OXFORD, Miss. — — Jaxson Dart threw five touchdown passes and ran for a score on eight consecutive first-half scoring drives, helping No. 6 Mississippi rout Furman 76-0 on Saturday night.

Dart opened the scoring with a 15-yard run and the Rebels went on to lead 52-0 at halftime in the opener for both teams.

Dart went 22 of 27 for 418 yards in the first half before giving up the ball to Austin Simmons, who scored a touchdown pass in the third quarter.

“I’ve been in this offense for three years, so I’m comfortable with it and the offensive line played great, kept it clean,” Dart said. “When you have the receivers that we have catching the ball and knowing how much time they put into it, it’s a lot of fun. We had fun tonight.”

Ole Miss had runs of 75, 90, 46, 20, 63, 81, 61 and 58 yards in the first half, highlighted by touchdown passes of 61 and 22 yards to Tre Harris. He had eight receptions for 179 yards.

“I’m really happy with the points, the yards and no turnovers,” Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin said. “We didn’t have to run a starter in the second half. Normally I’m critical of what we can do better, but tonight, not so much.”

The Rebels finished with 772 yards of total offense, 502 in the first half, with Caden Davis’ two field goals and touchdown runs of 17 and 46 yards by Matt Jones closing out the scoring. Jones led all rushers with 68 yards.

Furman crossed midfield just four times and finished nine other series with negative yardage. The Paladins had 172 yards of total offense, including Carson Jones completing 15 of 25 passes for 119 yards.

“I’ve told our team a hundred times that we could play Ole Miss and I’m not sure it’s going to be much different,” Furman coach Clay Hendrix said. “Our kids hung in there and fought hard and we’re going to bounce back. We’re not going to see another team that’s this talented the rest of the way.”

THE PICKUP

Furman: After back-to-back 10-win seasons and a preseason ranking as high as No. 9 in the FCS polls, the Paladins hoped to be more competitive, but that didn’t happen. The offense, which replaced starters at quarterback and four offensive line slots, was simply overwhelmed at the line of scrimmage. Safeties Billy Lewis and Caleb Williams were productive with seven tackles apiece and a pass breakup.

Mississippi: Mix 59 new players, 31 transfers with a Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback and the result was eight consecutive scoring drives for 52 points, 502 yards of total offense and a dominant defensive performance — in the first half alone. More importantly, the Rebels finished without significant injuries.

DEFENSIVE ADDITIONS

Kiffin promised a defensive upgrade in size, speed and depth via the transfer portal in the offseason, and those additions to the roster have paid immediate dividends. Reverse transfers Walter Nolen (Texas A&M) and Princely Umanmielen (Florida) on the defensive line, linebacker Chris Paul, Jr.

(Arkansas) and Brandon Turnage (Tennessee) and Trey Amos (Alabama) played a lot in the secondary.

Paul had eight tackles, including 2 1/2 for loss. Amos had a pass interception and Umanmielen had two quarterback hurries in the first quarter. Nolen had a crushing solo tackle of a Furman running back that drew a roar from the partisan crowd of 66,105, the third largest in school history.

“We’ve had to play those guys and it’s a lot better when they play for us,” Kiffin said. “The whole defense played well. The defense was as advertised.”

SURVEY IMPLICATIONS

The Rebels, despite being ranked No. 6, are the fourth-highest-ranked team in the SEC’s AP Top 25 – No. 1 Georgia, No. 4 Texas and No. 5 Alabama. The lopsided non-conference win isn’t expected to produce significant movement in either direction.

NEXT

Furman: Hosts Charleston Southern on Saturday night.

Mississippi: hosts Middle Tennessee on Saturday.

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