Tre Harris makes Jaxson Dart's job 'so much easier' in the Ole Miss passing game
There are few, if any, quarterbacks who would not want Tre Harris catching their passes but Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart is the one benefiting.
The former Louisiana Tech receiver entered the transfer portal this winter and Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin went and secured himself a player to try and fill the void left by Jonathan Mingo and Malik Heath.
Harris has done that and then some, including making Saturdays a little less stressful for Dart.
Currently one of three Ole Miss receivers with over 600 yards — the only team in the country which can make that claim — Harris leads with 749 yards and seven touchdowns.
Nearly every one of his 38 catches is highlight-reel worthy, including his career-high 11 against Texas A&M last Saturday. Harris wowed Ole Miss fans watching inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and those watching on ESPN with his one-handed grabs and circus-like catches.
The confidence Dart has in Harris is to a point where he expects his receiver to grab it no matter where it is thrown.
“The best catch he made didn’t even count. It was out the back of the end zone,” Dart said during his appearance on SEC Network’s Outside the Pocket on Wednesday. “Having a guy like him on the outside just makes my job so much easier. At times I don’t have to be perfect with my ball placement and I just feel really confident he’s going to go make a play. He’s really elite at what he does and brings so much spark to our offense and what he does.”
Ole Miss takes the Dart-Harris connection on the road this weekend to No. 2 Georgia and the SEC’s top passing defense.
The Bulldogs are holding opposing offenses to less than 200 passing yards per game (182.2) and 11 touchdown passes.
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Dart brings an Ole Miss offense to Athens that is third in the SEC and averaging nearly 300 passing yards per game (297.7) and 18 touchdowns. Dart is responsible for 16 of those touchdown passes, which is only four shy of his total for the 2022 season and there are three games left in the regular season plus the bowl game.
Something must give but during a week of practice that is leading up to the biggest game for Ole Miss in Dart and Kiffin’s tenure it has been business as usual.
“You got to keep the main thing the main thing and that’s what we preach around here,” Dart said. “You got to prepare each week the exact same way. Obviously there’s a lot going into this game and there’s a lot of excitement around it. We want to be the most prepared that we can be. We definitely have a lot of urgency in our preparation this week and want to be able to play out there as fast as we can with a lot of tempo. All that comes down to preparation.”
The passing game might be neutralized by a force that is not the Georgia defense. Mother Nature might have a say in how this game is played by both offenses with rain currently in the forecast on Saturday.
