OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Southern California transfer Jaxson Dart directed three consecutive touchdown drives in the first half to help No. 21 Mississippi beat Troy 28-10 on Saturday in the opener for both teams.
Ole Miss built a 21-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes on drives of 82, 68 and 83 yards and was never seriously threatened. Dart was 18 of 27 for 154 yards, with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Malik Heath to cap the opening series of the second half.
Transfer Zach Evans rushed for 130 yards on 20 carries as Ole Miss finished with 433 yards of total offense. The Rebels scored on 2-yard runs in the first half by Ulysses Bentley IV, Jonathan Mingo and Quinshon Judkins.
Jon Sumrall lost in coaching debut for Troy.
Gunnar Watson threw for 275 yards for Troy, completing 34 of 47, with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Rajae' Johnson in the final quarter.
THE TAKEAWAY
Troy: Sun Belt Conference teams, even those like Troy with regular-season title and postseason hopes, are not expected to win on the road against SEC opponents. The Trojans were impressive on special teams as Mike Rivers had a 49.6 average on five punts and Brooks Buce ended the first half with a 31-yard field goal..
Mississippi: The answer was yes. An encouraging yes. The question whether Ole Miss could pull it together quickly despite wholesale changes in assistant coaches and player personnel was settled by a defensive unit with 10 tackles for loss and three scoring drives that spanned the first and second quarters. Dart was efficient but not as effective throwing the deep ball, including a second half interception before yielding to reserve Luke Altmyer in the final quarter.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The win put the No. 21 Rebels in position to move up, but a major jump would be a surprise. Ole Miss ranks sixth of the six SEC teams in the Top 25.
UP NEXT
Troy: Host FCS member Alabama A&M on Sept. 10.
Mississippi: Host FCS Central Arkansas on Sept. 10.
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