News and Notables from the Ole Miss win over Mercer

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss pounded Mercer, 73-7, in the Rebels’ season-opener Saturday. Here are some of the news and notables from the game.

Captains

• Jordan Watkins (WR), Ulysses Bentley IV (RB), Trey Washington (S)

Starters

• RG Jeremy James made his 37th consecutive start, also the 37th start of his career.
• Other double-digit consecutive starts included CB Deantre Prince (16) and QB Jaxson Dart (12).
• TE Kyirin Heath made his first career start
• Making their first career Ole Miss starts today were: LT Victor Curne, WR Tre Harris, LB Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste, LG Quincy McGee, LB Monty Montgomery, DB John Saunders Jr., DE Isaac Ukwu, DB Zamari Walton and DT Stephon Wynn Jr.

Debuts

• Transfers making their Ole Miss debuts today were: S Daijahn Anthony, OL Victor Curne, K Caden Davis, CB DeShawn Gaddie Jr., RB Jam Griffin, DT Joshua Harris, WR Tre Harris, QB Walker Howard, OL Quincy McGee, LB Monty Montgomery, DE Cephus Pettis, QB Spencer Sanders, DT Myles Saulsberry, S John Saunders Jr., DT Akelo Stone, DE Isaac Ukwu, CB Zamari Walton, DT Stephon Wynn Jr. and S Teja Young.
• Freshmen making their college football debuts were: DT Jamarious Brown, DE Chamberlain Campbell, TE Jayvontay Conner, OL Preston Cushman, CB Chris Graves, DE DeeJay Holmes Jr., LB Suntarine Perkins, RB Kedrick Reescano, OL Brycen Sanders, WR Ayden Williams.

General Notes

• Attendance for today’s game was 60,097.
• Under Kiffin, Ole Miss is now 10-2 against non-conference opponents.
• The Rebels are now 95-29-5 (.756 winning percentage) in season openers and have taken 21 of the last 26 on the field.

Offensive Notes

• Ole Miss set its single-game team passing record with 524 yards … The previous record was 517 against ULM on Oct. 6, 2018.
• Ole Miss’ 73 points tie for No. 7 in school history, the most of the Kiffin era and the most since scoring 76 against Southern Illinois in 2018.
• Ole Miss’ 667 yards of total offense ranks as the sixth-best in school history … Head coach Lane Kiffin owns four of the top-six offensive outings ever at Ole Miss.
• Today’s offensive showing marks the 21st game of the Kiffin era with at least 600 yards of total offense … Prior to his arrival in 2020, Ole Miss had 16 such games in its entire history.
• In the Kiffin era, Ole Miss now moves to 20-5 when striking first.
• The opening drive of 51 seconds off of a 38-yard pass from Jaxson Dart to Tre Harris, was the fastest scoring drive to open a season for Ole Miss since 2018.
• WR Tre Harris’ four touchdown receptions set the Ole Miss single-game school record … Harris is the 12th Rebel to have three or more receiving touchdowns in a game.
• Harris also became the 22nd player in SEC history with at least four receiving touchdowns in a game.
• QB Jaxson Dart’s four passing touchdowns tied a career-high, previously set during his freshman campaign in 2021 at USC against Washington State.
• Dart’s 296 passing yards in the first half marked a new career-high.
• The offensive output of 28 points from the Rebels in the first 15 minutes ranks as the most points scored in the opening quarter of a season for Ole Miss since at least 1967.
• In his Rebel debut, QB Spencer Sanders added 134 yards after playing in the second half. The last time Ole Miss had two 100-yard passers was against Mississippi State in 2019, with Matt Corral throwing for 124 yards and John Rhys Plumlee adding 121.
• RB Quinshon Judkins rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns on 13 attempts … Judkins is now No. 12 in Ole Miss history with 18 career rushing touchdowns.
• A total of 13 Rebels caught a pass, led by Tre Harris (6 rec., 133 yards, 4 TD) and Jordan Watkins (6 rec., 111 yards) … Ole Miss last had two 100-yard receivers at Vanderbilt in 2022.

Defensive Notes

• DE Cedric Johnson tallied his 14.5 career sack, first of the season, for a loss of 10 yards … Johnson is Ole Miss’ active career sacks leader.
• DE Reginald Hughes recovered his first career fumble in his second season at Ole Miss and 13th appearance.
• S Daijahn Anthony snagged his sixth career interception, his first in an Ole Miss uniform.
• DT Zxavian Harris recorded his first career sack for a loss of seven yards and his first solo TFL … He wrapped up his day with a total of 2.5 TFL.
• As a team, two fumble recoveries matched a single game-high for the Rebels from the last three seasons.
• In his collegiate debut, LB Suntarine Perkins’ led Ole Miss with nine total tackles, including four solo.
• DT Zxavian Harris matched Perkins with four solo tackles of his own to set a new career-high en route to six total tackles.
• In the secondary, S John Saunders Jr. made some noise in his Rebel debut, forcing one PBU and adding a solo tackle.
• The Ole Miss defense did not allow Mercer to enter the red zone the entire game.

Special Teams Notes

• A forced fumble from RB Jam Griffin on a Mercer kickoff return and a recovery from LB Tyler Banks, marked career-firsts for each.
• Transfer K Caden Davis made his second career field goal from 31 yards, his first in a Rebel jersey.
• WR Jordan Watkins returned his first career punt for a touchdown, running to the house for 70 yards … The last time Ole Miss returned a punt for a touchdown was a 73-yard score by Jeff Scott vs. Texas in 2013.
• Ole Miss did not punt until 10:48 remained in the fourth quarter, with Fraser Masin sending his lone of the day for 49 yards.

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.