After the Kentucky game, Ole Miss had to be wondering if history was repeating itself. A halftime deficit to an unranked Oklahoma wasn’t what the Oxford faithful had in mind coming off the bye week.
But a slow start was all it was for the home team. Ole Miss stepped on the gas in the second half and pulled away to earn a 26-14 victory.
Here were 3 takeaways from Ole Miss’ bounce-back victory:
1. Without Tre Harris, Ole Miss looked a bit lost early
Without Harris, AKA the FBS leader in receiving yards, it was rough in the first half. Ole Miss was held to just 10 first-half points in part because Jaxson Dart got off to a 3-for-8 start for 58 yards and the rushing attack was limited to 43 yards.
But after that, Dart came out like a different guy in the third quarter. Two touchdowns in the third quarter changed the tenor of the game. After that 3-for-8 start, Dart was 19-for-20 for 253 yards. Ole Miss didn’t have a run of 10 yards on the day, and that seemingly always reliable element of Lane Kiffin’s offense never really got going.
Still, though. The second-half response was all Kiffin could’ve asked for in a game it needed to keep those slim Playoff hopes alive.
2. Jackson Arnold fought as much as you could’ve asked for given the circumstances
By “the circumstances,” I mean being without every receiver on the expected 2-deep, having plays called by a new offensive coordinator after Seth Littrell was fired, operating behind Oklahoma’s 7th different offensive line combination and starting a game for the first time in a month … against the No. 2 scoring defense in America on the road.
Those were anything but winning circumstances, yet Arnold shook that off to give Oklahoma some hope. The Sooners’ first-half lead was relatively short-lived, but that was a much better sign than the alternative scenario that played out last week with 3 turnovers on the first 9 plays. Arnold was overmatched by day’s end, but he did a lot to show that Oklahoma hasn’t mailed it in on a disappointing, injury-plagued first season in the SEC.
Brent Venables won’t celebrate moral victories, but that felt like a small one.
3. Ole Miss Playoff hopes back on? Eh, let’s take that 1 week at a time.
Yes, I know that 10-2 is still possible. No, I don’t think that should be the takeaway from Saturday’s showing against an offensively-depleted Oklahoma squad. Ole Miss’ biggest strength (the defensive line) allowed 125 first-half rushing yards, and by day’s end, Oklahoma had 207 sack-adjusted rushing yards.
But the good news for Ole Miss? It wasn’t a repeat of the collapses that Ole Miss had down the stretch against Kentucky and LSU. Ole Miss got the stops that it needed late and pitched a second-half shutout thanks to the likes of Suntarine Perkins, Princely Umanmielen and JJ Pegues, who racked up 10 of 15 tackles for loss for a pass rush that was unstoppable down the stretch.
It’ll be a different challenge next week at Arkansas, who’ll be competing for bowl eligibility.
Oh, speaking of that … Ole Miss is bowl-eligible. Needless to say, 2024 was never going to be defined by that. It’ll be defined by that month that awaits.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
