Jaxson Dart is a “completely different animal” than Kentucky in 2022

Kentucky has already faced it Jason Dart once, in 2022, when he was playing just his fifth game for the Rebels after transferring from USC. Dart and Ole Miss defeated the Cats that day due to big turnovers on Kentucky's side, but since then Dart has rapidly risen to stardom and is now a Heisman contender playing in the best offense in the country.

To have a chance of upsetting No. 6 Ole Miss tomorrow in Oxford, Kentucky will have to find a way to slow down Dart and the Rebels. That's a monumental task, even for a defense as good as the Cats'. Dart has the most passing yards (1,554) through four games of any SEC quarterback in the last 20 seasons and the highest passing grade (93.7) of any Power Four quarterback at Pro Football Focus. He has 12 touchdowns through the air and three on the ground this season. Ole Miss has never faced a defense like Kentucky's, but even if the Cats can match Dart, his poise and ability to fight through will set him apart from the rest.

“When he's uncomfortable, you see a huge presence,” Mark Stoops said of Dart on Wednesday. “He can obviously run the ball, but he does a remarkable job of pulling it and running it and looking for positive distance or buying time to throw it in the pocket.”

“I think that's a theme you'll hear a lot week in week out because I think it's very important in today's game. But Jaxson being able to complete 80% of his passes at a very high pace is obviously pretty remarkable. So he makes very good decisions, just a few turnovers with 12 touchdowns. And he plays extremely well.”

Dart was decent in his first game against Kentucky, going 15-for-29 for 213 yards, but it was the Rebels' running game that troubled the Cats that day (along with self-inflicted errors). Brad White said Dart has made rapid progress in two years and joked that his ball placement and climbing ability have won him many friends in the Ole Miss locker room.

“I remember he was a talented young player when we played him in 1922 but now he is a completely different guy, you can see the confidence with which he plays. He knows exactly where he wants to go with the ball. Does a great job understanding what to expect ahead of time. Understand, okay, if he wants to hit that shot, his deep, deep ball placement is at a high, high level.”

“He throws a ball that is so easy to catch. I know the receivers have to love playing with him and for him. The same applies here: ball placement and ball touch are a receiver's best friend. And then there's his ability to run and be mobile, which is an O-line's best friend. I’m sure he has a lot of friends in this offense.”

Dart talks about insult, star Wars To Sports center

After Ole Miss' great start, Jaxson Dart is getting a lot of attention. He appeared on Thursday Sports center and talked a lot about Ole Miss' offense, which totaled 220 points in four games, a school record.

“If I had to put it in one word? Electric,” Dart said of the offense. “We have great playmakers; I'm really just out there playing point guard. You make my job look easy. I have a great coaching staff around me that puts me in a position to be successful in every single game.”

You may remember two years ago when darts played a big role star Wars Fan and pays tribute to Anakin Skywalker with a black eye stripe under one eye. He was also asked about it.

“He was the first really big character,” Dart said of Skywalker. “There's nothing really significant about it except that I'm tall star Wars Fan and I just attributed it to his scar. I liked him as a character.”

If Dart is Anakin, does that make Lane Kiffin Obi-Wan Kenobi? Dart used another member of the Jedi for his comparison.

“I would say the only right character would have to be Yoda. His knowledge, I'm constantly learning things from him day in and day out and I think you could walk around the college football landscape and talk to any coach or player and they would all say he's one of the best, if not the best He’s definitely someone I really look up to in that regard.”

Slow down the rebels cats need to.