‘Our players are excited’: Saturday the first day for Ole Miss Gator Bowl practices
Ole Miss football opens practices for the Gator Bowl matchup with Duke on Saturday.
The Rebels will practice through December 23 before taking a few days off for Christmas. They’ll return to campus on the 27th and leave for Jacksonville, Florida, two days later.
Ole Miss (9-3, 5-3 SEC) takes on Duke (9-3, 5-3 ACC) January 2, 2025 on ESPN. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
“We’re grateful to once again take the field with this Ole Miss team — one of the best in the country,” fifth-year Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said. “Jacksonville is an exciting destination for our players and fans, as we aim to finish the season with 10 or more wins for the third time in the last four years.”
Kiffin said this week Ole Miss is tracking towards few, if any, opt-outs for the Gator Bowl.
Third-year quarterback Jaxson Dart has already announced his intentions to play, as have cornerback Trey Amos, safety Trey Washington and defensive lineman Jared Ivey, among others.
“Our players are excited,” Kiffin said. “It’s a while until we play, but it seems like players that were maybe in question of playing and opting out for the draft, as of right now, all have said they’re playing. That’s exciting and I think says a lot about this team in an age where that isn’t the case a lot of times.”
Dart this season passed Eli Manning to become the new Ole Miss all-time passing leader.
He’s second in career touchdowns (68).
Dart is poised to pass Matt Corral for the single-season record for yards per pass attempt. Dart’s at 10.7. Corral averaged 10.2. Dart is fourth in the nation in passing yards (3,875). He won the Conerly Trophy last week.
“He encouraged some of those other guys that are kind of in that in-between position of playing or opting out for the draft,” Kiffin said of Dart. “Seems like the majority of those guys are heading towards playing in this game. Pretty neat.
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“He’s been an amazing leader. Set a bunch of records here, but how he’s been as a leader and how he’s been for this university has been awesome. This is another example of it, making sure he finishes what he started.”
Ivey has 121 total tackles over his Rebel career, as well as 27 tackles for loss and 16 sacks. He’s recovered five fumbles. Ivey finished this season as Ole Miss’ third-highest-graded defender overall, according to Pro Football Focus.
PFF recently mocked Ivey to the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
“A lot of guys made that choice to come back and chase a dream,” Ivey said. “When you don’t get what you want out of something, it’s easy to just move on to the next thing.
“For the guys in the building to use (the Gator Bowl) as a catalyst to show how much we mean to one another and care about the next guy and be on the field with him, I think, is huge.”
