Jaxson Dart threw two touchdown passes in the opening nine minutes and finished with four as No. 5 Mississippi beat Georgia Southern, 52-13, on Saturday night in Oxford, Miss.
The Rebels (4-0) raced to a 17-0 first-quarter lead, highlighted by Dart's touchdown passes of 31 yards to Juice Wells and 23 yards to Jordan Watkins. Dart finished 22 of 31 passing for 382 yards as Ole Miss built a 24-7 halftime lead and was never threatened.
Georgia Southern (2-2) scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass from running back O.J. Anderson to Derwin Burgess and field goals of 42 and 33 yards by Gavin Stewart. Quarterback J.C. French was 20 of 28 passing for 109 yards as the Eagles finished with 194 total yards.
“We played a tremendous football team and we did some good things, just not enough,” Georgia Southern coach Clay Helton said. “We’ve played a challenging nonconference schedule and we’re confident we’re prepared to play when conference starts next week.”
The Eagles travel to Atlanta Saturday for the Sun Belt Conference opener against rival Georgia State in Center Parc Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
The Rebels took the opening kickoff and scored in two plays just 31 seconds in and then the Eagles fumbled on their first play. The defense held tight to force a field goal, but the Rebels got another touchdown later in the period to take a 17-0 lead.
Early in the second quarter, French led a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive that ended with running back connecting with Burgess on a 12-yard scoring pass. It was the third career touchdown pass for Arnold and the 16th career scoring catch for Burgess Jr. It also marked the first touchdown scored against the Rebels in three-plus games.
French led the team on a 10-play scoring drive late in the third quarter aided by three Ole Miss personal fouls, before Gavin Stewart capped off with a 42-yard field goal. Stewart nailed a 33-yard field goal with just less than two minutes remaining to account for the final score.
Chance Gamble led the defense with seven tackles and also had his first interception as an Eagle after picking off four at Kennesaw State. Marques Watson-Trent and Davon Gilmore also had seven tackles. Burgess Jr. had five catches for 53 yards and a score.
