QB Film Room: Gritty Jaxson Dart and the Rebels earn hard-fought win over Tulane

Editor’s Note: Welcome to the QB1 Film Room where David Walker, former four-year starting NCAA quarterback and two-year captain, takes a look at the Rebels’ most recent offensive performance. David still holds the record for the NCAA’s youngest starting quarterback — as he played his entire freshman year as a 17-year-old — and was the first quarterback awarded Freshman of the Year in college football.

OXFORD, Miss. — Taking ownership of the quarterback position for a major college football team is a daunting task with an unbelievable amount of responsibility.

Leadership ability, arm talent, and split-second-blink-of-an-eye execution of the run-pass and run-keep options on the handoff reads are the essence of the complete modern-day QB.

And more importantly, when the quarterback finds himself in a game that flash can’t win, a relentless grit must then take over. This was surely the case for Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart in his Rebels’ 37-20 win over Tulane Saturday. 

The visitors from Oxford know that anytime they cross that state line into Cajun Country, it’s going to be a bloodbath.

You don’t throw 60+ points up on a team from Louisiana and assume all’s forgotten the next time you come to town. That was a two-win Tulane team the Rebels tossed around, 61-21, back in 2021. But this year’s Green Wave team was a 12-win group from a year ago and is the reigning Cotton Bowl champion after beating USC and its Heisman-winning quarterback, Caleb Williams, in January.

As expected, this was an epic grudge match where both teams got hit in the mouth time after time, and neither backed down. I noted during the game how the Tulane team in powder blue would knock the living daylights out of you at blinding speed. Two plays later, this happened:

But this Rebel team did not blink.

This was a game – perhaps like many to come – where Ole Miss players simply had to grind it out, moment by moment. There was not only the tough competition, there was the heat. Playing in that takes its toll. I’ve played on turf that’s hit upwards of 115° and it’s no picnic. It can fatigue you quickly and we all know what Vince Lombardi said about fatigue making cowards of us all.

But this game also had a coach in the Rebels’ Lane Kiffin who refused to flinch when the going was tough — a coach whose confidence and belief in his system, his coaches and his players allowed this fight to play out to its overwhelmingly successful conclusion.

Some may have thought there’d be a change in “personnel” when things appeared their darkest, but Lane Kiffin again didn’t flinch. He stayed the course, showing the same resilience that he preaches to his players, and he was rewarded.

Let’s roll the film.

Last week I mentioned that you should find some slouch and bet them that Ole Miss would receive the opening kickoff and on the first play throw a deep corner pass to the right side. Well, guess what happened.

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The following play, against a 4-spoke secondary, Dart zips a throw to the far side of the field to Dayton Wade, who breaks a tackle and gains 20 yards. 

Note the excellent pass protection on the right side of the line against a twist stunt run by Tulane.

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Here is the 31-yard touchdown throw to Tre Harris, a strike that barely beats the safety to the target. Harris is out of the picture at the bottom of the screen prior to the snap. It’s a one-receiver route executed to perfection. (Harris was injured in the game and reports are he could be out approximately 4 weeks.)

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Next, we have Jordan Watkins on a deep crossing pattern. He takes a lick but holds onto a well-thrown football by Dart who’s himself on the run.

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On 2nd-and-5 from the Ole Miss 41, Watkins motions left to a manned-up cornerback on the far-left wide receiver. Once he’s run off, there’s nary a soul to cover Watkins. Chalk up a 29-yard gain.

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Next, the Rebels go empty set with Quinshon Judkins lined up so close to the sidelines he could be conversing with running backs coach Kevin Smith. Dart dumps the ball off to him after the defensive backs have once again scattered to chase decoys, and Q picks up 21 yards to the Green Wave 9 yard-line. 

Judkins would then finish the drive off on the following play with a 9-yard touchdown scamper.

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At this point it is still a hard-fought, 17-17 ball game and the Rebels face a 2nd-and-19. Here we see Dart determined to do whatever it takes to win this battle. 

This type effort, this exhibition of grit, is exactly what’s expected of every Ole Miss quarterback.

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When the Rebs needed it the most, somehow, some way, Wade pulls in this very accurate corner-route throw for a huge 43-yard gain. In this game, Wade finished with a career-high 106 yards on seven receptions.

 

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We now have a huge 4th-and-4 play here with Ole Miss holding only a slim 3-point lead. If you miss on this one, the game still very much so hangs in the balance. 

The Rebels send Watkins in motion to balance the formation, then run double crossing routes with the inside receivers. The man covering tight end Michael Trigg loses a step in the crossfire and Dart, who’s in some crossfire peril himself, finds Trigg for the lead expansion and a collective breath exhalation. 

Trigg’s only catch of the day proves to be huge.

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It was not always pretty Saturday, but there were a lot of positives flowing from this top-25 win for Ole Miss. Despite being without the injured Tre Harris and tight end Caden Prieskorn, as well as wide receiver Zakhari Franklin, the passing game is flourishing while opposing defenses continue to key heavily on Judkins.

In Monday’s press conference, Coach Kiffin talked about the Rebels’ ground game woes and the importance of sticking with it. Click here to read. 

Next Up:

Ole Miss hosts Georgia Tech Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.