Jaxson Dart threw two touchdown passes, Quinshon Judkins rushed for a touchdown and No. 20 Ole Miss held off No. 24 Tulane, 37-20, in a nonconference game Saturday in New Orleans.
Dart completed 17 of 27 passes for 267 yards and helped Ole Miss (2-0) come back from a 17-7 second-quarter deficit.
Tulane (1-1) played without starting quarterback Michael Pratt, who suffered a knee injury in a season-opening win against South Alabama a week earlier.
Third-year sophomore Kai Horton made his second career start in Pratt’s place and completed 15 of 37 passes for 231 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
Judkins’ 9-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter pulled Ole Miss even at 17 at the end of the period.
Deantre Prince’s interception of Horton gave the Rebels the ball at the Green Wave 20, setting up Caden Davis’ tiebreaking 27-yard field with 12:50 left in the game.
Tulane turned the ball over at the Ole Miss 30 when Horton’s apparent 2-yard gain on fourth-and-2 was changed to a 1-yard gain on review.
The Rebels faced a fourth-and-4 on the next possession when Dart threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Michael Trigg for a 27-17 lead with 4:28 left.
Valentino Ambrosio’s 26-yard field goal pulled the Green Wave within seven points, but Davis kicked a 56-yard FG and Jared Ivey picked up Horton’s fumble and ran 26 yards for a touchdown with 1:25 remaining.
Dart completed passes on the first three plays of the game, the last of which was a 31-yard touchdown to Tre Harris.
Tulane answered on the ensuing possession as Makhi Hughes completed a 75-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that left the score tied at seven at the end of the first quarter.
The Green Wave took advantage of Jha’Quan Jackson’s 36-yard punt return when Ambrosio kicked a 44-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter.
Jackson caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Horton to extend the lead to 17-7 later in the quarter.
Davis’ 37-yard field goal trimmed the lead to 17-10 at halftime.
–Field Level Media