Ole Miss football, Jaxson Dart know what must do for chance at playoffs: They must win out

BATON ROUGE, La. − Eyes down. Black hoodie scrunched. Low voice.

Ole Miss football quarterback Jaxson Dart looked inconsolable during his press conference after LSU beat the Rebels 29-26 in overtime. He had reason to be frustrated. The Rebels (5-2, 1-2 SEC) did not trail in regulation, but lost control when the game hung in the balance.

LSU scored the game-tying touchdown with 27 seconds left. Ole Miss mustered a long field goal in overtime, but the Tigers struck again, this time for a game winner, on Kyren Lacy’s 25-yard touchdown catch on LSU’s first play of overtime.

Dart kept repeating one thought: apparently his only solace.

“We must win out for the rest of the season,” Dart said. “It is our only option.”

Ole Miss is tied for 10th in the SEC and has fallen in the polls. It’s a reality check for a Rebels team that was predicted to finish fourth in the SEC preseason poll and looked well equipped to exceed that after a dominant 4-0 start.

Winning out would put Ole Miss at 10-2, with both losses against SEC opponents by three points. After an upcoming open week, Ole Miss has Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi State left on the schedule.

Coach Lane Kiffin’s postgame message in the locker room matched Dart’s frustration.

“I said this sucks,” Kiffin said. “I feel for you. This is a hard one. And you’ve got a bye. You don’t get to play again. I don’t have a lot of positives for you.”

Georgia, ranked No. 4 in the US LBM Coaches poll, could be Ole Miss’ only chance to get a ranked win.

Rebels’ safety Trey Washington took a more measured approach postgame.

“All we can control is the next day, so we will hurt (Saturday night) and get better through film (Sunday), and that will carry us into practice next week once we can get back on the field and get to work,” Washington said.

Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ole-miss-football-jaxson-dart-183950658.html

Author : The Clarion Ledger

Publish date : 2024-10-13 18:39:50

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