Rebels extend home winning streak
Saturday the Ole Miss Rebels were home for the second straight week hosting the University of Central Arkansas.
In the second week of the season the Rebels still don’t have an official starting quarterback. Sophomore quarterback Jaxson Dart and sophomore quarterback Luke Altmyer have kept a close battle for starting quarterback since spring practice. Dart, who in his first season with the Rebels after transferring from the University Of Southern California, was the starter in week one win vs Troy State. He finished the game 18 of 27 passes for 154 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the third quarter.
Altmyer started Saturday’s game as the quarterback battle continued to heat up. It didn’t take long for Altmyer to get the Rebs offense going; connecting with tight-end Michael Trigg on a 7-yard touchdown giving the Rebels a 7-0 lead.
The Ole Miss special teams unit had a great day for the Rebels scoring on a 25-yard fumble return by sophomore safety Ladarius Tennison making a 14-0 game. Right before the halftime senior kicker Jonathan Cruz connected on a 41-yard field goal to give the Rebs a 31-0 lead at the half.
A little into the second-half Altmyer was replaced by Jaxson Dart due to an “upper body injury.” Dart shined finishing the game 10/15 182yards and two touchdowns. The Rebels defeated the Bears by a final of 59-3; making it the 11th straight win at Vaught Hemingway stadium.
Quarterback Luke Altmyer finished the game 6/13 with 90-yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Freshman running back Quinshon Judkins finished with 10 Carries for 104 yards. Senior wideout Jonathan Mingo had three receptions for 104 yards.
After the game, head coach Lane Kiffin said on the current quarterback situation battle: “We’ll have to go watch the film. I felt bad for Luke (Altmyer) because he was injured and he’s so competitive that he stayed in, even when we asked him (how he was feeling). You could see on the interception, obviously there was an issue there. We’ll go back and look at the film and see what we think.”
Kiffin said of Dart: “It’s definitely not easy especially when you have no idea who you’re going to be coming in. There are definitely times where it’s hard to try to stay focused as much as you can.
“Of course, there are times where people are just going through different situations and we have each other’s backs. For me though, I just have to be prepared for every single play. You never know what is going to happen, you never know when your number is going to be called.”
The Rebels hit the road, for the first time in the 2022 season, to Atlanta, GA to face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.