Ole Miss Football Earns Quartet of SEC Weekly Awards

OXFORD, Miss. (Release) Ole Miss football came away with four weekly honors from the Southeastern Conference following its resounding 63-31 victory at Arkansas, as announced by the SEC office on Monday morning.

Senior quarterback Jaxson Dart and senior wide receiver Jordan Watkins split the Offensive Player of the Week award, while sophomore linebacker TJ Dottery earned Co-Defensive Player of the Week and senior defensive end Princely Umanmielen took Defensive Lineman of the Week honors.

This is the fifth weekly award of the morning for Dart, who has already won AP National Player of the Week, Reese’s Senior Bowl Offensive Player of the Week, East-West Shrine Bowl Monday Morning Quarterback and was named one of the Manning Award’s Stars of the Week.

Dart put together a passing performance for the ages in Ole Miss’ dominant 63-31 victory at Arkansas, charting a passing line of 25-of-31 for 515 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions while also adding 47 yards rushing on 10 carries.

By game’s end, Dart had either broken or tied Ole Miss single-game records in total offense (562), passing yards (515) and passing touchdowns (6), while also helping the Rebels break the single-game team record in passing yards (562) and tie team marks in passing touchdowns (7) and points scored against an SEC opponent (63). In total offense, Dart’s day against Arkansas ranks fourth in SEC history (third-best against an SEC defense), while his aerial assault ranks as the sixth-best ever against an SEC defense and the best since 2021.

Dart is now one of only two quarterbacks in SEC history with 500 yards and six touchdowns passing in a game alongside Missouri’s Drew Lock in 2017, but Dart is the only one in conference history to do so against a power conference opponent – let alone an SEC defense.

This is also the second award of the morning for Watkins, who was named the East-West Shrine Bowl Breakout Offensive Player of the Week. Watkins was Dart’s favorite target through the air at Arkansas, breaking Ole Miss single-game records in receiving yards (254) and touchdowns (5) – becoming one of only two in SEC history to have a 250-yard, five-touchdown game against an SEC defense alongside Alabama Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith.

Dottery got the scoring rally started for the Rebels, knocking the ball loose for a sack fumble in the endzone that was recovered by Umanmielen for the first Ole Miss touchdown of the day. By game’s end, Dottery ended with five tackles, 1.5 TFL and one sack fumble, and on the season he ranks second on the team with 58 total tackles.

Umanmielen’s fumble recovery in the endzone marked the first touchdown of his career, and the first fumble recovered in the endzone for a touchdown by a Rebel defender since 2012. Umanmielen was Ole Miss’ top pass rusher of the day with 2.0 sacks. On the year, Umanmielen ranks as PFFs 10th-best defensive lineman overall at an 85.9 grade, as well as second on Ole Miss’ roster with 7.5 sacks.

The 12th-ranked Rebels return to Vaught-Hemingway for a key contest this week when the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs come to town this Saturday. Kickoff on Nov. 9 is set for 2:30 p.m. on ABC.