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Jaxson Dart’s Record-Breaking Day Leads Ole Miss Past MTSU; Ole Miss QB Sets School, SEC Record for Consecutive Completions

Posted by | Sep 7, 2024 |

Jaxson Dart’s Record-Breaking Day Leads Ole Miss Past MTSU; Ole Miss QB Sets School, SEC Record for Consecutive Completions

OXFORD, Miss. – Saturday evening inside a packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Ole Miss hit the ground running, literally, and never looked back as a record-breaking Jaxson Dart performance helped the Rebels cruise to a 52-3 victory over the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.

“A lot of things went right, whenever you have that kind of score. I think we were not quite as good as the week before, especially with the sloppier, late penalties. But when you play offense that way, eight drives, seven touchdowns, a field goal, no turnovers and no punts, you’re going to win a lot of games.“

~ Kiffin in his opening statement

Offense

The Rebels received the opening kickoff and immediately established the run game with Miami transfer and former Rebel, Henry Parrish Jr. Four carries and 51 yards later, Parrish and the Rebel offense found themselves in the red zone, only to be halted by a penalty on a short 4th-down attempt. However, Caden Davis did not allow Ole Miss to come up empty, nailing a 33-yard field goal to give the Rebels a 3-0 lead early in this one.

Right back to work on the ground after the Landshark defense stood tall, Parrish, Jr. continued to steal the show. A pair of carries for 30 yards and a couple of receptions by Tre Harris put the Rebels in striking range, allowing offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, Jr. to go right back to the ground. An 11-yard scamper put seven more on the board as Parrish, Jr. fought his way through the defense for his first score of the 2024 season.

Head Coach Lane Kiffin claimed during week one that getting the run game going would be key. Although the Rebels rushed for over 200 yards last week against Furman, most of that came in the second half and no Rebel running back rushed for over 100 yards for the game.

Through the first three offensive drives for Ole Miss today, Parrish, Jr. had carried it seven times for 92 yards and two scores. After a drive filled with Jaxson Dart carving up the Blue Raider defense with check-down throws, Parrish, Jr. finished it off again with another 11-yard rushing touchdown to make it 17-0 Rebels as the first quarter came to a close.

After the game, Coach Kiffin was bombarded with questions regarding the big day for the senior Rebel running back.

“Henry (Parrish Jr) is a really good player…he’s really had a great summer and put a lot of weight on. He works really hard, and it was great to see.”

Coach Kiffin on Henry Parrish, Jr. 

With the dominance on the ground early from the Rebel offense, the passing game began to open up for Jaxson Dart. Leading 17-0, Dart opened the drive with a 28-yard toss to Jordan Watkins, who made his first appearance of the 2024 season today. Adding to his stellar day, Dart found Cayden Lee two more times over the middle of the field to put the Rebels in the red zone.

After a couple of attempts at punching it in on the ground again, Dart decided to do it himself. Dancing around in the backfield, the Rebel signal-caller finally found a hole to push through for the 3-yard score, giving Ole Miss a 24-0 lead early in the second quarter.


Coming off an amazing week-one performance in only one-half of playing time, Dart continued to put on a show for the Rebel crowd this week. Looking to add more to the Rebels’ 24-point lead, and having to start from his own 1-yard line, Dart went 5-for-5 for 75 yards on the longest drive thus far for Ole Miss, ultimately allowing Parrish, Jr. to cap off a 99-yard drive with another score.

The third rushing touchdown of the day for the Florida native gave him his career high for a single game, also giving the Rebels a 31-0 lead with time winding down in the first half.

Going into halftime, Dart was 15-for-15 through the air with 288 yards and a rushing touchdown. Harris was on the receiving end of seven of those passes, racking up 88 yards in the half for himself.

Parrish, Jr. continued to carry the first-half load even after his third score. The senior running back had 12 carries at the half for 122 yards along with his three scores, averaging a first down per carry.

Picking up right where he left off in the first half, Parrish, Jr. broke off a 42-yard run deep into Blue Raider territory to set the Rebels up in scoring range on their first drive of the third quarter. The rush put the senior back over 150 yards for the game.

Banged up a little after the big run, Parrish, Jr. was replaced by former walk-on Matt Jones, who had a career game in the second half of week one. Jones carried the ball twice inside the red zone today, picking up another score on the ground for Ole Miss as the Rebels took a 38-3 lead mid-way through the quarter.

Following a fumble recovery by the Landshark defense, the Rebel offense was set up in the red zone already and looking to add more. Dart completed his eighteenth pass of the day, this one to Lee, allowing the sophomore wideout to scamper down to the one-yard-line.

One could only guess what happened after that as Parrish, Jr. checked back into the game, looking for more blood in the water. Continuing his dominance on the ground, the Rebels went right back to their workhorse for his fourth score of the contest, taking a 45-3 lead late in the third quarter.

Following the victory, Parrish, Jr. took the postgame podium and immediately gave all the credit to the big guys in the trenches. The senior back also talked about his work ethic of being a guy who never complains.

“It feels good. I put the work in day in and day out. Every day I come in and work, don’t complain, none of that. I just work and grind. I grind hard, and you will see that on the field.“

~ Parrish, Jr, on his performance

Dart’s first incompletion of the game did not come until the ten-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Yes, the fourth quarter.

Before his twenty-fifth attempt, the Rebel signal-caller was 24-for-24, breaking the single-game consecutive completion record set by Matt Corral in 2020 — as well as the SEC single-game record set by Tee Martin (23) in 1998.

Dart was asked about breaking the record during the postgame, claiming that he was not aware of the record set by Corral. “I was aware of where I was (in completions), I wasn’t aware of the record. I was trying to get the ball in my guys’ hands,” Dart said when commenting on his performance.

However, Dart was not done. Yet to put one in the end zone through the air, the senior quarterback decided to remedy that as he found Juice Wells across the middle of the field for an 18-yard score, making it 52-3 with under ten minutes left in the game.

Despite the game being out of reach, the Rebels had one final drive to run out the clock. Of course, Lane Kiffin did not give in until the final whistle, getting Ole Miss over 200 yards on the ground, once again, for the second straight week.

After the game, Dart commented on how the team stays focused in games like this one.

“I think it’s just ‘the standard is the standard.’ I think that we all have big dreams and aspirations for this year and for a lot of us this is our last year. We want to take advantage of every opportunity we get regardless of if it’s a game or a practice rep.”

~ Dart on staying focused

Defense

Through the first two Blue Raider drives, the Rebel defense was nothing short of suffocating. Forcing negative yardage on the first drive, the Ole Miss secondary swarmed to the ball every play to force a quick three-and-out.

Through one quarter of play, the Rebel defense had only allowed 18 total yards of offense — as well as only giving up a single third-down conversion. Safety Trey Washington was leading the pack from the Rebel secondary, flying all over the field to attack the football.

Washington took to the podium after the game, offering his thoughts on the defensive performance today.

“I think the D-Line played really well. We stopped the run and forced them to go to the air. I think we could execute way better in our pass defenses so that they can’t stop all of our fronts. We have another opportunity to get better this week.“

~ Washington on the defensive performance today

Trailing 17-0 to start the second quarter, the Middle Tennessee offense finally began to find some yards. However, Princely Umanmeielen put that to bed, coming up with his first sack in a Rebel uniform and helping force another punt from the Blue Raider offense.

After another pair of short drives that ended in punts for the Blue Raiders, the Landshark defense finally began to give in. A few broken coverages allowed Middle Tennessee to drive deep into Rebel territory; however, the front seven stood tall again.

Only allowing eight yards on 12 carries in the first half, the Ole Miss defensive line refused to give up a score, forcing the Blue Raiders to settle for three with under 20 seconds left in the first half.

Going into the locker room with a 31-3 halftime lead, the Ole Miss defense had dominated most of the first half of play, only giving up 126 total yards of offense with 118 of those yards being through the air.

TJ Dottery led the way for Ole Miss with five tackles at the half and Trey Washington continued to be all over the place. The defensive leader racked up four tackles of his own, one being a tackle for loss as well as breaking up a pass in the half.

Going into the second half, the Blue Raiders made it a point to get the ball outside of the tackles. Avoiding the front seven for the Rebels allowed Middle Tennessee to put together the best drive yet, building off their final drive of the first half that ended in a field goal.

Finding their way into the red zone, the Blue Raiders looked as if they were going to score their first touchdown of the day. However, the Middle Tennessee quarterback was forced to his left by the relentless Rebel pass rush as he tossed one up in the corner of the endzone, resulting in an amazing diving interception from John Saunders Jr to end the longest MTSU drive of the game.

Down 38-3, the Middle Tennessee quarterback could not catch a break. Following the drive that ended with an endzone pick, the Blue Raider signal-caller fumbled the snap on the second play of the drive, allowing Dottery to fall on it at the Middle Tennessee 14-yard-line.

Coming off of back-to-back turnovers, the Blue Raiders seemed to respond well, putting together a ten-play drive that got them deep into Rebel territory. However, the Ole Miss front continued to refuse to give in, bringing up a fourth-down pass attempt that was knocked away in the endzone by Jadon Canady to give the Rebel offense the ball back.

Despite not appearing quite as dominant as they did a week ago, the Landshark defense still stood out as a collective. As a unit, they racked up 9 tackles for loss, two sacks and only allowed 28 rushing yards in the contest.

Dottery led the Rebels in tackles with six. Chris ‘Pooh’ Paul, Jr. and Washington were also all over the place, both recording tackles for loss.

Following the game, Washington answered how this year’s Ole Miss defense is different than it was a year ago:

“I think urgency and physicality to the ball. I think, consistently, when you turn on the film you see 11 people playing hard and trying to take guys’ heads off.“

Trey Washington on this year’s defense

Up Next

Next week, the Rebels will hit the road to Winston-Salem to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Kickoff is set for 5:30 pm CT on the CW network.
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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