Penn State head coach James Franklin has seen pretty good quarterback play throughout his time in Happy Valley, and he knows what Ole Miss has in veteran signal-caller Jaxson Dart…
It’s no secret and it’s been talked about for the weeks leading up to kickoff. One of the reason’s Ole Miss landed in this New Year’s Six bowl game is because of their high flying offense.
Against some of the best defenses in the country throughout the 12 game regular season slate, Lane Kiffin’s offense was once again one of the most explosive in the SEC. Ole Miss’ average of 455 total yards per game was only behind Georgia and the offense with this year’s Heisman winning quarterback, pretty good company.
Ole Miss junior quarterback Jaxson Dart has made tremendous strides in his game throughout his second season with the Rebels, and should also be talked about right along with Drew Allar in terms of how well he’s been taking care of the football. He wasn’t a turnover machine his first year, but there were backbreaking turnovers that he now has done an exceptional job of moving away from.
However, what does Penn State’s tenth-year head coach James Franklin think about the quarterback his world class defense is going to try to shut down come Saturday afternoon?
“They put up really good numbers in the passing game in terms of yards per attempt, in terms of completion percentage (and) touchdown to interception ratio. (Dart’s) also a guy that can beat you with his mind and decision making, with his arm and accuracy, but then also with his feet.”
“They’re a challenging offense…they’re one of the better offenses that we’ve seen this year, so it’s going to be a challenge. Lane’s always done a really good job, specifically on that side of the ball, so it’ll be a challenge. Obviously as we know in college football, or really at any level in football, your quarterback has a major impact and factor in your success,” Franklin told reporters earlier during game week. “A ton of respect for him for what we’ve seen on film so far.”
Ole Miss’ offense has gone up against some pretty rock solid defense’s this season, but Penn State’s will be among the top of the list. Adding to that, Dart and the offense didn’t have their best showings against the top-two defenses they saw in Tuscaloosa and Athens. Having a bounce-back, redemption type of offensive performance against a highly-touted Penn State defense would certainly go a long way in not only getting a victory, but also solidifying themselves as an elite offense that can go through elite defenses.
Kickoff for the 2023 Peach Bowl between No. 11 Ole Miss (10-2) and No. 10 Penn State (10-2) is set for 11 a.m. CT and can be seen on ESPN on Saturday Dec. 30. Ole Miss stands as 4.5-point underdogs, at the time of this writing. Inside the Rebels will be on site for Ole Miss’ season finale and will provide more updates, quotes and stories leading up to game day.