Mississippi State loses DeShawn Page following targeting hit on Jaxson Dart

Mississippi State linebacker DeShawn Page was called for targeting and ejected from the Egg Bowl in the third quarter for a hit to the head on Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart. Page will miss the first half of his next college game, although the senior may be finished after Thursday if the Bulldogs lose and don’t make a bowl.

Dart came through the middle on a scramble in the third quarter with the Rebels trailing, 7-3, the first time Ole Miss had been behind all game. As he barreled through the middle of the defense, Page and fellow linebacker Nathaniel Watson came together and crunched the quarterback, with Page hitting Dart in the head with the crown of his helmet.

Dart stayed down briefly after the shot to the head and left the game for one play while backup Spencer Sanders entered.

DeShawn Page was ejected for targeting on Jaxson Dart, who left the game for 1 play after taking this hit: pic.twitter.com/9ViCVf911E

— Connor O'Gara (@cjogara) November 24, 2023

Dart re-entered the game and the Rebels engineered their first touchdown drive to take a 10-7 lead late in the third quarter.

Dart and his head coach have an eye to the future

Earlier this season, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin confirmed that quarterback Dart would return next season. However, Dart recently said that he hasn’t made that decision yet, forcing Kiffin to walk back his previous comments on the matter.

Kiffin admitted that he probably shouldn’t have said that and explained that it’s part of trying to keep the roster constructed, even in the middle of a season.

“I probably shouldn’t have said that,” Kiffin said. “That was a conversation between me and him and I kind of got caught off guard on saying that. I made sure right after I left the restaurant I said that to him because that’s not really my position to really say. When he’s ready to talk to you guys about that he will.”

Dart came to Ole Miss as a transfer from USC. Since then, he’s become one of the SEC’s best quarterbacks. Through 11 games in 2023, Dart has completed 66.4 percent of passes for 2,889 yards and 19 touchdowns.

“We have, sometimes, these talks are different these days roster for the next year in-season, which is very abnormal because you’ve got portal coming up and you’re really trying to figure all that out, especially a significant player like the quarterback. You try to figure it out because a lot of players come back sometimes based off of that.”