Lane Kiffin describes how devastated Jaxson Dart was after loss to Florida: ‘He really felt like he let down the team, the whole city of Oxford’
OXFORD, Miss. — In our regular Sunday evening zoom call with Lane Kiffin, the Ole Miss head coach was asked if he watched quarterback Jaxson Dart’s postgame press conference following the Rebels’ 24-17 loss to Florida. While Kiffin had not watched the presser, he did explain how his three-year QB spent the evening at Kiffin’s house Saturday night, devastated at the loss.
“I spent last night with Jaxson, actually, at my house. This guy puts a lot into Ole Miss and this team and Ole Miss football, as much as any player I’ve ever seen, maybe more. He took it really hard. He really felt like he let down the team, the whole city of Oxford. Pretty unique to have a quarterback on the couch last night that upset that he let everybody here down.“
Lane Kiffin on Jaxson Dart after the Florida loss
Dart finished the game 24-for-41 for 323 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Coach Kiffin discussed Dart’s performance after having taken a look at the game on video, noting that there were also quite a number of dropped passes in the game.
“He (Dart) actually, when you watch the film, played great til the end of the game. He made great throws…worked through some tough situations. There were a lot of yards dropped out there that were really, really good throws that guys dropped…I didn’t do the math, but over 100 yards passing (that were dropped), and then he made the really poor decision on that interception as we were moving there…but up to that point, he played really good. And didn’t practice the week before, playing on an ankle injury, too. So I was very proud of him how he played and competed.”
Lane Kiffin on Jaxson Dart’s performance
In Dart’s postgame presser, he was visibly upset.
Jaxson Dart after the loss to Florida: “I’m sorry to my teammates. I’m sorry to my coaches. I’m sorry for the fans. Can’t lose these games. This one is going to hurt for a really long time. That’s all I can really say, guys, is I am sorry.”
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“I’m sorry to my teammates. I’m sorry to my coaches. I’m sorry for the fans. Can’t lose these games. This one is going to hurt for a really long time. That’s all I can really say, guys, is I am sorry.”
Jaxson Dart
Next Up
Ole Miss will host Mississippi State in the annual Egg Bowl this Friday. Kickoff will be at 2:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ABC.
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.
