Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin keeps QB starter close to the vest: ‘We’ve not made that final decision’
OXFORD, Miss. — At Monday’s first game-week press conference of the season, media couldn’t wait to ask Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin who his starter will be at quarterback against Mercer this Saturday. But they’ll have to wait a little longer to find out the answer, as Coach Kiffin says he has not yet named either Jaxson Dart, the returning starter from last season, or Spencer Sanders, the highly-regarded transfer from Oklahoma State.
“We’ve not made that final decision. We’re very excited about all the guys…Both guys did extremely well and made really explosive plays Saturday (in the mock game), managed the offense well. We feel very confident with either of them.”
Lane Kiffin on naming a QB
Most media who have been in attendance for all of fall camp have watched as Dart has practiced with the first team the majority of the time. That being said, Sanders has taken reps, albeit fewer than Dart, with the ones, but he, too, looked very solid with his passing and his running.
Ole Miss sophomore running back Quinshon Judkins, named to every preseason All-American list out there, was asked Monday if Coach Kiffin addresses the QB competition with the team.
“As a team, he doesn’t really address that,” Judkins said. “That’s not something he would say in a public setting, around the whole team, in a team meeting or anything like that. That’s more inside of him, offensive coordinators and quarterback coaches. There’s nothing that’s been said to us.”
As for Quinshon, he’s not at all worried about who the starter is.
“Just me being so confident in each and every one of those guys, it hasn’t had an effect on me in that way. Me thinking no matter who’s in there, they’re great at what they do. They’re confident in their game. Whoever’s out there, I know they’ll perform.”
Quinshon Judkins on the Ole Miss QB choice
Interestingly, while the press conference was going on, Dart posted the following on social media. (We’ll leave the emoji interpretation to others better at it than we are.) Just as interestingly, it has now been deleted.
Also of note, at the time of this writing, while the Ole Miss game notes have been posted online for media, they do not yet include a depth chart. We’ll keep an eye on that and let you know what happens.
NEXT UP
The Rebels and Mercer kick off at 1:00 p.m. CT on September 2 and Vaught-Hemingway. The game will be shown streaming on SECN+/ESPN+.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
