Jaxson Dart’s spring? Protecting the football and trying to maintain his grip on Ole Miss QB1

Jaxson Dart — Ole Miss’ incumbent starter at quarterback — got better as the Rebels got worse last season.

Ole Miss lost five of its last six games, including an ugly performance team-wide in the Texas Bowl. Dart, for his part, had four turnovers. He threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.

To be fair, his last game wasn’t at all indicative of his last-season progress. Dart accounted for 288 all-purpose yards, on average, over the final six games. The Rebels, in the end, finished 8-5.

“I was in a quarterback competition all the way up until like the third game,” Dart said Saturday following the annual Grove Bowl spring game. “It’s hard going into game preps and stuff like that when you split the reps and don’t get all of them.

“Once I was able to get the reps and grow off my experience (the game slowed down).”

Even still, of all the positions throughout another revamped Ole Miss roster, quarterback inarguably received the biggest influx of talent.

Sunday Leftovers: Ole Miss football brought the fireworks in its annual spring showcase

Ole Miss pulled not one but two decorated signal-callers out of the portal in Spencer Sanders (Oklahoma State) and Walker Howard (LSU).

Both have had their moments this spring. Sanders saved his best performance for the Grove Bowl, and Howard has made a habit of flashy plays since the Rebels opened practices last month.

All the while, though, Dart has maintained his grip on QB1. Sure, Sanders was limited early on with a shoulder injury, but Dart has been steady. Most of all, he’s protected the football.

He was with the No. 1 Ole Miss offense on Saturday, and his Red Team pulled out a come-from-behind 53-52 win. Dart orchestrated a game-winning drive in the final seconds that was punctuated by a successful two-point completion to wide receiver Jordan Watkins.

“Competition’s always good,” Dart said. “For me, I see me as trying to develop to be a first-round (NFL) draft pick (after next season), so I just try to keep getting better each and every day. It’s good to have guys like that to push you and compete day-in and day-out.

“Spencer has a lot of experience, and me and Walker are kind of the younger ones. It’s good at times to take some words of advice from him. With them coming here and being new to the system, me being able to give them feedback off our schematics and things like that has helped us all develop.”

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart celebrates his (Red) team’s victory in the Grove Bowl

Dart completed 18 of 37 passes for 302 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in the Grove Bowl.

He added three carries for 19 yards.

Sanders finished 19 of 27 for 265 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in leading Blue. He also had six carries for 72 yards and another score. Howard was 11 for 13 for 184 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He split time between both squads and added 29 rushing yards and a touchdown on five carries.

Dart has only turned the ball over once all spring. Ole Miss will practice twice more this week to fulfill their NCAA-allotted 15.

“I kind of take my whole outlook of my spring from this year to last year and I think I’ve made huge improvements,” Dart said. “Last year, at times, I turned the ball over and made some dumb decisions, but I feel comfortable in the offense now. I feel confident in my reads and the game’s slowed down a little bit.

“I think I’ve made big strides, and I look forward to continuing to develop.”

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