2023 Peach Bowl: A game-by-game look at the 2023 Ole Miss football season
The 2023 season was an interesting one for Ole Miss. After seeing their high hopes collapse down the stretch a season ago, Ole Miss was determined not to suffer the same second-half swoon this season. The Ole Miss regular season was highlighted by a high-scoring victory over this year’s Heisman Trophy winner and a thrilling conclusion at home against Texas A&M but was marred by losses to this year’s SEC division champions, Alabama and Georgia. But at the end of the year, Ole Miss still had enough to be proud of, and it was rewarded with an invitation to play in a New Years Six bowl game for the second time under head coach Lane Kiffin.
Here is a look back at the regular season for the Ole Miss Rebels heading into this year’s Peach Bowl matchup with Penn State.
Week 1: Ole Miss 73, Mercer 7
Ole Miss opened the year with a nice little tuneup against FCS opponent Mercer. Jaxson Dart, who had yet to certify himself as the team’s full-time starter, got the year started on the right foot with 3345 passing yards and wide receiver Tre Harris hauled in all four touchdown passes thrown by Dart to highlight his game-high 133 receiving yards. Jordan Watkins also went over 100 receiving yards in the game with 111. Ole Miss jumped out to a quick 28-0 lead in the first quarter of the season and that was more than enough to coast to victory in the season opener at home.
Week 2: Ole Miss 37, Tulane 20
With Jaxson Dart now cemented as the team’s full-time starting quarterback, he delivered in the clutch as Ole Miss broke things open in the fourth quarter. Tied with Tulane, who was coming off a year with a Cotton Bowl victory over USC the previous season, the Rebels rattled off 20 fourth-quarter points to run away with the win at Tulane. A 21-yard touchdown pass to Michael Trigg with under five minutes to play gave the Rebels a 27-17 lead and a 56-yard field goal by Caden Davis kept the lead at 10 points with just under two minutes to play. The Rebels defense then returned a fumble 26 yards for a touchdown to put the game on ice just moments later.
Week 3: Ole Miss 48, Georgia Tech 23
Ole Miss returned home to welcome Georgia Tech from the ACC for a non-conference tilt. Jaxson Dart once again helped lead the Rebels to victory, although two of his three touchdowns were rushing touchdowns as Ole Miss once again found a way to close out a win with a 24-point outburst in the fourth quarter.
Week 4: Alabama 24, Ole Miss 10
This was a bit of bad timing for Ole Miss to make a trip to Alabama. The Crimson Tide had already lost on their home field to Texas and were brutal looking in a road win at South Florida, but the Tide came alive at home when Ole Miss paid a visit. Jaxson Dart had one rushing touchdown for the only Rebels touchdown of the day and the Alabama defense held Ole Miss to just 56 rushing yards as a team. Alabama’s Jalen Milroe returned to the starting role at quarterback for Nick Saban and Alabama and passed for 225 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and 28 rushing yards.
Week 5: Ole Miss 55, LSU 49
A week after battling Alabama, Ole Miss responded the following week by winning the highest-scoring game of their season. And they did it against the eventual Heisman Trophy winner, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. While Daniels got his Heisman numbers cooking with 414 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, 99 rushing yards, and a rushing touchdown, Jaxson Dart was firing as well. Dart passed for 389 yards with four touchdowns and 50 yards with a rushing touchdown and Quinshon Judkins went off for 177 rushing yards and a touchdown for the Rebels. Tre Harris and Jordan Watkins each had over 100 receiving yards and Ole Miss once again came up big in the fourth quarter. Ole Miss trailed 42-34 going into the fourth quarter and outscored the Tigers 21-7 in the final quarter for the win.
Week 6: Ole Miss 27, Arkansas 20
After the offensive fireworks against LSU, there was no real hangover for the Rebels the following week at home against Arkansas. Ulysses Bentley IV led the ground attack with 94 rushing yards and a touchdown and the Ole Miss defense forced a pair of Arkansas turnovers, one of which led to an Ole Miss touchdown in the first quarter to take the lead and the second to help seal the win late in the fourth quarter.
Week 8: Ole Miss 28, Auburn 21
After a week off, Ole Miss returned to the field with a road game at Auburn. After a back-and-forth first half saw a tied ballgame at halftime, Ole Miss took the upper hand with a pair of touchdowns on the final play of the third quarter and midway through the fourth quarter. Quinshon Judkins rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown and Tre Harris had another 100-yard receiving game. Auburn made it a one-score gamer with a late touchdown drive but Ole Miss recovered the onside kick attempt and ran out the final seconds of the game clock for the win.
Week 9: Ole Miss 33, Vanderbilt 7
Taking on the worst team in the SEC, Ole Miss jumped to a 26-0 lead at halftime and cruised to a comfortable victory the rest of the way. Quinshon Judkins rushed for 124 yards and Jaxson Dart passed for 240 yards in the win to help keep Ole Miss in the running for a New Years Six bowl game with a couple of big games coming up next.
Week 10: Ole Miss 38, Texas A&M 35
Ole Miss and Texas A&M went back and forth all afternoon in Week 10 and Ole Miss needed some late-game heroics from Jaxson Dart and the offense. They got it with a 9-play touchdown drive spanning 75 yards in just under three minutes to take a three-point lead with under two minutes to play. Quinshon Judkins had a 1-yard touchdown run to give Ole Miss the lead a few plays after a big third-down run on 3rd and 5 gave the Rebels the ball at the 3-yard line. Texas A&M missed on the potential game-tying field goal attempt at time expired, thus avoiding overtime. Ole Miss racked up over 500 yards of offense in the win.
Week 11: Georgia 52, Ole Miss 17
While there is no shame in losing to Georgia, who at the time was clearly the no. 1 team in college football, it was a bit disappointing how much Ole Miss lost the game. The Rebels didn’t belong on the same field as Georgia and it showed. Ole Miss had their high-power offense limited to 352 yards, which isn’t actually terrible. The problem is Ole Miss gave up 611 yards of offense to the Bulldogs and could not keep Georga from scoring all game long. Jaxson Dart had just 112 passing yards in the loss and none of Ole Miss’ play-making wide receivers had more than 48 yards.
Week 12: Ole Miss 35, UL Monroe 3
The good news for Ole Miss was the toughest games on the schedule were now behind them. After being dismantled by Georgia on the road, Ole Miss returned home for a perfect rebound opportunity against a Sun Belt Conference opponent, UL Monroe. Jaxson Dart got right back on track with 310 passing yards and 3 touchdowns but it took some time for Ole Miss to truly flex their muscle in this one. After leading just 7-3 at halftime, Ole Miss came out swinging with three touchdowns in the third quarter en route to a rebound win.
Week 13: Ole Miss 17, Mississippi State 7
The Egg Bowl is one of college football’s best Thanksgiving Day traditions, and this one went in favor of the Rebels. Ole Miss led in-state rival Mississippi State 3-0 at halftime and scored a touchdown in the third and fourth quarters to take this year’s rivalry game and put the finishing touches on a regular season worthy of New Years Six bowl consideration. But this one was far from pretty, which is to be expected in this rivalry. Jaxson Dart had just 96 passing yards while completing just 14-of-26 attempts. But Quinshon Judkins rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown and Mississippi State missed a field goal and was forced to turn the football over on downs on their final two possessions.
