The 4-2-5 Report: Rebels repel the Yellowjackets 48-23

This season, following each game the 4-2-5 report will give an in depth look at the game, laying out the 4 best plays, the 2 players of the game and 5 interesting stats.

The Ole Miss Rebels took care of business on Saturday night, squashing out the pesky Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech in a game that, for the second week in a row, was closer than the score might indicate.

It was a slow, lumbering and lackluster start to the contest as the Rebels had a 10-3 halftime lead, despite the defense not being able to get off the field. Luckily, Jaxson Dart took control and Ole Miss put it away late in the 4th.

There were some crucial plays, encouraging moments and some standout studs as the Rebels turn their eyes to a suddenly vulnerable Alabama.

4 Plays of the Game

43 yard FG attempt blocked by Zxavian Harris

After the Rebs went up 3-0, Tech was poised to tie things up as Ole Miss struggled to slow down their ground game. Zxavian Harris squeezed through the line to get a mitt on the ball, leading to a stop for the defense. The ball was recovered by our defensive player of the week last week, Daijahn Anthony.

4th and 2 Goal Line stand

The caption on that tweet is accurate. Daijahn Anthony just makes plays, he’s shown that for two weeks now, always showing up for the big moment. On Tech’s second drive, they marched all the way down to the Rebels 2 yard line and for the second drive in a row, Ole Miss narrowly escapes a score.

68 yard touchdown pass from Jaxson Dart to Jordan Watkins

The final nail in the coffin came from this absolute dime by Jaxson Dart. Jordan Watkins never broke stride as the ball fell right into his lap as he sprinted across the field. Georgia Tech was not going away easily and while the field goal by Caden Davis at 27-17 proved to be enough, this ball showed Dart’s pure talent.

36 yard touchdown run by Matt Jones

Sure the game was over, but any chance you get to show some Matt Jones love, you take it. Plus, and this is important for a lot of people, this touchdown landed the backdoor cover on just about every spread that wasn’t an alternate. Some Tech fans are salty about Kiffin running up the score, but like, tackle someone.

2 Players of the Game

Jaxson Dart

Without question, Jaxson Dart was the primary reason Ole Miss won this game offensively. Sure, his passing numbers were not great (10-18) but he averaged 25 yards per completion which is nuts.

If Jayden Daniels at LSU is QB1 in the SEC, Dart is QB1A. Look at the landscape of the conference and try to come up with any other quarterback that you would rather have than our guy. He had 390 total yards on his Saturday and accounted for 3 touchdowns.

He’s that dude.

Trey Washington

Washington has been a tackling machine so far this season and on Saturday he emphasized that. He led the team with 10 total tackles (7 solo) and a forced fumble. The junior finished last season with 31 total tackles but through three games this season, he already has 20.

He may not be making the flashy plays like Anthony is this season, but he has certainly been consistent and reliable on the back end of the defense, which is likely why he was named a captain for this game.

5 Interesting Stats

68- Jaxson Dart not only led the Rebels in pass attempts, but he also had the most carries with 14. The crazy part is that his longest pass and longest run on the day were both 68 yards.

2015 - The first quarter field goal block by Zxavian Harris is the first blocked field goal by the Rebels since 2015 against Arkansas. However, Harris did block a PAT last season against Kentucky, and he is reportedly something like 18 feet tall when he raises up his arms and jumps.

0 - For the first time since the Texas A&M game last season, the Ole Miss offense committed 0 turnovers. An important development in a game that was too close at times and something they need to carry over into conference play.

5 - There were only 5 flags thrown the entire game and all 5 were against the Rebels for a total of 40 yards.

3 - Georgia Tech had 11 possessions in the game and the Rebels gave up at least one first down on all but 3 of those drives. The first 3 drives of the game saw Tech run 42 plays, which was almost 50% of their offense on the day.