Jaxson Dart throws 4 TD passes as No. 5 Ole Miss routs Georgia Southern 52-13

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Jaxson Dart threw two touchdown passes in the opening nine minutes and finished with four as No. 5 Mississippi routed Georgia Southern 52-13 on Saturday night.

The Rebels (4-0) raced to a 17-0 first-quarter lead, highlighted by Dart’s touchdown passes of 31 yards to Juice Wells and 23 yards to Jordan Watkins. Dart finished 22 of 31 passing for 382 yards as Ole Miss built a 24-7 halftime lead and was never threatened.

Tre Harris had 11 receptions for 225 yards, including touchdowns of 70 and 36 yards. Henry Parrish, JJ Pegues and Domonique Thomas ran for TDs. Ole Miss finished with 607 yards of offense but was hampered by 11 penalties for 133 yards.

Georgia Southern (2-2) scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass from running back O.J. Anderson to Derwin Burgess and field goals of 42 and 33 yards by Gavin Stewart. JC French was 20 of 28 passing for 109 yards as the Eagles finished with 194 total yards.

The takeaway

Georgia Southern: The road setback to a strong Southeastern Conference opponent does not figure to spoil the Eagles’ bid for a third consecutive bowl appearance and their challenge for the Sun Belt Conference title.

Mississippi: If the Rebels had personnel or performance questions in August, those concerns were eliminated by four lopsided nonconference wins by a score of 240-22. As a team, Ole Miss has passed the eye test. Individually, the stylish Dart has built the statistical resume for Heisman Trophy consideration. Remaining questions will be answered as the SEC schedule begins next week.

Southern Cal connection

Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin and Georgia Southern’s Clay Helton are both former head coaches at Southern California. Kiffin led the Trojans from 2010-13. He hired Helton as quarterbacks coach in 2010 and promoted him to offensive coordinator in 2013.

Helton assumed the head coach role in 2015 and was fired in 2021. Both coaches spent much of the week praising each other in the pregame press conferences.

Poll implications

Another easy win over a nonconference foe won’t lead to much movement for the Rebels. Six of the top seven teams in the AP Top 25 are SEC schools.

Up next

Georgia Southern: Sun Belt play opens next Saturday with a visit to Georgia State.

Mississippi: Hosts Kentucky next Saturday in its SEC opener.

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