Postgame Notes: Ole Miss falls to Florida, 24-17

GAINESVILLE — Ole Miss lost to Florida, 24-17, Saturday in The Swamp, shattering the No. 9 Rebels’ College Football Playoff hopes. The Rebels must now re-group and get ready for a Friday game vs. Mississippi State in this year’s Egg Bowl in Oxford

Series Information

• This game was the 26th all-time meeting between Ole Miss and Florida.

• Florida now leads the series 13-12-2 dating back to its origin in 1926.

• Ole Miss is now 6-5-1 in Gainesville, while Florida leads 6-2 in Oxford. This was Ole Miss’ first trip to Gainesville since 2015 (W, 38-10).

Starters

• QB Jaxson Dart made his team-leading 35th-straight start against Florida.

• Other notable starting streaks include S Trey Washington (26th) and S John Saunders Jr. (24th).

• WR Micah Davis made his first start as a Rebel at running back.

Offensive Notes

• QB Jaxson Dart went 24-for-41 passing with two touchdowns, surpassing 75 passing touchdowns for his overall career … He sits at 76 at the conclusion of today’s game.

• His 323 yards through the air is his seventh 300-yard game this year, tying Matt Corral’s 2020 season for third all-time at Ole Miss.

• Dart joined Eli Manning as the only quarterbacks in Ole Miss history with more than 10,000 passing yards in an Ole Miss career … Dart now has 10,051 to Manning’s 10,119.

• Dart passed Manning for the third-most passing yards in a single season at Ole Miss, reaching 3,732 … Dart also jumped three spots in Ole Miss’ single-season total offense leaderboard, as he reached 4,107.

• After 394 yards of total offense, Dart has the sixth-most by an SEC quarterback in the conference’s history … As a Rebel, Dart sits at 11,448.

• Fueled by a season-long 35-yard rush, Dart set the record for most career rushing yards by an Ole Miss quarterback … Dart used a team-leading 71 yards rushing to pass Corral (1,338), and has 1,378 ground yards at Ole Miss.

• WR Tre Harris checked several boxes with his one catch of the day, a 43-yard score in the second quarter … He surpassed the 2,000-yards receiving mark in his Ole Miss career (2,015), passing JR Ambrose for 10th all-time at Ole Miss in the process.

• His touchdown ties him with three others for eighth-most in a Rebel jersey … It was also the 29th of his career, tying him with Colorado’s LaJohntay Wester for third-most among all active FBS receivers.

• Harris eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season for the first time in his career, becoming the sixth Rebel to break 1K in a season (seventh occurrence) … He took the second-fewest games to accomplish the milestone in Ole Miss history, behind Elijah Moore, who did it in seven games in 2020.

• Harris passed Dontario Drummond for sixth all-time in Ole Miss single-season history in receiving yards with 1,030 … His catch was his 60th this season, tying him with Malik Heath for 18th in Ole Miss single-season history.

• Ole Miss turned defense into offense after an interception by S John Saunders Jr. … Dart connected with WR Cayden Lee for a 22-yard score … Harris and Lee’s scores came within three minutes of each other, and it was the first time Lee crossed the goal line since Week 1 against Furman … He finished the game with a team-leading 94 yards.

• TE Caden Prieskorn recorded a 10-yard catch in the second quarter was his 49th as a Rebel, tying Curtis Weathers for the eighth-most career receptions by a tight end in Ole Miss history … Prieskorn ended the day with two catches for 22 yards.

• The Rebels incorporated DT JJ Pegues into several short yardage situations, with Pegues coming away with a career-high 19 yards rushing.

Defensive Notes

• Six Rebels had five or more tackles against the Gators.

• DEs Suntarine Perkins and Princely Umanmielen each reached 10.5 sacks for the season, which serves as a tie for the second-most by Ole Miss defenders in program history.

• Perkins and S Louis Moore led the Rebels in tackles with 10 each, securing his third double-figure tackling performance this season … For Moore, his statline is his best at Ole Miss.

• DT Walter Nolen had the best outing of his career, picking up eight tackles with seven unassisted, both career bests … He secured three tackles for loss, a sack and a pass breakup.

• Nolen led the Rebels in tackles for loss and tied the team lead for sacks with Umanmielen.

• S John Saunders Jr. picked off his third pass of the season early in the second quarter, his sixth as a Rebel … Saunders is now tied for the sixth-most among all active FBS players with 11 interceptions in his overall career.

• The Ole Miss defense held Florida QB DJ Lagway to only 10 completed passes, the fewest allowed by the Rebels this season.

Special Teams Notes

• K Caden Davis cemented himself as one of Ole Miss’ most prolific scorers after a five-point performance against Florida … He passed Brian Lee for the seventh-most points scored by a Rebel and sixth-most points kicking, concluding the game with 211 for his Rebel career.

• Davis also reached significant mile markers in the single-season category … Davis ended the game with 112 points on the year, passing Luke Logan for third-most by a Rebel in a single season.

• P Fraser Masin had four punts for 175 yards … Masin averaged 43.8 yards per punt and a long of 54.