Lane Kiffin assesses the performance of Jaxson Dart after watching Georgia Tech film
After Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart threw an interception with 24 seconds before halftime Saturday, coach Lane Kiffin saw a teaching moment. The Rebels were already up 21-0 on Georgia Tech, and Dart took a chance to try to increase that lead but paid the price.
The mistake caused some critical comments from Kiffin at halftime, and Dart likely got an earful from his coach in the locker room. It appeared to work, as Dart led the Rebels to touchdowns on their first three drives of the second half and they went on to claim a 42-0 victory.
After having a chance to watch the game film over the weekend, Kiffin was proud of the way his young quarterback responded to the challenge.
“He responded really well,” Kiffin said. “I think 6-of-6. He came out in the second half after the interception for over 100 yards (and) 6-of-6 or 7-of-7 — one of the two. So that’s pretty good. Didn’t turn the ball over outside of that play. It was a really good job managing the game outside of that play.”
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After going just 4-of-9 passing for 92 yards and the pick in the first half, Dart was an impressive 6-of-7 for 115 yards and a touchdown in the third quarter alone. He did not play in the fourth quarter as Luke Altmeyer replaced him with the game already in hand.
Lane Kiffin chalked up the first-half interception to Jaxson Dart’s inexperience, saying he is still learning how to approach each game differently based on the circumstances. In this case, Ole Miss was finding massive success with its rushing attack, which totaled 216 first-half yards, and there was no need to try to take a chance.
“Trying to teach him that this is not — you’ve got to take every game independent of how you play and what’s going on with it,” Kiffin said. “This was a game where we were playing great defense and running the ball really well. So the last thing we wanted to do was take risks at the quarterback position because you don’t need to. Sometimes you do a little more when you’re in a shootout. I think he definitely learned from it. You don’t like bad things to happen, but if they can happen and you still win, then it’s better it happened then versus a one-score game that you lose.”
Dart will look to continue to improve in that area when the Rebels take on Tulsa at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday in Oxford.