Gator Bowl Notables: Ole Miss pounds Duke, 52-20

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JACKSONVILLE — Ole Miss football defeated Duke, 52-20, in the Gator Bowl Thursday night to finish 10-3 on the season. Many records were broken in the process, as the Rebels finished their first back-to-back, 10-win seasons since 1959-60.

Here are some of the notables from the game, courtesy of Ole Miss football:

Series Information

• This was the first all-time meeting between Ole Miss and Duke. Ole Miss is now 18-10-1 against current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, including 5-1 in bowl games on the field.

Bowl History

• This was Ole Miss’ 42nd bowl appearance in program history, and its fourth bid to the Gator Bowl … The Rebels are now 2-2 all-time in the Gator Bowl alongside appearances in 1958 vs. Florida (W, 7-3), 1971 vs. Auburn (L, 28-35) and 1991 vs. Michigan (L, 3-35).

• Ole Miss’ all-time bowl record now stands at 26-15, excluding a vacated victory in the 2013 BBVA Compass Bowl vs. Pitt.

• At a .634 bowl winning percentage, Ole Miss currently ranks fourth in FBS history.

• At 42 bowl appearances, Ole Miss ranks tied for 20th in FBS history, and its 26 wins ranks tied for 13th nationally. Ole Miss is now 13-4 in its last 17 bowl games on the field dating back to the 1997 Motor City Bowl.

Captains

• Ulysses Bentley IV (RB), JJ Pegues (DT), Caden Prieskorn (TE), Trey Washington (S)

Starters

• QB Jaxson Dart started for the final time as a Rebel, notching his team-leading 37th start against Duke tonight.

• Other notable starting streaks include S Trey Washington (28th) and S John Saunders Jr. (26th).

• OL Jeremy James returned to the starting lineup for the second straight game for his 52nd career start, an all-time Ole Miss program record.

General Notes

• Attendance for the game was 31,290.

• Ole Miss is now 70-17 (.805) 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 now 19-2 against non-conference opponents.

• At 10-3, this marks only the tenth 10-win season in Ole Miss football history … Head coach Lane Kiffin now owns three of those 10-win campaigns in 2021 (10-3), 2023 (11-2) and 2024 (10-3).

• This marks the first consecutive 10-win seasons at Ole Miss since 1959-60 … A follow-up 10-win season in 2025 would mark the first three-year stretch in program history.

• Kiffin (44-18) is now tied with David Cutcliffe (1998-2004; 44-29) for third in Ole Miss history in coaching victories.

• Ole Miss is now 3-2 in bowl games under Kiffin, who is now 4-5 all-time in bowl games when including his prior head coaching stops at Tennessee and Florida Atlantic.

Offensive Notes

• Ole Miss set a new single-season team record for total yards, finishing the season with 6,845 yards of offense, breaking the previous record of 6,731 set in 2015 … Lane Kiffin now owns four of the top seven seasons in Ole Miss history.

• Ole Miss also set a new single-season team record for passing yards, finishing the season with 4,561 total yards through the air, one of only three 4,000-yard seasons in program history … The previous record of 4,351 yards was set in 2015.

• Ole Miss set a new Gator Bowl record for passing yards in a game, throwing for 438 yards through the air … The previous record was 407 set by Texas Tech in 2008.

• Ole Miss’ 52 points tied the Gator Bowl record for most points in a game, joining Texas A&M in 2018 and Mississippi State in 2011 … The 52 points scored are the most in Ole Miss bowl history, breaking the previous record of 48 against Oklahoma State in the 2016 Sugar Bowl.

• Ole Miss’ 598 yards of total offense are also a new bowl game record, beating the previous mark of 558 set in the 2022 Texas Bowl against Texas Tech.

• Thursday night was just the second time all season that Duke had given up 30 or more points in a game (53 vs. Miami).

• QB Jaxson Dart concluded his career in super fashion, breaking his own Ole Miss bowl records in total offense and passing yards after going 27-of-35 for 404 yards and four touchdowns through the air, while adding 12 attempts for 43 yards on the ground.

• Dart broke single-season records in both total offense (4,774) and passing yards (4,279), breaking both prior records set by Chad Kelly in 2015.

• Dart also tied Chad Kelly for most touchdown passes in Ole Miss bowl history with four TDs (2016 Sugar Bowl).

• WR Jordan Watkins hauled in seven passes for 180 yards and two scores … His 180 receiving yards are an Ole Miss bowl record.

• Watkins ends his Ole Miss career with 142 receptions for 2,096 yards and 14 touchdowns … His 2,096 career receiving yards rank ninth in Ole Miss history.

• WR Antwane Wells Jr. caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from QB Jaxson Dart in the first quarter, his sixth TD of the year and first since the Georgia game.

• RB Ulysses Bentley IV scored twice in the game, first on a one-yard touchdown in the first quarter and then again on an eight-yarder in the third, giving him five TDs on the season … It marked his third-straight game scoring a touchdown and gave him four total TDs in his last three games … Bentley IV ended with 14 carries for 70 yards and two touchdowns.

• Bentley closes his Ole Miss career with 1,032 yards rushing, passing the 1K mark early in the second half.

• TE Dae’Quan Wright caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from QB Jaxson Dart in the second quarter, his fourth of the season and first since he scored twice against Arkansas … Wright ended with three catches for 73 yards and one score.

Defensive Notes

• Ole Miss ended the season allowing only 80.5 rushing yards per game, the best by a Rebel defense since 1966 and the first time holding opponents below the century mark for a season since 2008.

• The Rebel defense set a new Gator Bowl record for rushing yards allowed, only giving up 44 yards to the Blue Devils … The previous record was 45 set by Florida State in 1965 against Oklahoma.

• CB Isaiah Hamilton returned his first interception as a Rebel 50 yards for a touchdown, the first INT return for a score by an Ole Miss defender since AJ Finley took one back 52 yards against Texas A&M in 2021 … This was also Hamilton’s 11th career interception.

• S Trey Washington reached the 200-tackle mark in his final game as a Rebel … He had a team-leading 10 stops against the Blue Devils, which tied his career-high.

• Ole Miss hurried Duke QB Henry Belin IV 15 times, a team season-high …  DEs Jared Ivey and Princely Umanmielen accounted for nine of the hurries, five from Ivey and four from Umanmielen … Both mark career highs.

Special Teams Notes

• K Caden Davis set new single-season records for points scored and points kicking, finishing the year with 129 points … He broke the previous record of 124 set by Jonathan Nichols in 2003 … Davis also moved into second all-time for PATs made in a single season with 57.

• P Fraser Masin ended the night with two punts for 104 yards (52.0 average), including a long of 59 … He ends the year with a 46.6 average that tied for the third-best season in program history, as well as a career average of 43.5 that ranks sixth all-time.

• DT Zxavian Harris blocked Duke’s last extra point attempt of the game, the fifth blocked kick of his career … It’s the first blocked kick for Ole Miss this season, and the first blocked PAT since Harris did so himself against Kentucky on Oct. 1, 2022.

(Feature image credit: Karis Chambliss, The Rebel Walk)