By Jeff Moeller

Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart wanted to end his collegiate career on a high note. He opted to play in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against Duke Thursday night in Jacksonville rather than sit it out as a recent NFL draft commit.

Dart didn’t waste any time making his point and showing his stuff to prospective NFL suitors. He also provided more evidence that his team could have been a playoff candidate.

Dart completed 16 of 21 passes for 172 yards with a touchdown in the first half and helped the Rebels roll to a convincing 52-20 victory on a rather low-50-degree night and played on a field that showed plenty of signs from the Jaguars-Titans’ game four days earlier.

On the night, Dart completed 27 of 35 attempts for 404 yards with three touchdowns, and he also ran for 43 yards. It was Dart’s fourth 400-yard-plus game of his career.

Overall, the Rebels rolled up 589 yards of total offense.

Wide receiver Jordan Watkins caught seven balls for 180 yards with a pair of touchdowns, the latter was a 69-yard touchdown pass from Dart. Cayden Lee recorded eight receptions for 57 yards.

With the win, Ole Miss notched its 10th win (10-3) of the season. It was their first consecutive 10-plus win seasons (11-3 last year) since the 1959-60 seasons. For the Rebels, it was their first victory in four visits to the Gator Bowl.

Head coach Lane Kiffin, who believed his team should have been considered for the college football playoff, was pleased with his team’s performance that he believed sent a message.

“We wanted to make a statement,” said Kiffin. “Our guys were very focused coming into this game. Jaxson was awesome out there, and our defense played well.

“They felt left out of something and felt disrespected, and they showed today against a really good team, a nine-win ACC team that I think was the best defense supposedly in the ACC, so they made a statement I think.”

Dart also set new team records for total yards and passing yards in a season, breaking Chad Kelly marks of 4,542 and 4,042 respectively.

The quarterback credited Kiffin for his development of the program.

“He changed the program the last two years,” said Dart. “We all wanted to play in the game and prove that we belonged (in the playoff).  I just feel very fortunate to be here.”

Dart has time to reflect on his three-year run with the Rebels.

“I don’t think I’ve really soaked it all in yet. This place changed my life, and was the best decision that I made. Just the relationships that I built with everybody here will last a lifetime. And I think that’s just something super powerful that football brings, especially when you join a great program,” Dart said.

The Rebels easily could have found themselves in an early hole when a fake field goal attempt backfired and kicker Caden Davis’ pass was intercepted and returned back to the Ole Miss’s 40-yard line.

But the Rebels’ defense held and Dart connected with Antwane Wells in stride on a 32-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 first-quarter lead. Ulysses Bentley IV scored the first of his two touchdowns on a one-year plunge that increased the Rebels’ lead to 14-0 after one quarter.

Davis booted a 28-yard field goal that pushed the margin to 17-7 before Duke responded.

The Blue Devils (9-4), which managed just 36 total yards into the second quarter, got on the board when quarterback Henry Belin IV scrambled out of the pocket and found a wide-open Javon Harvey for a 16-yard score to cap an eight-play, 75-yard drive.

Belin IV had thrown just one pass and took over when starter Maalik Murphy recently entered the transfer portal.

But the Rebels responded when Dart connected with Dae’Quan Wright on a 21-yard scoring strike that gave Ole Miss a 24-7 halftime cushion.

Duke began to move down the field on its opening drive of the second half, but Ole Miss’ Isaiah Hamilton ended their momentum when he returned an interception 50 yards for a score that ballooned the lead to 31-7. It was the Rebels’ first pick six in three seasons.

Ole Miss chased Belin out of the pocket throughout the game, forcing nine quarterback pressures.