A historic outing by two Ole Miss offensive players punctuated a 52-3 blowout against Middle Tennessee State on Saturday.
No. 6 Ole Miss (2-0), which shined in the passing game in the season opener one week ago, made sure to literally hit the ground running against the Blue Raiders. Henry Parrish, Jr., in his second stint as a Rebel, was the catalyst in the first half of action. The Goulds, Fla. native amassed 122 yards and three scores on 12 carries — all in two quarters.
Senior quarterback Jaxson Dart had yet another record-setting performance. After shattering a passing yards record held by now-NFL standout Joe Burrow last week, the Rebels’ signal-caller broke Matt Corral’s mark with most completed passes to start a game.
The Rebels’ defense picked up where it had left off, getting to the backfield and making things difficult for the Blue Raiders, especially in the run game. However, a chink in the armor was spotted in the secondary. After five fruitless drives, the Blue Raiders found a groove as the second quarter expired. Derek Mason’s squad was able to move the chains a few times, convert on fourth down, and get on the board via a field goal.
At the midway point of Saturday’s contest, Ole Miss led 31-3.
Middle Tennessee began to piece together yet another lengthy drive to begin the third quarter. After possessing the ball for nearly seven minutes, the Blue Raiders were unable to reach the scoreboard as Ole Miss safety John Saunders, Jr. made a leaping catch to pick off a Nicholas Vattiato pass in the end zone. Rebel ball carrier Matt Jones capitalized on the error to give his squad a 38-3 advantage.
Ole Miss linebacker T.J. Dottery recovered a fumble to give the Rebels’ offense a favorable field position on the subsequent Middle Tennessee drive. Parrish then amassed a personal-best fourth touchdown on the ground with just under six minutes left in the third quarter.
The icing on the cake of a historic day came when Dart not only tied a record held by his predecessor but then went on to mount an SEC record of 24 straight completions in a single game. Worth noting, Dart had completed his last six passes versus Furman one week prior, equaling 30 consecutive completions over the span of two games. This feat tied a record held by Tennessee’s Tee Martin in 1999.
Dart’s day came to an end after tossing an 18-yard touchdown to Juice Wells to put the nail in the coffin with just under 10 minutes remaining in the matchup. He threw his first two incompletions of the day ahead of the score. Redshirt freshman Austin Simmons came in as the field general to close things out.
After recording 655 yards of total offense and holding the Blue Raiders to just 279, Ole Miss left Vaught-Hemingway Stadium a dominant victor.
Stat leaders
- Jaxson Dart: 25-27, 377 yards, one passing touchdown, and one rushing touchdown. Dart went on to become the No. 4 passer in Ole Miss history with 7,133 yards, surpassing Chad Kelly.
- Running back Henry Parrish, Jr.: 14 carries, 165 yards, and four touchdowns.
- Wide receiver Tre Harris: Nine receptions and 130 yards. This was Harris’ seventh game recording more than 100 receiving yards.
- Linebacker T.J. Dottery: Six tackles (four solo), and one fumble recovery.
- Safety John Saunders, Jr.: One tackle and one interception.
A notable statistic is Ulysses Bentley IV’s 13 rushing yards on five carries. This marks back-to-back weeks of limited production from the speedy running back, who went into the game listed at the top of the depth chart along with Parrish.
Coach’s comments
Lane Kiffin was elated with Dart’s record-breaking outing but not just because of what the quarterback did on the field. The Ole Miss frontman made it clear that Dart puts in more work than anybody off the field and that the fruit of his behind-the-scenes labor has been fulfilled in consecutive standout showings.
“It’s really about the things you did up to that moment and the thing that happened and got you there … He is up here all week long,” Kiffin said. “I just love it because he prepares for each week like it’s the national championship.”
Kiffin added that he was glad to have Parrish back in Oxford. The ball carrier was at Ole Miss as a true freshman before taking his talents to South Beach to play for former Rebel running backs coach Kevin Smith at Miami. However, one year after Smith returned to be a member of Kiffin’s coaching staff, Parrish made the move back to his original college.
“Henry Parrish was really explosive today,” Kiffin said. “He got here late. His weight was down and he put a lot of good weight on and has worked really hard for this. That was great to see.”
While Kiffin was mostly positive about Saturday’s performance, he did criticize his secondary on multiple occasions, contending that the unit was sloppy and had things to clean up.
What’s next
Ole Miss will hit the road for the first time this season next Saturday. The Rebels will take on Wake Forest at 5:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on the CW Network and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
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