This was the largest victory for an Ole Miss team over Arkansas in history
Ole Miss (7-2, 3-2 SEC) defeated Arkansas (5-4, 1-4 SEC) with a score of 63-31 on Saturday in Fayetteville. Below is the official postgame summary…
| SERIES INFORMATION |
– With a final score of 63-31 and a winning margin of 32 points, this was Ole Miss’s largest victory over Arkansas in history. The previous record was a 28-point margin, achieved in both 1953 (28-0) and 1959 (28-0).
– This game marked the 71st all-time meeting between Ole Miss and Arkansas, a rivalry that dates back to 1908.
– Arkansas now holds a series lead of 37-31-1. The original record stands at 37-33-1 due to Ole Miss’s wins in 2012 and 2013 being vacated by NCAA ruling.
– The Razorbacks lead the series in Fayetteville with a record of 13-3. This was Ole Miss’s first victory in Fayetteville since 2008, with their only other win there coming in 2000.
– This was the first time since 2018 that the home team did not win, as Ole Miss claimed victory in Little Rock.
CAPTAINS
– JJ Pegues (DT), Jayden Williams (OL), and Trey Washington (S) were among the starters.
– QB Jaxson Dart made his team-leading 33rd consecutive start against Arkansas.
– Other notable starting streaks include S Trey Washington with 24 starts and S John Saunders Jr. with 22 starts.
| GENERAL NOTES |
• Attendance for today’s game was 72,894.
| OFFENSIVE NOTES |
– Ole Miss‘s 63 points are tied for the most ever scored by the team against an SEC opponent, matching their 63-28 victory over Vanderbilt in 1979.
– The Rebels racked up 694 total yards of offense, ranking seventh in the program’s history and fourth-most against an SEC opponent, the highest since they recorded 706 yards against LSU in 2023.
– Ole Miss set a new single-game record with 562 passing yards, surpassing the previous mark of 529 set earlier this season against Furman. Head coach Lane Kiffin now holds four of the five 500-yard passing games in Ole Miss history, including two against SEC teams.
– The 562 passing yards rank fourth all-time in SEC history, the most since Mississippi State’s record of 623 against LSU in 2020.
– With seven passing touchdowns, the Rebels tied the single-game record set against Vanderbilt in 2020.
– Senior QB Jaxson Dart (25-9) is now the winningest starting quarterback in Ole Miss‘s modern era since Archie Manning’s first start in 1968, surpassing Eli Manning (24-13) and Bo Wallace (24-15).
– Dart set a new single-game record for total offense with 562 yards (515 passing, 47 rushing), breaking Archie Manning’s 1969 record of 540 yards against Alabama.
– Dart’s performance also broke Bo Wallace‘s total offense record of 10,478 yards; he now has 10,805 yards at Ole Miss and 12,201 yards in his overall career, making him one of four active FBS quarterbacks to surpass 12K.
– Dart completed 25 of 31 passes for 515 yards and six touchdowns, breaking the Ole Miss single-game passing record of 513 yards set by Matt Corral against South Carolina in 2020. His six touchdowns tie the single-game record shared by Eli Manning (against Arkansas in 2001) and Matt Corral (against Vanderbilt in 2020).
– This was the 13th game in SEC history with a single QB throwing for 500 yards, and according to ESPN, Dart is only the second in SEC history to achieve 500 yards and six TDs in a game, following Missouri’s Drew Lock in 2017. Dart is the only QB to do this against an SEC opponent.
– Dart now has 64 passing touchdowns at Ole Miss, passing Bo Wallace (62) for second place, trailing only Eli Manning (81).
– With 9,548 passing yards, Dart surpassed Bo Wallace (9,534) for second place at Ole Miss, behind Eli Manning’s record of 10,119.
– This game marked Dart’s 13th with at least 300 passing yards, breaking the previous record of 12 set by Chad Kelly and Jordan Ta’amu. It was also his third career game with 400+ yards, the second-most in Ole Miss history, behind Ta’amu’s four.
– Dart had an impressive first half, throwing for 321 yards and four touchdowns, marking his second first half with over 300 yards this season, following a 418-yard, five-TD first half against Furman.
– WR Jordan Watkins set new single-game records for Ole Miss with 254 receiving yards and five touchdowns on eight receptions. His five touchdowns also tie the SEC single-game record, while his 254 yards mark the 12th 250-yard performance in SEC history.
– Before this game, Watkins’s career highs were 119 yards and one touchdown.
– Three of Watkins’s five touchdowns came on passes of at least 62 yards, with two from 62 yards and one from 66. He currently leads the FBS with four receptions of at least 60 yards, all for touchdowns, and now has seven such receptions in his Ole Miss career.
– WR Cayden Lee recorded 127 yards on five catches, marking his second career 100-yard game.
– TE Dae’Quan Wright had a standout day with career highs of nine receptions and 99 yards, along with two touchdowns, giving him three total touchdowns in his career, all this season.
– DT JJ Pegues scored his sixth rushing touchdown of the season, leading all Chucky Mullins award winners with 36 points this year.
| DEFENSIVE NOTES |
– Ole Miss recorded 13 tackles for loss, marking their sixth game this season with double-digit TFLs. This is the most such games in a season for the Rebel defense since at least 1997.
– The Rebels also notched eight sacks, achieving at least eight sacks for the second consecutive week after recording nine against Oklahoma.
– LB TJ Dottery led the team with six total tackles, achieving career highs with 2.0 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss, including a sack that resulted in a fumble recovered for an Ole Miss touchdown.
– DE Princely Umanmielen recovered Dottery’s first-quarter sack fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, marking the first of his career and the first by an Ole Miss defender since Jared Ivey’s fumble return at Tulane in 2023. This was also the first end zone fumble recovery by the Rebels since CJ Johnson did so against Auburn in 2012.
– Umanmielen had 2.0 sacks for the second straight game, bringing his season total to 7.5.
– LB Suntarine Perkins added a half-sack, extending his team-leading total to 9.0 for the season.
– S John Saunders Jr. forced a fumble for the second week in a row.
– Freshman DE Kam Franklin returned from injury to contribute 2.0 tackles for loss and three total tackles, bringing his season total to 5.0 TFL.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
– P Fraser Masin averaged 43.0 yards on two punts, with a long of 52 yards and one punt landing inside the 20-yard line.
– K Caden Davis successfully converted all nine of his extra point attempts.
Leave a Reply