Ole Miss has its quarterback and now the work begins with SEC play on the horizon
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has selected his starting quarterback in Jaxson Dart, ending a months-long competition. The decision was not a moment too soon with hard part of the schedule starting up this weekend.
Dart got the nod over Luke Altmyer to be the new full-time signal caller for Ole Miss. The decision was confirmed by Kiffin following last week’s win over Tulsa.
Saturday’s game against No. 7 Kentucky which is serving as the Southeastern Conference opener for No. 14 Ole Miss (4-0) will be the third straight game Dart has started. Dart and Altmyer alternated the first two games of the season before the former took over the reins for good.
This week Kiffin explained further on how Dart won the job and what he has seen out of the quarterback up to this point of the season.
“He continued to improve. Got out of some bad habits, which is nothing to do with where he was before,” Kiffin said on Monday. “He’s a young quarterback and not that far removed from playing in high school. His growth in the last few weeks has been more than all his time here by far. That’s been really good to see. You see him playing a lot faster and dropping with speed and getting rid of the ball. Rarely gets sacked.”
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The improvement has not been in the stat sheet as Dart has been consistent for Ole Miss.
Through the first three games Dart had a completion percentage of at least 62.5. It did drop into the 50s against Tulsa but he still threw for two touchdowns, tying his season high.
On the season Dart has completed 51 of 82 pass attempts for 697 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. He has also rushed for 201 yards on 29 carries.
What Kiffin has seen from Dart is growth as a complete player and game manager over the last month.
“He’s really dramatically improved from really after (the first) two games,” Kiffin said on Wednesday in the SEC Coaches Teleconference. “He looks like, so far, a much different player. Composed, confident, leadership. I think that turn was obviously helped when he became the starter. He had more reps. The teams are going to be a lot more of a challenge when get into SEC play on Saturday.”
With the uncertainty of who will be the starting quarterback every week over focus can now shift to overall planning of the offense.
Not that Kiffin and his staff were not game planning offenses before but the shift be off creating a scheme for either Dart or Altmyer.
Of course Kiffin is quick to point out that Dart is a work in progress himself as Ole Miss heads into the meat of its regular season schedule.
“I think it was just what happens a lot. First off, (Dart’s) young. His second year,” Kiffin said. “First year with us, which we don’t paint as bad or good. We coach the quarterback dramatically different from the air raid system he came from. That’s a lot of learning curve.”
