Lane Kiffin addresses decision to start Jaxson Dart, says competition will resume

The big question around Ole Miss was who would get first reps on Saturday. Ultimately, Lane Kiffin chose to go with Jaxson Dart over Spencer Sanders to start vs. Mercer as the Rebels cruised to a 73-7 victory to start the season.

Kiffin knew the question was coming after the game — however, it took a little longer than he expected.

“I was just excited we won by a lot before I got that question,” Kiffin joked.

But just because Dart started against Mercer doesn’t mean he’ll have the job in the long run. Kiffin said the competition between him and Sanders will continue.

“I told you guys, I thought both guys had a great camp,” Kiffin said. “They played really well in the scrimmages, the mock game. We felt really good about both guys being able to win for us. I thought both guys played extremely well today and made a lot of plays. I think Jaxson started 11-for-11, Spencer threw in two touchdowns.

“At the end of the day, we had to make a decision, who went first? And Jaxson did and did a really good job. Now, we’ll go back and go to work this week. … I know there’s people out there that say people need to be named starters for them to play well. Well, he wasn’t named the starter, went 11-for-11. So I don’t think that theory works very much.”

In the lead-up to the game, Kiffin didn’t publicly name a starter before sending Dart out there first. He had a strong day, as well, completing 18 of 23 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns. But Sanders — a transfer from Oklahoma State — also turned in a solid performance with 134 yards and two touchdowns.

Even beyond the quarterbacks, though, the Ole Miss offense was operating at a high level as part of a monster day against Mercer. Quinshon Judkins rushed for a game-high 60 yards and two touchdowns to anchor the running game in the blowout victory and pick up where he left off last season.

Two receivers — Tre Harris and Jordan Watkins — topped 100 receiving yards with 133 and 111, respectively. Harris’ day was one for the books as he set a program record with four touchdowns.

But all eyes will be on who starts under center next week when Ole Miss looks to build off its big performance when it heads to Tulane Sept. 9 for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff.