Gamer: Ole Miss defeats Central Arkansas, 59-3
OXFORD, Miss. — After quarterback Jaxson Dart started the season-opening win against Troy, Saturday was Luke Altmyer’s chance to show his abilities against Central Arkansas as the two players vie for top billing on the depth chart.
Altmyer started 6-of-7 for 90 yards and two touchdowns in the Rebels’ 59-3 win over Central Arkansas but had to leave with an apparent shoulder injury in the first half. He ended going 6-of-13 with an interception, two touchdowns through the air and one on the ground.
After the game, head coach Lane Kiffin talked about Altmyer’s situation.
“We’ll have to go watch the film. I feel bad for Luke because he was injured and he’s so competitive that he stayed in. You could see on the interception obviously there was an issue there. We’ll go back and look at the film and see what we think.“
Lane Kiffin on Luke Altmyer’s injury and how that affects the QB competition
Coach Kiffin discussed the win in his opening statement and thanked the fans who stayed until the end.
“Much better feeling than a week ago. I think as a team, as a coach, you really like to finish well. You have that feeling if you don’t when you come off, even in wins. So it’s really cool to see a lot of people play and make plays like the interception and seeing the backups score there at the end. A lot of those guys work really hard and don’t get a chance to play. I commend our fans that stayed. The student section, that group that stayed, it was a really cool. It was a long game, especially when they started calling all those holding penalties. Good win. Not perfect, but any time you win 59-3, there’s a lot of good things.“
Coach Kiffin on the win over UCA
First-half action
If this was indeed Altmyer’s audition for the starting quarterback job, he performed admirably before getting hurt. The Rebels took the opening kickoff and drove 70 yards in only six plays to a 7-yard touchdown pass from Altmyer to Michael Trigg. Jonathan Cruz added the conversion to put the Rebels up 7-0.
First of many for @mtrigg_
🖥 https://t.co/DgwENSH73j pic.twitter.com/kQ4vHfa0yF
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 10, 2022
Before Altmyer could take the field again, the Ole Miss special teams took center stage. UCA moved the ball on its first drive but was forced to punt. However, the snap to the punter sailed through his hands and Ladarius Tennison scooped up the ball and ran it in from 25 yards and after the Cruz kick, Ole Miss had a 14-0 lead.
Scoop ➡️ Score@TenBen_3 | #HottyToddy
🖥 https://t.co/DgwENSH73j pic.twitter.com/7bs14nQqet
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 10, 2022
After the Bears could not move on the ensuing possession, they had to punt again. This time Bobo Miller exploded through the line and blocked the kick and the Rebels took over deep in UCA territory as the ball squirted out of bounds at the four-yard line.
Altmyer threw his first touchdown pass soon after. The Starkville native dropped back and wanted to toss a short pass to Trigg, but the Bears’ rush got to him. Still, Altmyer shook off the rush and was able to get the ball to Trigg in the end zone. The kick gave Ole Miss a 21-0 advantage.
The SECOND of many@lukealtmyer9 ➡️ @mtrigg_
🖥 https://t.co/DgwENSH73j pic.twitter.com/XhUFaRfId5
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 10, 2022
On the next Rebel drive, Altmyer decided to do it himself. After driving 65 yards deep into UCA territory, Altmyer scored his first collegiate touchdown by running in from a yard out. Cruz’s fourth conversion put the score 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Altmyer
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e@lukealtmyer9 | #HottyToddy🖥 https://t.co/DgwENSH73j pic.twitter.com/RfK9G5Rt53
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 10, 2022
In the second period, Ole Miss became complacent. The Rebels drove deep into UCA territory only to turn the ball over on downs and subsequently dropped two consecutive passes on the next drive in Bears’ territory to be forced to punt.
In the next drive Altmyer, who appeared to be favoring his throwing shoulder, threw an interception to give UCA a chance to score before the break. But Isheem Young stopped that with an interception in the end zone with 51 seconds left in the half.
Kiffin was asked about Altmyer not playing in the second half.
“It wasn’t something where medical pulled him, but he was hurt. I asked him about putting him back in there in the second half. He just said he would go, but he knew he wasn’t 100%.“
Coach Kiffin on Altmyer’s injury
Dart came on in relief at quarterback and drove the Rebels into UCA territory and Cruz nailed a 41-yard field goal to end the half with Ole Miss holding a 31-0 lead.
“I thought he was doing really good,” Kiffin said of Dart. “He had one series where he threw the slant in the dirt. But I thought he did some good things. Got us three points in the two-minute drive leading into the half. That’s good. He’s still young.”
Second-half action
Ole Miss increased its lead on the first drive of the third quarter. After Jonathan Mingp made a highlight-reel, one-handed catch to give the ball deep in Bears’ territory, Zach Evans pounded in from the three, and after Cruz nailed the kick, the Rebels led 38-0.
ogmingo1hand@ogmingo1k | #HottyToddy
🖥 https://t.co/DgwENSH73j pic.twitter.com/YVyyDyVXRK
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 11, 2022
Another first of many!@runzekerun01 | #HottyToddy
🖥 https://t.co/DgwENSH73j pic.twitter.com/vXvEKx16l3
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 11, 2022
Later in the quarter, Dart drove the Rebels 65 yards in less than two minutes when he found Trigg for his third touchdown. After Cruz hit the kick, Ole Miss led 45-0.
We weren't lying when we said first of many.@JaxsonDart ➡️ @mtrigg_
🖥 https://t.co/DgwENSH73j pic.twitter.com/mYFhzY8xQT
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 11, 2022
Ole Miss added another score later in the period when Dart hit Malik Heath on a slant and after yet another conversion, the Rebels led 52-0.
Another day, another @MalikHeath2 TD!
🖥 https://t.co/DgwENSH73j pic.twitter.com/6dc1Z7wzaR
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 11, 2022
Central Arkansas kicked a field goal early in the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout. If not for the kick, it would have been the Rebels’ first shutout since Nov. 8, 2014, when Presbyterian could not score. The kick closed the gap to 52-3.
Dart finished his night completing 10-of-15 for 182 yards and two touchdowns.
Ulysses Bentley IV closed out the scoring with a touchdown run in the waning minutes.
Next Up:
The Rebels will head to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech next Saturday.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
