Saturday was one of the more impactful record book days in Ole Miss history, as the Rebels trounced Arkansas, 63-31, in Fayetteville to move to 7-2 and set up a home date with stakes against No. 2 Georgia.
Jaxson Dart was the primary player in that school-record onslaught, as the third-year Ole Miss quarterback set the records for total offense in a game and passing yards in a game. The exemplary afternoon also led to Dart taking over the career school record in total offense and number of 300-yard passing games.
Dart is the second SEC quarterback all-time – joining Missouri’s Drew Lock – to throw for more than 500 yards and six touchdowns in a game. As a team, Ole Miss tied the school record with seven passing touchdowns, and the 63 points tie the most Ole Miss has ever scored against an SEC opponent alongside beating Vanderbilt 63-28 in 1979.
The Rebels consider 1968 as the start of their modern era, tied to Archie Manning’s first start, and Dart now holds the modern record for most wins by an Ole Miss quarterback with 25 victories. Bo Wallace and Eli Manning each had 24 wins during their careers.
JAXSON DART'S CURRENT PLACE IN THE OLE MISS RECORD BOOK
Passing Yards in a Game
1. Jaxson Dart - 515
2. Matt Corral - 513
Total Offense in a Game
1. Jaxson Dart - 562
2. Archie Manning - 540
Touchdowns in a Game
1. Jaxson Dart - 6
1. Eli Manning - 6
1. Matt Corral - 6
Career Total Offense
1. Jaxson Dart - 10,805
2. Bo Wallace - 10,478
Modern Era Quarterback Wins
1. Jaxson Dart - 25
2. Bo Wallace - 24
2. Eli Manning – 24
Career 300-Yard Games
1. Jaxson Dart – 13
2. Jordan Ta’amu – 12
2. Chad Kelly – 12
Career 400-Yard Games
1. Jordan Ta’amu – 4
2. Jaxson Dart – 3
Dart completed 25-of-31 passes for the 515 yards on 36 dropbacks, getting a 93.9 passing grade from PFF College. He averaged 16.6 yards per attempt and averaged 12.9 yards per throw in the air. Three of his incompletions were throw-aways, and despite being pressured 14 times, he was sacked just once. He had a perfect 158.3 NFL passer rating.
When not facing pressure, Dart was 20-for-21 for 401 yards and five touchdowns. He was 5-for-10 for 114 with pressure. Blitzing made little difference, as Dart was 17-for-20 without a blitz and 8-for-11 when Arkansas brought pressure.
See the chart below for complete reference of Dart's game against Arkansas, but he was 5-for-6 on deep throws for 282 yards to pace his day. The average depth of throw on those attempts was 33.7 yards in the air. He had more than three seconds to throw on average during those deep passes.
Dart leads the country in passing yards with 3,210, slightly ahead of Miami’s Cam Ward at 3,146 yards. Dart is also over 12,000 total yards for his career, including his freshman season at USC, and is just one of four active quarterbacks with more than 12,000 yards of total offense.
