Jaxson Dart’s Jacksonville night: Inside Ole Miss QB’s record-breaking Gator Bowl numbers

Peyton Manning played here. Lamar Jackson, Philip Rivers, Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, Archie Manning and Pat Sullivan, too.

But no one in 80 years of TaxSlayer Gator Bowl college football had ever matched the numbers of Jaxson Dart on Thursday night — even if that was news to Jaxson Dart himself.

“Yeah, that’s pretty cool. I didn’t know that,” the Ole Miss senior quarterback said after being informed of his Gator Bowl record after the game.

Following Thursday’s 52-20 victory over Duke at EverBank Stadium, Dart is now the proud owner of two more Ole Miss records and an all-time TaxSlayer Gator Bowl mark.

Welcome to the Jaxson Dart Record Book, completed in Jacksonville. After the Rebels’ senior quarterback’s First Coast finale, maybe it’s time to rename the Ole Miss collection of passing superlatives.

In the Gator Bowl’s 80-year history, Dart is now No. 1, ending with 447 total yards (43 rushing, 404 passing) to surpass Matt Cavanaugh’s 402 total yards for Pitt against Clemson on Dec. 30, 1977. Dart set that record with a 69-yard strike to Jordan Watkins inside the two-minute timeout.

All night long, the question wasn’t whether Dart would further add to his ever-lengthening list of Ole Miss records. It was when, and it didn’t take long.

Needing 215 yards to break the Rebels’ single-season total yardage record and 167 yards to surpass the school’s single-season passing mark, Dart left no doubt.

Dart cleared those milestones on consecutive throws before halftime, connecting with Dae’Quan Wright with a 22-yard sideline strike for the passing mark and, after a Ulysses Bentley IV rush, setting the total yards record two plays later with a 5-yard toss to Caden Prieskorn. Chad Kelly previously held both of the former Ole Miss records in 2015 with 4,542 and 4,042 yards, respectively.

“The way that he played today and some of the throws that he made were elite,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said. “Sometimes you’ve got to take your cap off to somebody.”

Dart already holds a host of other career bests at Ole Miss, including passing yardage, rushing yardage and victories — no small feat at a program that’s produced the likes of Archie Manning and Eli Manning over the years. The most prominent Rebels quarterback record not in Dart’s possession is passing touchdowns, which still belongs to Eli Manning at 84.

Break a Gator Bowl record that’s endured for 47 years, and there’s no wonder Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin is celebrating.

“All-time winningest quarterback, all-time most yards. That’s special,” Kiffin said. “I’ve played football a long time with some really good quarterbacks. Just hope everybody appreciates what they saw.”

How did he do it?

Dart completed 10 passes of 15 yards or more on the night, three times ran for double-digit gains and connected on seven of eight of his passing attempts on third down. His four touchdown passes were one off the Gator Bowl record of five, set by Florida State’s Steve Tensi on Jan. 2, 1965. He also found his receivers on six of eight throws that traveled 15 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage, racking up 211 yards on those passes.

Dart, who finishing up the first half with 296 total yards (46 rushing, 250 passing) on 22 of 29 through the air, fell only 3 yards shy of another Gator Bowl record. But Graham Harrell’s 407 passing yards, set for Texas Tech against Virginia on Jan. 1, 2008, will survive for another year.

The 6-2, 225-pound quarterback next enters the NFL Draft, where analysts generally project him as a mid-round pick, and leaves college football as a record holder in both Oxford and Jacksonville.

“You don’t really think of that stuff before the game,” Dart said of the records. “You just want to go out there and win. I think that’s what it all comes down to.”

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaxson Dart: Ole Miss QB record-breaker at Gator Bowl