Gamer: No. 17 Ole Miss defeats Georgia Tech, 48-23; Jaxson Dart accounts for 251 through the air and 136 on the ground
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss defeated Georgia Tech, 48-23, on a beautiful Saturday evening in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The Rebels took a slim 10-3 lead into halftime but pulled away with a 38-point second half. Ole Miss moves to 3-0 and now prepares to travel to Tuscaloosa Saturday for a matchup with the 2-1 Crimson Tide.
Offense: Pounding the rock
The Rebel offense got going quickly the previous two weeks, scoring touchdowns in less than a minute on both of their first drives. The Yellow Jackets put an end to that run here in week three, holding the Rebs to a Caden Davis field goal on the opening series.
Right down the middle from 47 by @_cadendavis. pic.twitter.com/YyviBOTy74
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 16, 2023
Earlier this week, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin expressed his concern about the Rebels’ rushing attack. Pounding the rock seemed to be the gameplan from the start of this one, and Quinshon Judkins and Jaxson Dart put together a couple of solid runs that eventually led to a 1-yard Dart rushing touchdown to extend the Ole Miss lead to 10-0 late in the first quarter.
Power football. 😤 pic.twitter.com/zc0iq6bLn0
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 17, 2023
Following Jaxson Dart’s 68-yard scamper down to the Georgia Tech 7-yard line, the Rebels were stalled by the Tech defense and unable to convert on 4th and goal from the 5-yard line. At this point, the Ole Miss passing attack was struggling to get it going. Dart had just two completions on the night up to the point of his big run.
Ole Miss was held scoreless in the second quarter after a 10-point first quarter, and the story leading into the half was the Rebels having just nine and half minutes of possession time compared to Georgia Tech’s twenty-and-half minutes.
Caden Davis attempted another long field goal as time expired in the first half. The 55-yarder was tipped by the Yellow Jackets and ended up well short.
A couple of great plays from Dart put Ole Miss into scoring position quickly on the Rebels’ first drive of the second half. Ulysses ‘Doo’ Bentley IV capped the drive off, bursting through the defense for a 21-yard touchdown run that gave the Rebs a 17-3 lead.
Untouched. 👌@BentleyDoo pic.twitter.com/G8uwZbCkU8
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 17, 2023
Coach Kiffin commented on the rushing attack improvements post game:
“I thought today was obviously much better than last week…If you have negative runs, that usually means you get beat up front. So, they did a much better job and they practiced better this week so it was good to see.”
Lane Kiffin on the ground game
Dart continued to do it all in the second half, as the Rebel QB jumped over a Georgia Tech defender to make his way into the endzone for his second rushing touchdown of the game. Ole Miss took a 24-3 lead with six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
About that ground game…@JaxsonDart pic.twitter.com/nqdVkqdVpi
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 17, 2023
Struggling to get it going after the second Dart rushing touchdown of the night, Ole Miss found itself in a one-score game and in desperate need of some points.
A couple of ‘catch and runs’ from Dayton Wade set the Rebels up in Georgia Tech territory, which allowed Caden Davis to make it a double digit lead once again at 27-17.
With six minutes left in the game, you’d think it was time for the Rebel offense to waste some clock. That certainly was not Dart’s plan as he connected with Jordan Watkins for the longest pass of the game, a 68-yard touchdown pass that gave the Rebs a comfortable lead late.
“Jaxson trusts me,” Watkins said, simply, when asked about his and Dart’s chemistry.
As a veteran in that receiver room, Watkins has stepped up this year, not just as a leader but in his game as well. The Rebel wideout recorded four catches for 119 yards and a touchdown on the day, his second 100+ yard game of the year so far.
The Rebel receiver talked about his quarterback after the game.
“Jaxson’s really tough. He’s not tougher than me, but he’s super tough. We go back and forth on that. He’s a heck of a ballplayer. He just wants to win, and that’s just awesome to see, especially from your quarterback. He’ll put it on the line for you, no matter the circumstance.”
Jordan Watkins on Jaxson Dart
Defensive coordinator Pete Golding’s defense gave the offense the ball back quickly, allowing them to pour more salt on the wound.
Judkins followed a 43-yard catch by Dayton Wade by running in his fourth touchdown of the year, making it 41-17 Ole Miss with less than four minutes in the game.
Running back Matt Jones then put the dagger in this one, making it 48-23 with 49 seconds remaining.
Matt Jones TD 😤@d1matt5 pic.twitter.com/g49f9lAONJ
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 17, 2023
Biggest Offensive Takeaway
Although the Rebel rushing attack struggled through the first two weeks, they were able to do more this evening, finishing with 299 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns — with a banged up Judkins at that.
Rebs Are Running pic.twitter.com/RS0N4ia0jP
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 17, 2023
Dart put on a show for a packed Vaught as well, finishing with 251 yards through the air, another 136 on the ground and 3 total touchdowns.
Dart was asked if he learned anything about himself in the gritty win.
“I don’t really think I’ve learned too much about myself. I kind of always knew what kind of player that I was and I just knew that the more comfortable that I was gonna get in the system, that things were gonna just start clicking so offensively, I think we’re in a good spot and I think that we’re just gonna keep continually doing better.”
Jaxson Dart
Defense: Early struggles and broken plays
Coach Golding’s defense struggled early last week against the Tulane rushing attack. It seems like Georgia Tech watched that game film, as they pounded the rock from the start.
After making their way into Ole Miss territory on their first drive, the Yellow Jackets lined up for a 43-yard field goal that was blocked by Zxavian Harris, kicked around and then eventually recovered by Daijahn Anthony.
Big Fella, Big Paw, Big Play
🖐 @zxavian03 pic.twitter.com/EUdOzjjvVf
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 17, 2023
The Georgia Tech offense moved the ball at will on their first two trips down the field. However, despite finding themselves in scoring position twice, the Yellow Jacket offense struggled to find some points.
Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King and the offense continued to inch their way down the field at will in the second quarter. They eventually erased their ‘goose-egg’ off the scoreboard via a chip-shot field goal with one minute to go in the first half, making it 10-3 Rebels.
Going into the half, the Rebel defense could not have been satisfied with their performance. It was clear from the beginning the Georgia Tech game plan was to control the line of scrimmage, and the Ole Miss defense often struggled to plug the gaps in the first half. The Yellow Jackets ran for 100 yards through two quarters, averaging nearly five yards a carry.
Right out of the gate in the second half, the Landshark defense looked to have made some adjustments as they got after QB King really for the first time in this one to force the first Yellow Jacket punt of the game to start the third quarter.
Three-Man Rush 🦈 pic.twitter.com/qXpaSukcum
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 17, 2023
I asked defensive back Trey Washington what the message was to his group at halftime:
“Don’t panic. I think I love this group because there is no panic when adversity hits. There’s no hesitation. We’re all just ready to go and compete.”
Trey Washington
The Yellow Jacket offense settled in after giving it back to the Rebels their first couple of tries in the second half. A broken play by the Ole Miss defense allowed King to launch one down inside the ten, setting up a one-yard rushing touchdown for the quarterback that made it 24-10, Ole Miss, with two minutes left in the third.
Capping off another solid drive, King found a wide open receiver in the corner of the endzone to make it a one score game, 24-17. That came off another broken play for the Rebel defense, and this seems to be the biggest issue thus far since implementing the new scheme.
With a 34-17 lead, the Rebel defense finally put this one to bed, forcing a turnover on downs that would eventually lead to another Ole Miss touchdown.
Down 41-17, Georgia Tech kept fighting and put together a two-minute drive that led to another score. The two-point attempt failed, making it 41-23 Rebs very late in the game.
Biggest Takeaway
Broken plays throughout the course of this one were the storyline for the defense. It seemed as if the unit was ‘hot’ then ‘cold’ often, making big plays but then allowing chunk plays that canceled them out.
All in all, the Landshark defense did enough to pull out the victory, causing three turnovers on downs and recording seven TFLs.
3-0 ✅ pic.twitter.com/0LcgT0OpCA
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) September 17, 2023
Up Next
Saturday at 2:30 pm CT on CBS, the 3-0 Rebels travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the 2-1 Alabama Crimson Tide in Ole Miss’ first SEC game of 2023.
Kameron Wicker
Kam is a senior at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.
