Tim Tebow raves over Jaxson Dart's rushing abilities this season

The great equalizer in college football is a quarterback who can run and run effectively, according to Tim Tebow.

A great dual-threat quarterback during his illustrious career at Florida, Tebow praised Ole Miss and Jaxson Dart for leading the SEC in quarterback rushing yards with 213 heading into Week 4 vs. Alabama.

“I love how Lane [Kiffin] is dialing it up. Because he’s got Quinshon Judkins as his running back and when you have one of the best backs in the country, the defense has to focus on him,” Tebow said on SportsCenter Saturday morning. “In the running game for Ole Miss, they’re calling designed runs for Jaxson Dart.

“Out of all of his runs, only five of them have been scrambles. 22 of them have been designed runs to keep the ball. This is the thing I love — nine of them have gone for first downs. That is something that is so paramount against Alabama. Being able to move the chains, convert on third down and move the sticks. Then being able to get to the end zone and punch it in.”

Part of Dart’s success on the ground has come at the detriment of Judkins — who has 145 rushing yards on 44 carries this season. At 3.3 yards per carry and nearly a quarter of the way through the regular season, Judkins isn’t anywhere near catching up to his 1,500 rushing yard mark from his true freshman season last year.

That has left Kiffin with no choice but to utilize Dart’s dual-threat ability — and it’s paid off. Not only is Dart efficient on the ground, but he’s also scoring, too. And he has a 68-yard run to his credit this season, the longest by any Rebel by over 30 yards.

On top of that, Dart is tied for third place in passing touchdowns among quarterbacks in the SEC with seven. Add one interception to that total and five sacks — Dart and his offense are as efficient as they ever have been under Kiffin.

An undefeated to start the season coupled with catching Alabama in the middle of an identity crisis, and all of a sudden Ole Miss is feeling pretty good about where they’re at heading as they prepare for the prime time matchup in Tuscaloosa.

The opening kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET live on CBS. Alabama is a seven-point betting favorite at home, per Vegas Insider.