Jaxson Dart had his 'welcome to the SEC' moment last year against LSU thanks to Harold Perkins, Jr.
When a college football player gets their first experience in a Southeastern Conference game there is usually something that occurs where the light bulb goes off in there head. This is what happened Jaxson Dart in his first trip to Baton Rouge.
Ole Miss traveled to LSU last season with a 7-0 record and sitting just outside the Top 10 with a key road SEC victory at stake. What instead happened was the Tigers blowing out the Rebels and Dart was introduced to a high-level defense.
In the loss Dart was held to less than 300 passing yards, zero touchdowns and one interception. He was sacked three times and one of those was by then-freshman linebacker Harold Perkins, Jr. Playing against the Tigers standout defensive player, who led the team in sacks last year and four games this year, gave Dart a good idea of what to expect from the rest of the high-level SEC defenses.
“I think for me I kind of said to some of the coaches last year that that was kind of my welcome to the SEC moment. Playing a guy like (Perkins),” Dart said during Thursday’s ‘Reb Talk.’ “You don’t really get that a lot in the Pac-12, especially on the defensive side of the ball. He’s extremely talented. He’s a freak on the defensive side of the ball and a big key for our offense this week is to slow him down.”
This year Perkins is leading the team in sacks with a pair and has 16 tackles through four games. The LSU defense as a whole is currently 11th in the SEC and allowing opposing offenses to average 360 yards per game.
Dart is looking to have nearly all of his weapons this weekend as the Ole Miss offense gets back to full strength.
Last week Caden Prieskorn and Zakhari Franklin made their season debuts but had limited impact against the Alabama defense. Tre Harris returned after missing nearly two-full games after having surgery due to an injury suffered three plays into the Tulane game.
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Prior to Dart’s appearance Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin noted all three players should be closer to full go this Saturday after another week of recovering. Going against an LSU defense that had its way against Dart and the Rebels offense a year ago, having all his available targets gives a confidence boost.
“All three of those guys are huge, impact players,” Dart said. “They can really turn a game the other way. Can’t wait to get those guys back and get them rolling because they’re super dynamic with the ball in their hands.”
The run game woes were also something Dart was asked about and what needs to happen in his eyes to get it going again. Confidence continued to be the theme.
“I just think we need to get our guys confidence back and kind of re-establish our identity on the offense,” Dart said. “Just kind of be a balanced offense. Everybody saw what we did last year. I think this year we’re able to do a lot more things in the passing game just with more experience and the talent around me. So, I think the biggest thing is just getting our confidence back.”
