As far as opening nights go, No. 6 Ole Miss had little to complain about in a perfect evening in northern Mississippi last week.
That’s how scoring a school-record-tying 76 points and having a defense record a shutout will make coach Lane Kiffin feel.
After blowing out Furman in its opener, the Rebels — of the Southeastern Conference — will be home again on Saturday afternoon when they host Middle Tennessee in Oxford, Miss.
For 60 minutes, Kiffin and his staff had the kind of night coaches dream of to open a new season, with everything going their way and little pushback from the FCS visitors from South Carolina.
In playing only the first half, senior Jaxson Dart entered the Heisman fray by completing all but five of his 27 passes for 418 yards and five touchdowns. He also set the night’s tone with a 15-yard TD scramble to cap the season’s first drive.
On defense, linebacker Chris Paul Jr. had a team-high eight tackles — 2 1/2 for losses — and a shared sack.
Ole Miss (1-0) became the first FBS team in 40 years to post a 75-plus-point shutout and exceed 750 yards of total offense.
After the final whistle had blown on the 76-0 pasting, Kiffin’s bunch owned a 600-yard advantage over Furman – 772-172 – and a 37-7 lead in first downs.
“That (performance) is not always the case in these games when they go your way this early,” said Kiffin, who is 35-15 overall in his fifth season in Oxford. “Our players really came out with a great intensity. They played like it was an elite SEC game.”
Kiffin liked the tidiness, too.
“Also playing clean, we ran 82 plays with no turnovers and a combined three penalties in all three phases of the game. That is enjoyable for a coach for that to happen,” he added.
In coach Derek Mason’s Middle Tennessee debut, the Blue Raiders (1-0) had to scramble against Tennessee Tech and already are more battle-tested affair than the Rebels.
Leading 21-0, Mason’s Conference USA team witnessed a shocking comeback by its in-state rival, which led 25-24 with 66 seconds remaining. However, quarterback Nicholas Vattiato led a final charge, and Frank Peasant had a game-winning 30-yard TD run with 16 seconds left for the 32-25 win.
“You look early and you think you’re going to have an opportunity to go boat race somebody a little bit and just keep going,” said Mason, who led Vanderbilt from 2014-20. “And then all of a sudden you sputter out. Football is a game of momentum. I thought we had it early, Tennessee Tech marched back, they took it.
“I don’t think this group panicked. We wanted to play better. What you saw from this team was growth. A lot of new faces, some adversity. And you have to learn how to win in a lot of different ways in college football.”
Peasant rushed for two scores for Middle Tennessee, while Vattiato was 20 of 35 for 210 yards and a TD, with one interception.
During his seven years in the SEC with Vanderbilt, Mason went 2-5 against the Rebels.
