Ole Miss WR Tre Harris Previews Rebels’ First Power-Four Match-Up of 2024, Talks Chemistry with Jaxson Dart, and Potential Weather Obstacles against Wake Forest
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss welcomed the Rebels’ No. 1 pass catcher, Tre Harris, to the podium earlier this afternoon to discuss their second win of the season and what to expect on Saturday night against Wake Forest.
Reflecting upon their dominant 52-3 win over Middle Tennessee, Harris spoke highly of his quarterback, Jaxson Dart, who set the SEC completion record, going 24 of 24 all the way until the fourth quarter, when a pass to Harris was broken up in the red zone.
Dart finished the day 25 of 27 with 377 passing yards and a touchdown. Here was Tre’s response when asked if he’s ever seen this caliber of performance out of his quarterback.
“Quite honestly, no. It doesn’t surprise me with all of the preparation and things that we’ve been doing throughout the offseason, and that’s not just with me, that’s him with the other guys, just constantly forming good chemistry between the quarterback and the receivers. You know he constantly finds a way to get the chemistry to be where it’s supposed to be, and y’all saw Saturday that’s exactly what’s happened.”
– Harris on Dart’s performance
Tre Harris👀👀
— PFF College (@PFF_College) March 29, 2024
Not only did Dart shine bright, but Harris was also dominant for the second week in a row, catching nine passes for 130 yards. Through two games this season, Tre is averaging 18.2 yards per catch, and the third most receiving yards in the country with 309.
Ole Miss WR Tre Harris has 17 REC for 309 YD and 2 TD in his first two games pic.twitter.com/KgKw3O0h8z
— Matt Hicks (@TheFF_Educator) September 7, 2024
With the stud finding a great deal of those yards after the catch, it’s clear that his ability to make a man miss has somehow gotten even better.
“I’d definitely say it’s something I’ve concentrated on, especially this past off season and even in fall camp. Our coaches constantly tell us once we catch the ball, finish two lines ahead of us, but for me, I took it another step, and I was trying to finish in the end zone each and every time I caught the ball. I’m glad its paying off, and hopefully it continues on throughout the season.“
– Harris on his yards after catch
Despite two stellar outings from Harris and the Ole Miss offense, he understands that this week will bring several unfamiliar challenges to this squad, starting with the forecast, which is reporting rain for the majority of the night in Winston-Salem on Saturday.
“We haven’t really prepared for it yet, but it’s definitely in the back of our minds. We still have the same mentality of protecting the ball and dying with the ball, that’s something that is constantly drilled into us. For us, whenever you have that ball in your hands, you have the team in your hands, and that’s something that each and every ball carrier has to have in their mind whenever they’re carrying the ball: Hey, we’re protecting the team, you’re not just protecting yourself and the ball, but this is the team that you’re looking after. For us, we understand that there might be some weather that we have to deal with, but for us, it’s still the same thing, you have to protect with the ball and die with the ball and do what you’re supposed to do.“
– Harris on potentially playing in the rain
In addition to the weather, Ole Miss will be going on the road to play an ACC squad, which will be their only road game before the Rebs travel to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks.
Even though this will be their first power-four game of the year, Tre says as long as the team stays focused internally throughout the week, everything will be taken care of on the field when game time rolls around.
“They’re a very sound defense, for sure. They’re pretty solid up front, their linebackers move side to side, they’re pretty aggressive, and their backend is not terrible. They’re going to go out there and play their game, they’re going to play off, and we know we’re going to go out there and do what we have to do, it’s really the same thing each and every week. Its about us, and its not really about them. We know our coaches are going to create a great scheme for us to go out there, execute, and thats the main thing for us as players, to go out there and execute the scheme that our coaches come up with.”
– Harris on the Wake Forest defense
If weather permits, kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. this Saturday night in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Until then, be sure to stay tuned to The Rebel Walk for all of your Ole Miss sports content.
