OXFORD — It was overshadowed a bit by all of the late-game drama Saturday night, but Daijahn Anthony’s first-quarter, fumble-causing hit on LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels turned out to be one of the most pivotal plays of the game.
Ole Miss won, 55-49, keeping LSU out of the end zone in the final seconds, but Anthony’s hit on Daniels, forcing a fumble recovered by Trey Washington, was the only turnover of the game by either team.
Ole Miss’ offense converted the turnover into a touchdown, building an early 14-0 lead.
“It felt good,” Anthony said. “We have to do it again this week.”
Ole Miss (4-1 overall, 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference) stay home this week to face Arkansas (2-3, 0-2). Kickoff at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast by the SEC Network.
Saturday night and Sunday was a celebratory time in Oxford, but Anthony said a review of the film of the win over LSU showed that the Rebels’ defense, one that surrendered 673 yards of total offense against the Tigers, has a lot of improving to do.
“There’s a lot of things we have to get better on because nobody’s perfect and we just have a lot of things we have to see, watch on film this week and just perfect throughout practice,” Anthony said. “Our Tuesday and Wednesday practices, they reflect on how we do on Saturday, so we need to get out two really good practices this week.”
Ole Miss coaches challenged the defense to step up this week against Arkansas, a team that is averaging 33.6 points per game but a league-low 342.2 yards per contest.
“That’s the fun thing about this SEC,” Anthony said. “Every single game is another big game, so you learn from it and you’re ready to go get better.”
Anthony said getting stops on LSU’s final two possessions Saturday showed “how strong we are and it came back to all the work we put in during the summer and trusting the person beside you. You’re playing for the person beside you. Everyone knows that game could have gone either way.”
This week, Ole Miss is facing Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson, who had a big game in the Razorbacks’ 42-27 win over the Rebels last November in Fayetteville. Anthony didn’t play in that game, but he had seen Jefferson a week earlier in Liberty’s upset of the Hogs.
“The quarterback we just faced (Daniels), he is a little bit faster, but KJ is a real big guy,” Anthony said. “That’s one thing we have to emphasize this week — wrapping up and tackling. Because one person can’t just leg-tackle him and think we’re going to get him down. It’s going to take the whole defense rallying and just pursuing to the ball every single play.”
Redemption for Rebels’ offensive line: This time last week, following a mediocre performance in a 24-10 loss at Alabama, Ole Miss’ offensive coaches challenged the Rebels’ offensive front.
They answered that challenge, holding LSU to no sacks while helping to roll up 706 yards of total offense against the Tigers.
“I think it was just preparation. We didn’t play our best game (at Alabama) and it showed on Saturday,” Ole Miss offensive guard Jeremy James said. “Going into this past Saturday, we just made sure that we worked hard Tuesday and Wednesday, our big work days. We went and put in the work and I think it showed up on Saturday.
“I just think we played well as a group,” James said. “We played hard. LSU is a good team but I think we played really physical and got after them.”
The Rebels’ offensive line, James said, simply doubled down in practice. They didn’t let the outside noise bother them.
“We hear it, but I’d rather have a fan base that’s frustrated with us than we’re not playing well than one that is celebrating when we’re close to winning a big game. We had a lot of things to figure out and we had to get to work. That’s what we did.
“I just think it shows what we can be when we’re hitting on all cylinders. We just have to continue to push so we can strive to get to what happened Saturday.”
The next challenge, obviously, is Arkansas, and James said the Hogs’ defensive front has Ole Miss’ attention.
“They’re a really good unit,” James said. “They’re physical and strong. They’re going to get after it. They’re a tough group.”
Dart honored: Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart was named Co-Offensive Player of the Week by the SEC Monday following the Rebels’ 55-49 win over #12 LSU.
Dart shared the honor with Kentucky running back Ray Davis, who had a huge day in the Wildcats’ win over Florida.
Dart accounted for 439 yards of total offense and five touchdowns in Ole Miss’ thrilling victory over LSU. The Rebel signal caller completed 26-of-39 passes for a season-high 389 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. He also added 50 yards rushing and one score on seven carries.
Down nine points late in the fourth quarter, Dart rushed for a touchdown with 5:06 remaining and then tossed the game-winning score with 39 seconds left. The Kaysville, Utah, native moved up to 11th all-time at Ole Miss in career total offense (5,342).
Ole Miss' 55 points ranks as the most scored against an AP ranked team in program history. Dart led an Ole Miss offense that tallied a season-high 706 total yards, the sixth-most in Ole Miss history. It was the fourth game under head coach Lane Kiffin with at least 700 yards. The Rebels only had two such games prior to his arrival in 2020.
High praise for Rebels: Arkansas coach Sam Pittman had high praise for Ole Miss at his weekly press conference Monday.
“Dart is really good,” Pittman said. “Those two running backs is as good as anybody has. The transfer from SMU (Ulysses Bentley IV) is really good. Their offensive line, three veterans. I think Coach (Kiffin) runs the ball quite a bit but you see a lot of explosives. For us to win, we're gonna have to keep those explosive plays out. They have RPO, reads from the quarterbacks, playmakers everywhere. Just really scary. I think we'll have a good game plan as always.
“We've got to score a lot of points to stay in the game. You think of Lane Kiffin, mastermind, as good a play caller as there is in the game. Pete Golding has done a great job with their defense. But, they are much better up front than they have been and now they're knocking the hell out of you from the back end.”
Razorbacks shake up depth chart: After suffering a broken clavicle in the first quarter of the Texas A&M game, freshman Luke Hasz is no longer listed on the three-deep for the tight end position. Instead, Nathan Bax is listed as the starter with Var'Keyes Gumms, Francis Sherman and Tyrus Washington listed as "OR" with him.
Another change was at the cornerback position, where freshman standout Jaylon Braxton is listed on the first team above Jaheim Singletary. Braxton played 58 snaps compared to Singletary's 31 against the Aggies on Saturday.
A little Arkansas trivia: It’s a random number, but it’s out there today, courtesy of the Springdale, Ark.-based radio show Ruscin & Zach. Through 41 games, Pittman isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. Here’s how he compares to some of his predecessors with the Razorbacks:
Lou Holtz 34-6-1
Ken Hatfield 30-10-1
Frank Broyles 28-13
Bobby Petrino 26-15
Houston Nutt 25-16
Sam Pittman 21-20
Danny Ford 19-21-1
