How Ole Miss football quarterback Jaxson Dart leads by example

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Ole Miss redshirt freshman Austin Simmons got an example of quarterback leadership in the Gator Bowl. It only took him a few snaps.

In his final game, Rebels senior Jaxson Dart refused to sub in Thursday’s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl because the Rebels were in control against Duke and it would result in a 52-20 loss. There was a narrative that a playoff bowl outside of college football was meaningless for the Rebels, especially after Ole Miss (10-3) fell just short of Dart’s winning ultimatum, which came from a tight space below Death Valley , after LSU defeated Ole Miss Oct. 12. A bowl win was just a consolation prize at best.

And yet, despite Chad Kelly’s broken single-season records and a huge lead, darts shook off coach Lane Kiffin. Dart didn’t come out of the game when Simmons began trotting down the field in the fourth quarter.

“I actually tried to take Jaxson out, if you saw it before,” Kiffin said after the game. “He refused to go out, which says a lot about him.”

Most Rebel stars followed Dart’s lead when the quarterback said he would put aside the risk of injury to play one last game. Defensive linemen Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen, both likely early NFL Draft picks, battled in the trenches in the first half and into the second half.

“I told my teammates, my coaches and my mom before the game that I was going to leave everything I had on the field,” Dart said. “I play the game the way I play it and I don’t really look into the future. I’m just here for now and I’m going to compete.”

Dart even took his enthusiasm for the game too far in Kiffin’s eyes by throwing a 69-yard touchdown to receiver Jordan Watkins with 1:09 left. Kiffin said he apologized to Duke (9-4) coach Manny Diaz for the last-second touchdown.

“(Watkins and I) said if we wanted to be out there, we were going to play football,” Dart said. “And they pushed (Watkins).”

Simmons finally entered the game on Ole Miss’ final possession. He seemed ready to take over the offense next season. He played great in limited tempo against Georgia, completing his only 34-yard pass against Duke after Kiffin finally convinced Dart to take the curtain call in the final seconds.

Kiffin can’t think of a better mentor for Simmons than Dart, whom he mentored for two seasons.

“(Austin) learned from this big brother how to do everything right, except for being able to make his own plays at the end,” Kiffin said.

Kiffin has described his relationship with Dart as a father-son bond. Dart plays with his heart on his sleeve. Kiffin loves him for that.

Dart threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns on 27 of 35 passes against Duke. In his three years at Ole Miss after transferring from USC, Dart passed Eli Manning and left Ole Miss as the school’s all-time leader in passing yards.

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How Ole Miss football quarterback Jaxson Dart leads by example

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