Ole Miss defeated Mississippi State 26-14 on Friday night in Oxford to finish off a 9-3 regular season.

The Rebels turned a great performance in the second half, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. The Bulldogs didn’t score in the second half and the Rebels produced a goal line stand midway through the 4th quarter that effectively ended Mississippi State’s upset bid.

Here are 3 takeaways from the victory for Ole Miss:

Ole Miss leaned on its ground game

Ole Miss has largely leaned on Jaxson Dart and its passing attack all season, but that wasn’t the case against Mississippi State. The Rebels instead chose to go with a run-heavy approach. The Rebels ran the ball on over 60% on their offensive plays for the first time all season.

That strategy was largely effective thanks to the success of running back Ulysses Bentley. He carried the ball 20 times for 136 yards and 1 touchdown. Bentley’s night included an 89-yard rushing touchdown to give the Rebels the lead for good with 8:40 left in the third quarter.

As a team, Ole Miss finished with 254 rushing yards on the night — its biggest total of the season vs. an SEC opponent.

Jaxson Dart made history

Even with Ole Miss focusing on the running game, it was still a historic night for Jaxson Dart. He surpassed the legendary Eli Manning for the most passing yards in program history in this game.

Dart finished the contest with 143 passing yards on 24 attempts. It’s a modest total given that Dart entered the week as the SEC’s leader in passing yards, but still a historic occasion — particularly on a night when he won his second consecutive Egg Bowl.

Dart also contributed in the run game on Friday night, rushing for 77 yards on 13 carries.

Ole Miss now has to hope for chaos

Ole Miss’s loss to Florida last weekend means the Rebels are on the outside-looking-in of the Playoff debate. A win over Mississippi State on Friday night means Ole Miss is still alive in the CFP race, but it will need some significant help down the stretch in order to get there.

Ole Miss will be rooting against teams like Penn State, Notre Dame, Miami, Georgia, Tennessee, SMU, Indiana and Alabama this weekend. Without at least a couple of losses from that group, it seems likely that Ole Miss will squander what appeared to be its strongest roster in recent history.

The penultimate College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday evening.