Micah Pettus, actually, right before the game said he couldn't play. So, Julius Buelow moved outside to right tackle. I thought we struggled in the run game against a really good run defense that most people struggle against, but I do think they pass-protected well. So, good win.
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