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Gamer: No. 5 Ole Miss football pounds Georgia Southern, 52-13

Posted by | Sep 22, 2024 |

Gamer: No. 5 Ole Miss football pounds Georgia Southern, 52-13

OXFORD, Miss. – Saturday evening, the Ole Miss Rebel football team walked away with another blowout victory, 52-13, over the Georgia Southern Eagles to close out non-conference play in front of a record-setting crowd of 67,505 Rebel fans inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

First Half

The Rebels received the game’s opening kick and immediately looked for the big play. Jaxson Dart found Tre Harris wide open in the middle of the field on the first play, a 40-yard reception that put Ole Miss in Georgia Southern territory in a hurry. On the next play, Dart found Juice Wells over the top of the defense for a 35-yard score.

The score marked the fifth time Wells has been in the endzone this year, giving him a touchdown in every game thus far.

On the opening drive for the Eagles, the Georgia Southern running back was troubled by the handoff, putting the ball on the ground for the Rebels to recover. JJ Pegues came up with the recovery, setting up the Ole Miss offense at the Georgia Southern 8-yard-line.

However, the Rebel offense failed to take advantage of the great field position, forcing a Caden Davis field goal attempt that was good and extended the Ole Miss lead to 10-0 early in the first quarter.

Following a punt forced by the Landshark defense, Dart went right back to work. A six-minute drive full of Dart passes ended with the signal-caller finding a wide-open Jordan Watkins in the endzone for a 23-yard score, making it 17-0 Ole Miss late with under five minutes in the quarter.

The Eagles then came firing back, putting together a five-minute drive to end the first quarter going into the second. For the first time in 2024, the Ole Miss defense gave up a touchdown, a half-back pass that put seven on the board for Georgia Southern.

“It really infuriated us because that is not how we play. We know we are better than that. We felt like once we got to the sideline, got adjusted, seen where we went wrong and what to fix going forward. When I got to the sideline, I could see it really hit everybody (giving up a score)…that’s not our standard.”

~ Pooh Paul Jr on Ole Miss giving up its first TD of 2024

Catching the Rebels off guard after the TD score, an onside kick from Georgia Southern looked as if it went out of bounds but was overturned to set the Eagles up at the Ole Miss 48-yard-line.

The Landshark defense stood tall, however, as Chris ‘Pooh’ Paul Jr. chased down the Georgia Southern quarterback from behind for a huge third-down sack to force a punt.

The Rebel linebacker finished with 10 tackles on the night, 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss as he was flying all over the field all game. After the game, Rebel head coach Lane Kiffin gave his thoughts on Paul Jr’s performance.

“I thought the defense played really well, led by him (Paul Jr). We had TJ (Dottery) out, (Jared) Ivey out…Pooh Paul stepped up, he got it done and that is what he had done against us while at Arkansas. That is why we were excited about getting him. It’s not that he’s not a good practice player, I think he’s a good practice player. But, he plays great on gamedays and shows up.“

~ Kiffin on Pooh Paul Jr’s performance

The Ole Miss offense was forced to punt for the first time in the contest on the following drive, giving the ball back to a fighting Eagles offense. However, on third down the Rebel defense let the dogs loose as Princely Umanmielen came screaming off the edge for a sack to force Georgia Southern to punt once again.

Again, the Rebels then scored on the second play of the next drive. Dart unleashed a ball down the sideline to a streaking Harris, hitting the playmaker in stride for a 70-yard house call to make it 24-7 Ole Miss with eight minutes to go in the first half.

Dart finished the contest with 382 yards through the air, completing 22 of his 31 passes and finding paydirt four times. After the game, his number one target Tre Harris said the signal-caller was ‘locked in’.

“Every Thursday we go through the script (for the game)…he gets all the receivers together and we talk about what his (Dart) thought process is between plays, what he’s feeling, what he’s reading, what he’s looking at. For him to have that amount of leadership and that amount of connection to each receiver, it’s only going to boost his game more. His game is elevating each and every week.“

~ Harris on Dart getting better every week

After forcing another Georgia Southern punt, the Rebel offense began to drive into enemy territory once again. Ole Miss then gave it away on a failed fourth down attempt, allowing the Eagles to drain most of the remaining time in the first half.

Going into the halftime locker room, the Landshark defense had only allowed 95 total yards of offense and every one of those yards came through the air, not allowing a single Georgia Southern rushing yard.

Khari Coleman led the way with seven tackles at the half, and Paul Jr added six tackles as well, along with a pair of sacks and two tackles for loss.

Dart was 15-for-22 for 259 yards and three scores going into the locker room, most of those yards going to Harris with six grabs for 141 yards. The Rebel offense had 325 total yards at the break.

Second Half

The Eagles received the second-half kickoff, picking up a quick first down right out of the gate. Third down then came up, however, and Ole Miss sent the blitz, forcing an errant throw by the Eagles’ quarterback. Oxford native Brandon Turnage was there waiting for it, coming up with his first pick as a Rebel.

A mix of Henry Parrish Jr carries and short-game passing from Dart then set the Rebels up inside the 10-yard-line in a hurry, allowing Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. to bring in the heavy personnel. As expected, JJ Pegues then went over the line of scrimmage for his second score of the 2024 season, making it 31-7 Rebels.

Ole Miss then forced another quick three-and-out for the Eagles, allowing Dart to go right back to work. A few Matt Jones carries then pushed the Rebels past midfield, setting up the pass.

Dart then found Harris near the pylon as the Rebel playmaker came down with a 50-50 ball. Finishing off the drive was Parrish Jr, reaching paydirt for the first time tonight to extend the Ole Miss lead to 38-7 late in the third.

The Eagles refused to lay down despite trailing by 31 points. Putting together another long drive, Georgia Southern continued to win the time of possession battle as they marched down the field into Ole Miss territory.

However, the Landshark defense stood tall once again. It was Pegues, again, coming up with a big play to hold the Eagles to a field 42-yard field goal with seconds to go in the fourth quarter.

Not slowing down at all, the Rebel offense came right back with another quick drive. It only took three plays this time as Dart found Harris over the top once again. A 35-yard toss and catch on the first play of the fourth quarter added seven more for Ole Miss, making it 45-10.

Harris finished with a career-high 225 yards on 11 catches, adding two scores as well. In the postgame, Dart took the time to give praise to his playmaking receiver.

“When you have the best receiver in the country you give him as many chances as you can. We have a really great connection, (and) have since he got here. He’s just a really great player, and I am happy to have him on my side,” Dart said.

The Rebels then forced their fourth three-and-out of the contest as they continued to stuff the Eagles’ rushing attack. However, Dart and the Ole Miss offense became slightly greedy. A deep pass intended for Juice Wells was underthrown, resulting in the second interception thrown on the year by Dart.

But yet again, the Rebel defense forced the Eagles to punt, allowing Dart to trot back out for one final drive before handing it off to the second team. The Rebel signal-caller then scrambled for 17 yards deep into Eagle territory.

Running back Dom0nique Thomas, carrying a majority of the fourth-quarter load, would then cap off the drive with the final Ole Miss score of the night. The one-yard score put the Rebels up 52-10, also marking the first touchdown for Thomas as a Rebel.

With a majority of the backups in for both squads, the Eagles marched down the field one final time, ending the drive with another field goal to make it 52-13 before the clock ticked down to triple zeros.

Up Next

The Rebels will stay at home next week as they host homecoming and open SEC play. On Sept. 28th, the Ole Miss Rebels will host the Kentucky Wildcats at 11 am CT on either the ABC network or ESPN.
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.

About The Author

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.

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