Ole Miss capped off its season opener against the Mercer Bears with an impressive and convincing 73-7 win. Compared to last season’s 28-10 sluggish victory over Troy University, the Rebels showed confidence and conviction on their way to starting the season 1-0.
Aside from a quick scare in the beginning, where Mercer quarterback Carter Peevy took a QB draw 75 yards to the house, Ole Miss pitched a perfect game. The offense was firing on all cylinders, and the defense flexed its muscles all game long.
Ole Miss fans from all over did not know exactly what to expect from new defensive coordinator Pete Golding. Although things did not start off so hot on the first defensive possession of the game, the defense pulled it together and shut Mercer out for 58 minutes of football.
Freshman standout Suntarine Perkins led all defenders with nine tackles to go along with one sack. Zxavien Harris led the team with 2.5 sacks.
The opponent may have been Mercer, but the defense played hard — like they were going against the No. 1 team in the country. For the first time in a long time, the defense was on par with the offense, which is saying a lot, considering the offensive explosion fans witnessed on gameday.
Putting up 73 points, no matter who the opponent is, is a testament to great play-calling and phenomenal execution, which fans saw from start to finish.
At around 9 a.m., four hours before kickoff, head coach Lane Kiffin announced Jaxson Dart would be the starter for this week’s game. Many Rebel fans saw this coming and were excited yet anxious to see how Dart would perform in year two.
The former USC quarterback did not disappoint in the slightest.
Dart finished the game with 334 passing yards and 18 completions, racking up four touchdowns and 36 rushing yards before his curtain call with 8:08 left in the 3rd quarter.
He showed exactly why he received the starting nod. He looked more comfortable in the pocket against Mercer than he did at any point last season. The Utah native exhibited poise and patience as he ran through his progressions consistently to make the right play.
Something Dart struggled with last season was reaching for the homerun play too often, so to see restraint while also commanding a high-powered offense shows a huge year-to-year improvement for the returning starter.
Despite what many would consider a good game, however, Kiffin neglected to name Dart the week two starter against Tulane.
“Jaxson did a really good job. Now we’ll go back and go to work this week and just get our players better,” Kiffin said. “So that was good to see. I know there’s people out there who say, ‘Well, people need to be named starters for them to play well.’ (Dart) wasn’t named the starter, and he went 11-for-11.”
Fans will have to wait and see who will take the first snap against Tulane.
The obvious bright spot for this game and this team is the receiving core and, really, the pass-catching core as a whole.
Tre Harris, Jordan Watkins, Kyirin Heath and Ayden Williams all had very productive games for the Rebels. Harris, in particular, stole the spotlight early and often. In a matter of just over three minutes, the former Louisiana Tech receiver amassed three touchdowns, which tied the record for the most TDs in an Ole Miss debut.
He would go on to break the record, securing four touchdowns on six receptions with a total of 117 receiving yards.
The depth of Ole Miss became very evident as well. When it came to putting in the second and third-string players, they did not skip a beat.
Former and long-time Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders checked into the game with 8:08 left in the third quarter. He checked out of the game after throwing for two TDs and 133 yards. Sanders’ backup, Walker Howard, checked in midway through the fourth quarter and led a touchdown drive of his own.
This game against Mercer saw Ole Miss boast multiple QBs who can play, a group of receivers who all have a case for WR1, a defense that is capable of getting the job done and a coaching staff who can put together a near flawless game plan.
Week one is not an exact indicator of what will happen in weeks two through 12, but Ole Miss fans certainly left the game more confident about this season than when they entered the stadium.
