Jaxson Dart passed for 311 yards, and No. 18 Mississippi’s defense recorded nine sacks, helping the Rebels defeat Oklahoma 26-14 on Saturday.
The Sooners led 14-10 at halftime, but the Rebels (6-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, thanks to Dart and tight end Caden Prieskorn, who had five catches for 71 yards.
Oklahoma (4-4, 1-4) played its first game since the firing of offensive coordinator Seth Littrell last Sunday. They had a good running game in the first half but struggled in the second half, not crossing midfield until the middle of the fourth quarter.
That drive got to the Ole Miss 13 but ended with three consecutive sacks of quarterback Jackson Arnold and a turnover on downs.
Arnold, who started the season as the Sooners’ starting quarterback, made his first start again after being replaced by freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. in Week 5.
With Littrell gone, Joe Jon Finley, who was the tight ends coach at Ole Miss in 2020, took over play-calling duties.
Dart’s 24-yard pass to Prieskorn and a 1-yard run by defensive lineman and short-yardage specialist JJ Pegues in the third quarter were the key scores. The Rebels played without injured star Tre Harris, who was the nation’s leading receiver.
“We told them before once Tre wasn’t going that, ‘Hey, this needed to be a big tight end game,’” Kiffin said. “We gave it to them the first play(s) of the game. We worked in the middle of the field with them. It was good to see.”
With a two-score deficit, the Sooners had to give up their effective run game from the first half, where they rushed for 125 yards.
Ole Miss started the game ranked No. 1 in the nation for run defense, allowing only 66.6 yards per game. Oklahoma managed just 22 rushing yards in the second half.
“We weren’t able to put anything together in the second half against a good, experienced defense, and their explosive offensive plays were the killer,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said.
Although Ole Miss still had key players out, the return of defensive end Princely Umanmielen was important, according to Kiffin. Umanmielen recorded three tackles and two sacks, creating problems for the offense.
Ole Miss ended the game with 380 total yards compared to Oklahoma’s 329. The conclusion of the game felt much different for the Rebels.
“That’s why you coach and they play. It was not a good feeling going into a game that everybody thinks we’re supposed to win because the spread’s a certain way, everybody thinks you’re supposed to blow out an SEC team,” Kiffin said.
