After mounting a dominant shutout win to begin the 2024 campaign, the Ole Miss football team remains in the top 10 in the latest national polls.
The Associated Press kept the Rebels ranked No. 6 after a record-setting 76-0 victory over Furman. Lane Kiffin and company scored early and often over the FCS opponent in Saturday night’s contest at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The 52 points the Rebels scored in the first half of the contest marked a team-best and the 76 points scored overall tied a program record in the modern era.
Veteran quarterback Jaxon Dart led the offense with 418 yards in the air, 27 yards on the ground, and six total touchdowns in just one half of play. Dart’s performance broke a record held by former Heisman-winning LSU field general Joe Burrow in 2019. Tre Harris proved to be Dart’s go-to guy with 179 yards and two touchdowns.
Kiffin, known for utilizing his tight ends, fed the big men with Caden Prieskorn and Dae’Quan Wright securing a touchdown each. And speaking of big men, the Ole Miss head coach made sure to give the ball to senior defensive lineman JJ Pegues during a 4th and short situation. The Chucky Mullins Courage Award winner not only secured the first down, but also barged his way into the endzone in just two plays.
While the high-tempo Rebel offense displayed dominance, the defense played an equally important role in the contest. Pete Golding’s squad was responsible for amassing 16 tackles for loss and holding Furman to just 172 total yards of offense — 600 fewer yards than what the Rebels’ offense produced on the night.
Arkansas transfer linebacker Chris “Pooh” Paul, Jr. shined with eight tackles (five solo), 2.5 tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks, though he didn’t get the start on Saturday. Trey Amos, a defensive back who transferred from Alabama, was as advertised, mounting two tackles, one tackle for loss, one interception, and one pass breakup.
While Ole Miss’ standing in the latest rankings remained the same, there was a good bit of shakeup. Oregon dropped from No. 3 to No. 7 after an underwhelming performance versus Idaho. Notre Dame, after recording an impressive win at Texas A&M, jumped the Rebels in the rankings to claim the No. 5 spot. Most notably, Florida State fell out of the rankings on Tuesday after starting the season 0-2, becoming just the third team to go from preseason top-10 to unranked in the first regular-season poll since the rankings expanded to 25 in 1989.
The full top 25 can be found below:
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Alabama
- Notre Dame
- Ole Miss
- Oregon
- Penn State
- Missouri
- Michigan
- Utah
- Miami
- USC
- Tennessee
- Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State
- Kansas State
- LSU
- Kansas
- Arizona
- Iowa
- Louisville
- Georgia Tech
- North Carolina State
- Clemson
Mississippi State and Southern Miss did not receive any top 25 votes.
