Postgame Notables: Ole Miss defeats Georgia Southern, 52-13

OXFORD, Miss. — (Release) Ole Miss defeated Georgia Southern 52-13 Saturday night in Vaught-Hemingway in front of the largest recorded crowd in stadium history. The Rebels now move to 4-0, 0-0 SEC play, and begin conference action next Saturday at home against Kentucky.

Here are some of the news and notables following the win.

Starters

• S Louis Moore made his first career start for Ole Miss.
• QB Jaxson Dart made his team-leading 28th-straight start against Wake Forest.
• Other notable starting streaks include S Trey Washington (19th), S John Saunders Jr. (17th) and Caden Prieskorn (14th).

General Notes

• Attendance for today’s game was 67,505, the largest recorded crowd in Vaught-Hemingway history.
• Ole Miss is 69-17 (.802) versus non-conference opponents dating back to a 38-0 win over Tulane on Nov. 12, 1994 … Under head coach Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss is 18-2 against non-conference opponents.
• Ole Miss is now 120-41-6 (.720) all-time versus non-conference opponents during September.
• The Rebels are 302-115-8 all-time at Vaught-Hemingway (before vacated wins).
• The Rebels are now 50-7-2 against current members of the Sun Belt.

Offensive Notes

• Through four games, the Rebels have scored in 35 of 52 (67.3 percent) drives, with 29 touchdowns.
• Ole Miss’ rapid fire offense put together two scoring drives in under a minute of possession … On the season, the Rebels have completed nine scoring drives in under a minute, and eight have been in two plays or less.
• The Rebels (220) have scored the most points through the first four games in program history.
• WR Tre Harris had a career day, picking up a career high in receiving yards (225) and tied his career-best in receptions (11), tacking on two touchdowns … He tied for the fifth-most yards in a single game by a Rebel with Elijah Moore, who accomplished it against South Carolina in 2020 … It’s just the 10th 200-yard receiving game in Ole Miss history.
• Harris has now picked up 100+ yards in three games to start the 2024 campaign … It’s the eighth of his Ole Miss career, locking him into sole possession of sixth-most in program history.
• Harris (3,130) joined Antwane ‘Juice’ Wells as a member of the career 3K receiving yards club … They are the only active teammate duo across all levels of college football.
• Harris’ 25th career touchdown came via a career-long 70-yard bomb in the second quarter … Ole Miss has now scored a 70-plus yard touchdown in consecutive games.
• QB Jaxson Dart reached 10,000 yards of total offense for his overall career on the first play of the game … He became one of 13 active players in all divisions of college football to reach the 10K mark … He concluded the game with 10,381 career yards.
• Dart has thrown for 1,554 yards through four games, the most by an SEC quarterback in the last 20 seasons, per ESPN … Second closest is Joe Burrow in 2019 at LSU (1,520).
• Dart also eclipsed 9,000 yards through the air in his overall career … He recorded 382 yards against the Eagles.
• Dart (67) passed Chad Kelly for the fourth-most touchdowns responsible for by a Rebel … He finished the day with four passing touchdowns, the second time he’s reached that number this season … It’s the first time this season that Georgia Southern has allowed four touchdowns through the air.
• RB Henry Parrish Jr. once again had a productive outing, picking up 89 yards and a touchdown … Ole Miss’ touchdown leader now has seven on the year.
• WR Antwane ‘Juice’ Wells has now scored in each of his first four games with the Rebels.
• WR Jordan Watkins and DT JJ Pegues supplied Ole Miss with a touchdown each … Watkins picked up his second receiving touchdown of the season, while Pegues ran for the second of his career.
• RB Domonique Thomas scored his first touchdown as a Rebel.

Defensive Notes

• Ole Miss surrendered its first touchdown of the season in the second quarter … The Rebels held the opposition touchdown-less for a total of 195:48 of game time to start the season … It serves as the most consecutive game time without allowing a touchdown by a Rebel defense since 1959.
• In first halves this season, the Ole Miss defense has held opposing offenses to 33 combined rushing yards … Teams are averaging 0.6 yards per carry in the opening half.
• Ole Miss held Georgia Southern to 37 yards rushing, its fourth consecutive effort holding opponents to fewer than 50 … That is the longest such streak in available records at Ole Miss since at least 1969.
• The Rebel D forced five 3-and-outs on the game, and allowed only three conversions on third down.
• The Rebels recorded 13 tackles for loss and took away 45 yards in the process …In the Kiffin era, Ole Miss is now 27-9 in games with at least 5.0 tackles for loss.
• Twenty-three different Rebels recorded at least one tackle on the day.
• Ole Miss held Georgia Southern to 194 total net yards, the second time this season the Rebels allowed sub-200 net yards this season.
• The Ole Miss defense has forced seven turnovers through the first four games of the season … DT JJ Pegues recovered the first fumble of his career in the first quarter, while CB Brandon Turnage picked off Georgia Southern for his first in blue and red.
• LB Chris ‘Pooh’ Paul Jr. led the team in tackles for the third time this season … He racked up 10 tackles, the most for him in an Ole Miss jersey.
• Paul recorded his 20th and 21st career tackle for loss … He has 6.5 as a Rebel through four games and is already just 1.5 shy of a season high.
• LB Khari Coleman tallied nine tackles, a career high … He also recorded a forced fumble.

Special Teams Notes

• K Caden Davis recorded nine touchbacks … He has averaged 8.25 touchbacks per game this season.
• Davis recorded 10 points via one field goal and seven PATs … He now has 46 points on the season, leading the team.
• PR Micah Davis picked up 26 yards on two punt returns.

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.