OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Jaxson Dart threw five touchdown passes and ran for a score in leading eight consecutive first-half scoring drives, helping No. 6 Mississippi overpower Furman 76-0 on Saturday night.
Dart opened the scoring with a 15-yard run and the Rebels raced to a 52-0 halftime lead in the opener for both teams.
Dart was 22 of 27 for 418 yards in the first half before yielding to Austin Simmons, who added a touchdown pass in the third quarter.
“I’ve been three years in this offense, so I’m comfortable and the offensive line played great, kept it clean,” Dart said. “When you’ve got the receivers that we’ve got catching the ball and know how much time they put in, it’s a lot of fun. We had fun tonight.”
Ole Miss scored on first half series of 75, 90, 46, 20, 63, 81, 61 and 58 yards, highlighted by touchdown passes of 61 and 22 yards to Tre Harris. He had eight receptions for 179 yards.
“I’m really pleased with the points, the yards and zero turnovers,” Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin said. “We didn’t have to play a starter in the second half. Normally I’m critical about what we could do better, but not so much tonight.”
The Rebels finished with 772 yards of total offense, 502 in the first half, adding Caden Davis’ two field goals and touchdown runs of 17 and 46 yards by Matt Jones to cap the scoring. Jones led all rushers with 68 yards.
Furman only crossed midfield four times, and ended nine other series with negative yardage. The Paladins had 172 yards of total offense, including Carson Jones with 15-of-25 passing for 119 yards.
“I told our team we could play Ole Miss a hundred times and I’m not sure that much will be different,” Furman coach Clay Hendrix said. “Our kids held on and fought hard and we will regroup. We won’t see another team this talented the rest of the way.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Furman: Coming off consecutive 10-win seasons with rankings as high as No. 9 in preseason FCS polls, the Paladins hoped to be more competitive but it did not happen. The offense, replacing starters at quarterback and four offensive line slots, was simply overwhelmed at the line of scrimmage. Safeties Billy Lewis and Caleb Williams were productive with seven tackles and a pass breakup apiece.
Mississippi: Mix 59 new players, 31 transfers with a Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback and the result was eight consecutive scoring drives for 52 points, 502 yards of total offense and a dominant defensive performance — in the first half alone. More importantly, the Rebels finished without a significant injury.
DEFENSIVE ADDITIONS
Kiffin promised a defensive upgrade in size, speed and depth via the transfer portal in the off season and those roster additions contributed immediately. Reverse transfers Walter Nolen (Texas A&M) and Princely Umanmielen (Florida) in the defensive line, linebacker Chris Paul, Jr.
(Arkansas) and Brandon Turnage (Tennessee) and Trey Amos (Alabama) in the secondary played extensively.
Paul had eight tackles, including 2 1/2 for losses. Amos had a pass interception and Umanmielen had two quarterback hurries in the first quarter. Nolen had a crushing solo tackle of a Furman running back that drew a large roar from the partisan crowd of 66,105, the third-biggest in school history.
“We’ve had to play against those guys and it’s a whole lot better when they play for us,” Kiffin said. “The whole defense played well. The defense showed up as advertised.”
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Rebels, despite being ranked at No. 6, are the fourth-highest ranked team in the AP Top 25 from the SEC – No. 1 Georgia, No. 4 Texas and No. 5 Alabama. The lopsided nonconference win is not expected to cause a significant move in either direction.
UP NEXT
Furman: Hosts Charleston Southern on Saturday night.
Mississippi: Hosts Middle Tennessee on Saturday.
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