Quick Glance: Ole Miss defeats Tulsa, 35-27

OXFORD, Miss. –  Here is a quick glance at Ole Miss’ 35-27 win over Tulsa Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

THE POSITIVE

The rushing attack. Ole Miss continues to adopt the moniker of the Runnin’ Rebels. A pair of players ran for 100 yards in the game. Freshman Quinshon Judkins ran for a career-high 140 yards and quarterback Jaxson Dart had his best-rushing game with 116 yards.

THE NEGATIVE

This does not take a rocket scientist – the second half. Ole Miss did not score a point after halftime. Fortunately for the Rebels, the defense did show up after intermission and the offense did just enough to hold off a great Tulsa effort.

THE KEY PLAY

Not surprisingly, it was a running play by the Rebels. Clinging to an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter, Ole Miss needed to convert a third-and-1 at the Tulsa 46. If the Rebels had failed, Tulsa would have had a chance for a tying score. But Dart kept the ball on the play and ran around the right side for 11 yards and the first down. From there, Ole Miss was able to kill the clock.

THE KEY PLAYER

Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart was key in the win and after the game, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin indicated Dart is the starter. The Draper, Utah, native did his best Matt Corral impersonation by using both his arm and his legs. He ran for over 100 yards and threw for 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Most importantly, he took care of the football. Kiffin cannot ask much more from the sophomore.

THE MOMENTUM SHIFTER

The entire second quarter. Tulsa held a 14-7 lead after the first period, but in the second, Ole Miss outscored the Golden Hurricane 28-3. The defense kept the Tulsa offense in check and when it got the ball back to the Rebels, the offense took advantage.

WHAT THIS GAME MEANS GOING FORWARD

This wraps it up for the Ole Miss non-conference schedule and the Rebels needed to go 4-0. After the first three wins were walks in the park, perhaps it was a good thing to be challenged by Tulsa.

Now, with Kentucky looming next week, head coach Lane Kiffin can convince his team there is still work to do before the SEC schedule starts.

(Feature image credit: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)

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.