NEW ORLEANS | A false start penalty late in Ole Miss’ win over Tulane may have been the best thing for the Rebels — at the time and moving forward.
Caden Davis hit a 56-yard field goal with just under two minutes remaining to put No. 20 Ole Miss up two scores in its 37-20 victory on Saturday at Yulman Stadium.
It was the longest made field goal for Ole Miss since 1988, three yards shy of Cloyce Hinton’s 59-yard school record that came in 1969 against Georgia Tech.
The Rebels (2-0), leading by seven, faced fourth-and-one from the Tulane 34 with two minutes left. Ole Miss was slow to the line and hurried a Jaxson Dart keeper. The snap wasn’t clean, and Dart appeared to be falling short, but it was negated by a Kyirin Heath false start.
Moved back to the 39-yard line, Lane Kiffin sent out Davis, who hit it with yards to spare.
“Sometimes you luck out on some things,” Kiffin said. “We false started, and the ball started out on the quarterback’s knee so we weren’t going to make it. We could have punted them deep, but we have to have confidence in our players.
“It’s a scary situation because you have to kick it lower, it’s a one-score game so you worry about punting versus it being blocked, but he’s got a foot on him, so we used it.”
Davis was 3-for-3 with field goals on the day, hitting from 37 in the second quarter and 27 early in the fourth quarter that gave Ole Miss its first lead since the opening drive of the game. Davis was also 4-for-4 with extra points.
Davis, who is 4-for-4 on field goals this season, transferred from Texas A&M in the offseason. He was a kickoff specialist for the Aggies for the three years, making just one of four field goal attempts — 0-1 in 2021 and 1-3 in 2022. The one make was a 40-yard field goal.
Davis and Caden Costa have been in a placekicker competition since the beginning of preseason camp. Costa was a Freshman All-America selection in 2021 but missed last season because of an NCAA suspension for a banned substance.
Costa converted five extra points and kicked off once against Mercer in the season opener.
Davis attempted every kick against Tulane.
“It’s almost like silent blessings a little bit,” Dart said about the sequence with the 56-yard kick. “From practices we see Caden’s leg and how strong it is. We’ve seen him hit that field goal in practice before. Obviously, you get adrenaline on the field. I had no doubt in my mind he would hit it. I know it’s a huge confidence builder for him.”
