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Wasson: Jaxson Dart quiets naysayers (and Georgia) to deliver an Ole Miss win for the ages
By David Wasson
Published:
Jaxson Dart is too pretty.
Jaxson Dart has a weak arm.
Jaxson Dart is a fraud who folds in crunch time.
Jaxson Dart has heard ’em all in his tenure at Ole Miss – it’s practically impossible not to in this social media age. Saturday, however, the senior quarterback proved them all wrong with grit, moxie, resolve and an unquestioned will to win to keep his team’s College Football Playoff hopes alive.
On the cusp of becoming his program’s greatest statistical passer, but hobbled early while practically giving Georgia an opening touchdown, Dart responded to all his critics with authority in the 28-10 Ole Miss victory.
The victory wasn’t Dart’s alone, of course, as the Rebels’ defense was monstrous in the drizzling rain against the No. 3-ranked Bulldogs. A record crowd at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium also helped provide the kind of raucous atmosphere that equaled the play on the field.
But time and time again Saturday, when Ole Miss needed Dart, their leader responded — along the way delivering the biggest win of the Lane Kiffin era.
It didn’t start that way, of course, as Dart’s day was the polar opposite of auspicious. On the third play of the game, Dart injured his left ankle while simultaneously throwing an interception to Georgia – a combination that put the Dawgs at the Rebels’ 21 and sent a limping Dart to the locker room.
Dart stayed in the bowels of Vaught-Hemingway both during Georgia’s ensuing touchdown and as backup Austin Simmons negotiated the Rebels on a tying touchdown drive. Whatever medical sorcery that occurred in that time for Dart, he emerged soon after with a heavily taped ankle and ready to continue.
The Rebels seemed to respond – on both sides of the ball – to their quarterback’s desire to continue. Ole Miss went motored down the field again for a field goal with Dart gimping around in the backfield, and was pivotal in 2 more drives that resulted in 2 more Caden Davis 3-pointers to take a 16-7 lead into intermission.
Dart continued to do whatever necessary for Ole Miss to keep the football from Georgia – rumbling for 21 yards and lowering his shoulder to truck KJ Bolden in the process late in the third quarter, and then doing a strong Lamar Jackson impression with a 28-yard rumble late in the 4th quarter to help the Rebels ice it.
Again, in between Dart’s dynamic play (13-of-22 for 199 yards in the air, and Ole Miss’ leading rusher with 50 yards on 8 carries), the Ole Miss defense was straight terrorizing Georgia quarterback Carson Beck. The Rebels limited the Bulldogs to just 69 first-half yards, stifled Georgia to a mere 59 rushing yards over the full 60 minutes, and hauled Beck for 5 sacks while keeping him in check for just 186 passing yards.
Along the way, Beck also uncorked a pivotal 4th-quarter interception Saturday, giving him 12 over his past 6 games and figuratively seeing him torch future NFL money with every errant pass. And in Ole Miss’ final defensive cherry on the sundae, Beck was strip-sacked with 3:08 to play for loss-clinching turnover – a loss that was a first for Georgia against any team not named Alabama since 2020.
Saturday’s final result further muddies an already muddy picture for Southeastern Conference teams hopeful to be the 12 chosen for the College Football Playoff beauty pageant, and probably shuffles the Bulldogs to the back of a crowded line both within and outside the conference.
Although the result was the same, Georgia’s 2nd loss was markedly different from the shootout setback they endured at Alabama back on Sept. 29.
That night, No. 2-ranked Georgia stormed back from a huge halftime deficit to actually take a lead before falling 41-34 in an instant classic. Saturday, the Dawgs slowly and methodically were neutered by an Ole Miss team that simply wanted to keep playing meaningful football.
Again, Dart’s toughness over the 60 minutes of slick-footballed action wasn’t the only factor in Ole Miss partying deep into the Dixie night celebrating their first win against a top-2 AP team in 12 all-time attempts – because when you play defense like the Rebels did against Georgia, you can beat anyone in the nation.
But if you want to look for the embodiment of why the Rebels now find themselves squarely back in the national picture, look no further than record-owning quarterback standing tall at Vaught-Hemingway as the clock hit triple-zeroes to complete the most meaningful home win in school history.
“That is an amazing performance,” Kiffin about his quarterback, choking up a bit as thousands of Ole Miss students stormed the field around him and took down a goalpost. “To get hurt like that and come back, I love that kid.”
Jaxson Dart was tough all night long Saturday.
Jaxson Dart was strong-armed when it counted against Georgia.
And Jaxson Dart is a winner who just proved all the critics wrong.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
