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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Fresh off the Field: Historic Start to 2024 Season
9/8/2024 | Football
Needless to say, Lane Kiffin came away pleased with the result, though the Rebel head coach noted a few areas for improvement for the Rebels as the level of competition ramps up further next week with a trip to Wake Forest.
Click here for a full recap of Saturday's action, including highlight clips of the top plays. Scroll on for a look at the best stats, notes, quotes and storylines coming out of the Rebel win over the Blue Raiders.Good outcome, 52-3. That's a lot of people doing a lot of things right whenever you have that type of score," Kiffin said. "Not quite as good as the week before—a little sloppier with eight penalties. The ones had eight drives, seven touchdowns, a field goal, no turnovers, no punts, you're going to win a lot of games. A lot of good things. We're relatively healthy, and we're looking to get one or two guys back who haven't played yet as we go on the road next week to a tough opponent in the ACC.
Dart's Dazzling Day
When Jaxson Dart came out for his last drive in the fourth quarter, the game was well in-hand, but Ole Miss' Heisman Trophy candidate was more locked in than ever. Riding a streak of 18 consecutive completions, he was two away from breaking the Ole Miss record and six off the NCAA mark of 26.
Dart came out like he was leading a two-minute drill in the fourth quarter of the College Football Playoff, and he hit Tre Harris on back-to-back receptions to make it 20 straight and pass Matt Corral, who broke Eli Manning's mark back in 2020. The Rebel quarterback kept going, ultimately connecting on an SEC-record 24 straight before his 25th attempt to Harris was deflected.
Going back to last week against Furman, Dart had completed 30 straight passes, which also sets the SEC record for longest completion streak between multiple games.
I was aware of where I was at. I didn't know the record or anything like that. I was just trying to continue to put the ball in my guys' hands," Dart said. "As a quarterback, you have to be a leader. You set the tone for the offensive unit. If I don't bring it every day, then we might slip up and with the opportunity we have, that can't happen. I'm just intentional and want to make the most of my opportunities.
Back and Better Than Ever
Undoubtedly, one of the most significant factors in Dart's big day was the success of the Ole Miss running game. The Rebels pounded the rock early and often, freeing up passing lanes for Dart, allowing his near-perfect outing.
It also led to a monster day for running back Henry Parrish Jr., who is back for his second stint at Ole Miss after spending the last two seasons at Miami. The senior took the ball on the first four plays on the game and gouged the Blue Raiders for 51 yards, opening the playbook on a 52-point rout. He finished with 14 carries for 165 yards with four touchdowns, averaging a stunning 11.8 yards per carry.
Parrish the first Rebel to score four touchdowns since Tre Harris caught four against Mercer in last year's season-opener. He's the first with four rushing scores since Matt Corral against Tulane in 2021 and the first non-QB with four rushing TDs since Dexter McCluster in 2009 against Tennessee.
Coach Kiffin emphasized this week that we wanted to establish it. Get the big guys up front rolling with the running backs," Dart said. "I thought right out of the gate, we punched them in the mouth and the guys did a great job of setting the tone for the rest of the game of winning the battle at the line of scrimmage, which allowed our running backs to split some holes and make some big runs and it was awesome to see.
No TDs Allowed
As of Sunday morning, it has been 254 days since the Ole Miss football team last allowed a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl win over Penn State. Sticking to this season, it took nearly a full hour and a half of game time (89:45) before Ole Miss allowed a point this season.
The Rebels have outscored their opponents 128-3 through two games, their fewest points allowed to start the season since 1991. Ole Miss is third in the nation so far with 1.5 points per game allowed and are 20th nationally in total defense (225.0 YPG). Ole Miss also leads the nation in rush defense, allowing just 27.0 yards per game on the ground.
On the other side of the ball, Ole Miss ranks No. 1 in the nation in both scoring (63.0) and total (713.5) offense. Statistically, the Rebels have been college football's most dominant team through two weeks, but Kiffin still sees plenty of room for improvement.
I thought they were closer prior to the game, I just think we didn't play very clean on the back end," Kiffin said. "We're not going to be able to play like that in the SEC against better passing teams, so we've got to clean it up. If you look around the country, every team has things to work on. We're appreciative of having two wins like this—you look around the country, you see some people when you walk by the scoreboard—be happy to be 2-0. But we've got a lot of work to do.
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