Ole Miss and star quarterback Jaxson Dart more than likely saw their College Football Playoff hopes vanish with a 24-17 loss at Florida. The third Rebels defeat of the season puts them on the outside looking in at the 12-team field despite chaos elsewhere. Ole Miss saw two chances to put together a game-tying touchdown drive, but both ended with costly interceptions thrown by Dart, who issued an apology after the game.
“Bad decision by me,” Dart said of the miscues. “I think the only thing I can say right now is I’m sorry. I’m sorry to my teammates, I’m sorry to my coaches, I’m sorry for the fans. Can’t lose these games. Yeah, this one’s gonna hurt for a really long time. That’s all I can really say now: I’m sorry.”
Dart finished 24 of 41 for 323 yards and two touchdowns along with the pair of interceptions. He also led the Rebels in rushing with 14 carries for 71 yards. The loss was another major blown opportunity for Ole Miss, which entered the 2024 season with a ‘playoff or bust’ level of expectation after putting together the No. 1 transfer portal class in the nation.
The Rebels showed a little bit of rust coming off a bye in their first action since upsetting then-No. 3 Georgia on Nov. 9. Ole Miss racked up 464 yards of total offense, averaging six yards per play, but came up without any points in three red zone trips.
“I don’t think that really had anything to do with it,” Dart said postgame when asked if not playing last week affected the Rebels. “Just some missed opportunities. Felt like we moved the ball. Didn’t capitalize on third-and-shorts, fourth-and-shorts. Weren’t good enough. A lot of that’s on me, so, yeah.”
Each of the three losses this season by Ole Miss are one-possession defeats. It suffered its first blemish back in late September with a 20-17 loss to Kentucky before dropping an overtime game at LSU, 29-26, highlighting the fine line between an accomplished season and disappointment.
The Rebels would have been the No. 10 seed in the College Football Playoff bracket had the postseason started this weekend based on the most recent set of rankings released by the selection committee last Tuesday. But now expect to fall out of position for one of the at-large bids in the expanded 12-team field.
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen,” Dart said. “I have assumptions, but I just really want to finish the year off the right way.”
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Ole Miss closes out the regular season Friday with the Egg Bowl rivalry against Mississippi State.
