OXFORD, Miss. — — Jaxson Dart threw for 311 yards, No. 18 Mississippi’s defense produced nine sacks and the Rebels used a big third quarter to beat Oklahoma 26-14 on Saturday.

The Sooners led 14-10 at halftime before the Rebels (6-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) scored two touchdowns in the third quarter behind Dart and Caden Prieskorn, who had five catches for 71 yards.

Oklahoma (4-4, 1-4), in its first game since firing offensive coordinator Seth Littrell last Sunday, was productive in the run game in the first half but struggled out of the gate on the back end. The Sooners didn’t get over 50 in the second half until midway through the fourth quarter.

That drive reached the Ole Miss 13, but ended with three straight sacks of quarterback Jackson Arnold and a turnover on downs.

Arnold, the Sooners’ starting quarterback, made his first start early in the season since being benched in Week 5 in favor of freshman Michael Hawkins Jr.

With Littrell out, play-calling duties were handled by Joe Jon Finley, who was tight ends coach at Ole Miss in 2020, Lane Kiffin’s first season with the Rebels.

Dart’s 24-yard pass to Prieskorn and a 1-yard pass by defensive lineman and short-yardage specialist JJ Pegues, both in the third quarter, were the scores that made the difference. The Rebels were without injured star Tre Harris, who came in as the nation’s leading receiver.

“We told them before that Tre wasn’t going to say, ‘Hey, this was supposed to be a big tight end,’” Kiffin said. in the middle of the field with them. It was good to see.”

Facing the pressure of a two-score deficit, the Sooners were forced to give up a run game that was productive in the first half as OU rushed for 125 yards.

Ole Miss entered the day ranked No. 1 nationally against the series with a rushing rush of 66.6 yards per game. OU had 22 rushing yards in the second half.

“We couldn’t do anything in the second half against a good, experienced defense, and their explosive offensive play was the killer,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said.

Key players remain out for Ole Miss, but the return of defensive end Princely Umanmielen was huge, Kiffin said. Umanmielen had three tackles and two sacks and was a disruptive force at other times.

Ole Miss finished with 380 yards to Oklahoma’s 329.

The finish was a very different feeling for the Rebels.

“That’s why you coach and they play. It wasn’t a good feeling coming into a game that everyone thinks we should win because the spread is a certain way, everyone thinks you have to take out an SEC team,” Kiffin said.

THE TAKEAWAY

Ole Miss: Defensive tackle Walter Nolen, the Rebels’ highest-rated transfer, limped off the field late in the first half and made the decision he would not play in the second half, Kiffin said.

Oklahoma: Arnold threw two touchdowns with no interceptions and hurt the Rebels early with smart decision-making in the run game. He went 22-for-31 for 182 yards passing.

IMPLICATIONS OF THE POLL

The Rebels could crack the top 15 and revive some playoff buzz that was missing after their loss at LSU.

NEXT

Oklahoma: Maine Saturday afternoon.

Ole Miss: Saturday morning at Arkansas.

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