GAMEDAY College Football
Mississippi 59, Central Arkansas 3
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
By CHRIS BURROWS
OXFORD, Miss. - Luke Altmyer threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, Michael Trigg had three touchdown catches and No. 22 Mississippi routed Central Arkansas 59-3.
Ole Miss (2-0) raced to a 28-0 first-quarter lead, highlighted by touchdown passes of 1 and 7 yards from Altmyer to Trigg before adding a 1-yard scoring run to cap the decisive surge.
Altmyer was 6 of 13 for 90 yards before being lifted late in the second quarter with what a school spokesperson described as an upper-body injury, pending evaluation.
"Luke was doing a good job until he got banged up," Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. "That affected him staying out there when he was injured.
Overall, there was improvement from last week but we've still got to get better."
The early outburst opened with a 6-yard touchdown run from Zach Evans.
Ole Miss got a 25-yard punt return for a touchdown from Ladarius Tennyson after a poor snap, and set up another score when Bobo Miller blocked a punt.
"Scoop and score. That's all I was thinking. That's all," said Tennyson, an Auburn transfer. "I saw the punter was down and when that happens, it's scoop and score."
Atlantic Sun Conference member Central Arkansas (0-2), trailed 31-0 at halftime. It had 182 yards of total offense.
"It snowballed early with the two blunders in punting," Central Arkansas coach Nathan Brown said. "We knew it would be uphill against a great program and that put us behind the eight-ball."
Hayden Ray made a 31-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout.
Jaxson Dart, a transfer from Southern California, relieved Altmyer and finished 10 of 15 passing for 182 yards, highlighted by touchdown passes of 6 yards to Malik Heath and 2 yards to Trigg.
"Jaxson did some good things when he got in there," Kiffin said. "He had some good series, a bad series, then came back with more good series. It was a cleaner second half, but not perfect."
Ole Miss finished with 487 yards of total offense. Quinshon Judkins rushed for 104 yards as the Rebels pulled away, leading 52-0 after three periods..
THE TAKEAWAY
Central Arkansas: The FCS-member Bears were down 28-0 in less than 13 minutes. Demetrias Charles had eight tackles and KC Clark added an interception to highlight an overworked defense.
"We knew going in that their defense is really, really good," said Brown, concerning his team's offensive struggles. "I can't wait to watch them (Ole Miss defense) the rest of the year."
Mississippi: The defense and special teams were outstanding, including a 41-yard field goal from Jonathan Cruz. Pending the physical evaluation of Altmyer, the quarterback role figures to be filled exclusively Dart.
RED ZONE BOOST
The Rebels improved to 10 of 11 in the red zone for the season, all touchdowns, after going 6 of 7 against Central Arkansas. Improving that efficiency was a high priority for the Rebels, especially early in the schedule.
Last season, "jackpot-type" scoring plays, beyond 20 yards, more than compensated for finishing No. 115 nationally, 52 of 69, 75 percent in the red zone. This season, with fewer long distance touchdowns, a continued higher efficiency will be crucial as the schedule stiffens.
| Scoring Summary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Quarter | CenArk | Miss | |||
| Miss | TD | 12:55 | Michael Trigg 7 yard TD pass from Luke Altmyer (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) | 0 | 7 |
| Miss | TD | 7:09 | Ladarius Tennison 25 yard fumble return for TD (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) | 0 | 14 |
| Miss | TD | 5:02 | Michael Trigg 4 yard TD pass from Luke Altmyer (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) | 0 | 21 |
| Miss | TD | 0:21 | Luke Altmyer 1 yard TD run (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) | 0 | 28 |
| Second Quarter | CenArk | Miss | |||
| Miss | FG | 0:00 | Jonathan Cruz 41 yard field goal | 0 | 31 |
| Third Quarter | CenArk | Miss | |||
| Miss | TD | 11:38 | Zach Evans 3 yard TD run (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) | 0 | 38 |
| Miss | TD | 8:09 | Michael Trigg 2 yard TD pass from Jaxson Dart (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) | 0 | 45 |
| Miss | TD | 1:19 | Malik Heath 6 yard TD pass from Jaxson Dart (Christian Schanefelt Extra Point) | 0 | 52 |
| Fourth Quarter | CenArk | Miss | |||
| CenArk | FG | 9:54 | Hayden Ray 31 yard field goal | 3 | 52 |
| Miss | TD | 3:23 | Ulysses Bentley IV 6 yard TD run (Christian Schanefelt Extra Point) | 3 | 59 |
| Team Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Central Arkansas | Ole Miss | |
| First downs | 12 | 26 |
| Rushing | 7 | 12 |
| Passing | 5 | 10 |
| Penalty | 0 | 4 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency | 4-18, 22% | 3-8, 38% |
| 4th down efficiency | 1-5, 20% | 0-2, 0% |
| Rushes-Yards | 40-111 | 36-223 |
| Passing Yards | 131 | 276 |
| Return Yards | 53 | 52 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 14-31-2 | 19-32-1 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost | 2-3 | 1-8 |
| Punts | 8 | 3 |
| Fumbles Lost | 2-2 | 0-0 |
| Penalties - Yards | 8-73 | 8-74 |
| Central Arkansas Passing | |||||
| Player | Cmp | Att | Yds | TDs | Int |
| W. McElvain | 13 | 27 | 126 | 0 | 1 |
| C. McDowell | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Ole Miss Passing | |||||
| Player | Cmp | Att | Yds | TDs | Int |
| J. Dart | 10 | 15 | 182 | 2 | 0 |
| L. Altmyer | 6 | 13 | 90 | 2 | 1 |
| K. Dent | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Central Arkansas Rushing | ||||
| Player | Carries | Yds | Avg | TDs |
| D. Hale | 16 | 48 | 3.0 | 0 |
| T. Smith | 8 | 44 | 5.5 | 0 |
| K. James | 7 | 36 | 5.1 | 0 |
| W. McElvain | 7 | 5 | 0.7 | 0 |
| J. Barnes | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 |
| Ole Miss Rushing | ||||
| Player | Carries | Yds | Avg | TDs |
| Q. Judkins | 10 | 104 | 10.4 | 0 |
| Z. Evans | 11 | 53 | 4.8 | 1 |
| U. Bentley IV | 7 | 45 | 6.4 | 1 |
| J. Robinson | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 0 |
| J. Dart | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 0 |
| J. Henry | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 |
| L. Altmyer | 3 | -2 | -0.7 | 1 |
| Central Arkansas Receiving | ||||
| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TDs |
| J. Barnes | 6 | 84 | 14.0 | 0 |
| M. Butler | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 |
| D. Hale | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 |
| R. Ananda | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 |
| K. James | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 |
| J. David White | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 |
| T. Smith | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 |
| A. Eldridge | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 |
| M. Kitt-Denton | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 |
| Ole Miss Receiving | ||||
| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TDs |
| J. Mingo | 3 | 103 | 34.3 | 0 |
| D. Wade | 3 | 55 | 18.3 | 0 |
| M. Heath | 3 | 52 | 17.3 | 1 |
| M. Trigg | 5 | 28 | 5.6 | 3 |
| J. Henry | 3 | 21 | 7.0 | 0 |
| J. Robinson | 2 | 17 | 8.5 | 0 |
| Central Arkansas Interceptions | ||
| Player | Int | Yards |
| K. Clark | 1 | 2 |
| Ole Miss Interceptions | ||
| Player | Int | Yards |
| Q. Judkins | 1 | 6 |
| I. Young | 1 | 0 |
| Central Arkansas Punting | |||
| Player | Punts | Yards | Avg |
| C. Caughron | 5 | 201 | 40.2 |
| W. McElvain | 2 | 68 | 34.0 |
| Ole Miss Punting | |||
| Player | Punts | Yards | Avg |
| F. Masin | 3 | 144 | 48.0 |
| Central Arkansas Punt Returns | |||
| Player | Ret | Yards | Average |
| J. Barnes | 3 | 27 | 9.0 |
| Ole Miss Punt Returns | |||
| Player | Ret | Yards | Average |
| J. Mingo | 1 | 13 | 13.0 |
| Central Arkansas Kick Returns | |||
| Player | Ret | Yards | Average |
| J. David White | 1 | 10 | 10.0 |
| D. Wise | 1 | 14 | 14.0 |
| Ole Miss Kick Returns | |||
| Player | Ret | Yards | Average |
| K. Heath | 1 | 3 | 3.0 |
| D. Wade | 1 | 30 | 30.0 |
| Central Arkansas Missed FG | |
| Player | Length |
| Ole Miss Missed FG | |
| Player | Length |