Why Tre Harris of Ole Miss has a case to be college football's most efficient wide receiver
OXFORD — An injury that held Tre Harris out of Ole Miss football's game against Georgia Tech and kept him on the sideline for the majority of two other contests could hamper his stat line enough to keep him out of the national spotlight.
Make no mistake, though, Harris is one of the best wide receivers in college football. One advanced statistic suggests he might be the most efficient in the nation.
After a 213-yard effort for the Rebels (8-1, 5-1 SEC) in a 38-35 victory over Texas A&M, Harris now leads regularly targeted FBS wideouts in yards per route run. He accumulates, on average, 4.14 receiving yards each time he runs a route.
There were almost too many highlights in Harris' showing against the Aggies (5-4, 3-3) to list. He went up over a defensive back to corral a fade to the back corner of the end zone for Ole Miss' second touchdown of the game. He beat two defenders in double coverage to a deep ball in the third quarter for a 40-yard reception. On the next drive, he fought through pass interference to come down with a one-handed grab that would have made Odell Beckham Jr. proud.
Five of Harris' 11 receptions went for at least 20 yards.
A transfer from Louisiana Tech, Harris' other noteworthy performance in an Ole Miss uniform came against LSU, when he ripped off 153 receiving yards. Quarterback Jaxson Dart joked after that game that Harris ‒ his hotel roommate ‒ was eerily calm the morning before the game. Perhaps that's the key.
"We woke up this morning, had our breakfast and then came back in the room," Dart said. "He was like, 'I'm gonna go back to sleep.'
"I'm wide awake. We gotta play an early game. So I was already juiced up. I guess he was just super calm again."
The Rebels will need a big performance from Harris when they take on Georgia (9-0, 6-0) on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN).
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Jaxson Dart delivers more Ole Miss football excellence
Dart believes he's playing his best football right now, and the statistics certainly back that up.
He threw for 387 yards and two touchdowns against the Aggies. He has surpassed the 200-yard threshold in eight of his nine games this season, and thrown for over 300 yards three times.
Though the Aggies limited Dart's impact in the ground game, he used his legs to help diminish the effect of their pass rush. Entering Saturday with the most sacks in college football, Texas A&M got to Dart just once.
“I think, as you guys know, I’ll tell it how it is and be hard on players," Rebels coach Lane Kiffin said. "I thought he was fabulous today. Again, there's statistics where that is the best defense in the country. I mean, negative plays, sacks, third down, they’re third in the country. That’s a really hard defense to play that (good) of a game at quarterback."
Dart, who showed flashes last season but undid some of his good work with 11 interceptions, has played nearly mistake-free football this season.
The USC transfer has thrown just four interceptions through nine games, and has yet to throw more than one in a single contest.
"I've played a lot of big-time football and I've seen a lot of different looks," Dart said. "I kind of feel like the game has just slowed down for me.
"You're going to make mistakes every game, but it's minimizing those and playing the next play."
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Unpacking Tre Harris' excellence for Ole Miss football, Lane Kiffin
