Ole Miss dominated Middle Tennessee and made its second straight Saturday boring with a 52-3 win over the Blue Raiders to move to 2-0 on the season. The Rebels head to Wake Forest next week for its first road game of the year.
Here are a few quick observations from the blowout.
Jaxson Dart had a game for the record books, setting mark for most consecutive completions in a game. Dart completed 24 straight completions in contest and 30 straight dating back to last week, breaking Matt Corral's 19 in a row against Vanderbilt in 2020.
Dart also set the SEC record for most completions in game and overall. The 24 straight tops Tee Martin's 23 from the South Carolina game in 1998 and the 30 also tops Martin's 24 in a row.
Dart finished 25-for-27 for 377 yards and also ran for a score, as well. The NCAA FBS record for a game is 26 straight by Dominique Davis of East Carolina in 2011. Dart had open receivers all day but showed excellent accuracy (duh) and executed in the run game, not taking unnecessary chances. He was excellent on Saturday.
Henry Parrish handled the majority of the rushing load, carrying it 14 times for 165 yards and four scores. Ulysses Bentley played but only with two carries for four yards while Parrish went out for a series.
Matt Jones had 11 carries for 32 yards, but the day was about Parrish, who performed well and looked better than a week ago. It was a nice showing when Lane Kiffin pressed the run game to be better compared to the group against Furman.
Middle Tennessee didn't light up the scoreboard in the passing game, but if you're looking for an area as the negative, Ole Miss wasn't spectacular in pass defense.
Middle Tennessee threw for 209 yards on 16-for-31 passing before the backups entered, but some drops helped the Rebels' pass defense stats, and there were some receivers with a lot of room to operate. The pass rush was disruptive but didn't get to the quarterback often.
Ole Miss got to MTSU twice for sacks but allowed more than 75 yards passing in two separate quarters -- 106 in the second quarter and 79 in the third quarter.
The Rebels looked like they escaped any major injuries, but it was a bit of nervousness for fans on multiple occasions.
Walter Nolen went down -- and then to the injury tent -- with a knee injury in the second half, but he was seen on a bike and then seemingly walking without issue after that.
JJ Pegues and Parrish also left the game favoring different things, but both returned after that.
Things can change quickly because of injuries, and especially in a blowout laugher like this, the possibilities are magnified. From just a win situation, Ole Miss wouldn't even need to play its starters.
