Ole Miss blocks punt in back-to-back games for first time in more than 2 decades
Sep. 18—OXFORD — Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin wasn't thrilled with his special teams in the opener versus Troy. The last two games have been far more to his taste.
Junior defensive end Cedric Johnson blocked a punt in the first quarter Saturday against Georgia Tech, marking the first time Ole Miss has blocked two punts in the same season since 2007 and for the first time in back-to-back games since 1998.
Kiffin admits he didn't have a punt block called.
"We were actually in punt safe, and Ced just made a great play," Kiffin said. "I could be like every other coach and be like, 'You know, we worked on that all week. It was all us.' No, that's a really good player making a good play.
" ... Special teams has played really well the last two weeks, and that's part of playing, that's the third part that we say about playing on the road. Run game, defense and special teams."
Johnson gave his first-hand account of the block in the postgame press conference.
"I'm like, OK, I'm just going to run off the ball like I always do. So, I'm running off the ball, I didn't think I was running as fast as I was," Johnson said. "They slid away from me, and I'm like, the punter's coming my way, so I'm seeing it (and) I'm like, 'I might be able to block this.' And then I actually blocked it. So, it was great."
Dart delivers hit of the day
In the third quarter on a third-and-9, Ole Miss sophomore quarterback Jaxson Dart took off on an otherwise pedestrian scramble. And while he ended up a yard short of the sticks after the run, the way he finished that play — by trucking a Georgia Tech defender to the ground — got everyone rooting for Ole Miss on their feet.
"I heard Coach Kiffin, or someone, telling me to stay inbounds to try to get the first down. And that was already my mentality anyway," Dart said.
It got Dart's teammates excited too, including junior running back Zach Evans.
"I was riled up. You know when you have a quarterback that's bold like that, I mean, we'd prefer him to get out of bounds and slide," Zach Evans said with a smile. "But he showed us a lot today."
Key Number: 14
The number of years since Ole Miss' last shutout against a Power Five team, which came against Mississippi State in 2008.
Next Game
The Rebels host Tulsa on Saturday at 3 p.m. on SEC Network.
Quotable
"That was really important. He's still young. They're going to make mistakes and, you know, we want them to play great. And I was obviously really on him because that was exactly what we had talked about not doing the previous series. So, that was disappointing. But it was great to see him come back and, as my old coaches used to say, take an ass chewing and regroup. So, he did a really good job and played really well in the second half and threw the ball with really good timing." — Lane Kiffin, on Jaxson Dart coming back from a late second quarter interception to lead three third-quarter scoring drives.
Rebel Ramblings
Ole Miss pitched its first road shutout since a 2012 game at Tulane ... Three different Ole Miss running backs scored two touchdowns Saturday, the first time that's happened since 1979 ... Ole Miss has held its last eight opponents to 21 points or less, the longest streak among Power Five teams ... The Rebels' 12 tackles for loss were the most since 2018.
MICHAEL KATZ is the Ole Miss athletics reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at michael.katz@djournal.com.
